Chapter 245 Competitive Sports
Spiritual attribute, 80.
By adding 100% of the attribute points of growth potential to the mental attribute, the peak value of this item will rise from 79 to a new level of 80.
This is also Gawain's first attribute that has exceeded eighty.
But why choose spiritual attributes?
Conventionally speaking, it is either physical attributes or technical attributes, especially the latter. Because the basic training time has been relatively reduced during this period, the improvement speed has slowed down, and there is still an urgent need to strengthen one's technical capabilities.
However, today's match against Kokkinakis gave Gawain slightly different ideas -
How can a player give 100% of his strength on the court?
Especially when the game is difficult, when the physical strength is declining, when the touch is not good, when the opponent performs exceptionally well, when the emotions are tense, and so on, such situations are everywhere in tennis matches, so how should we continue the game?
Mental state! Tenacity! Perseverance! Focus! Dedication! Boldness! Courage! Determination!
And so on and so forth.
In fact, professional players are ordinary people too. They may face fluctuations in physical strength and changes in mentality. Fluctuations in competitive state are inevitable. Even the Big Four are no exception. Everyone has peaks and troughs in state. Not to mention a season, there may be more than one fluctuation in a game.
Winning when you are in the best condition is natural; winning when you are not in the best condition is the confidence.
That was the case against Kokkinakis.
At the end of the second set, Kokkinakis had the upper hand both physically and technically. The best proof of this was that he broke Gawain's serve first in the eighth game. However, in the ninth game that followed, Kokkinakis fluctuated as he was close to victory. Of course, it was also because Gawain exerted enough pressure to force Kokkinakis to fluctuate, and the situation of the game was reversed.
During this period, willpower is the real key compared to physical condition and technical ability.
It is precisely because of this that Gao Wen deeply realized that his spiritual attributes have always been top students, which is an important reason to ensure that he can fully exert his own strength, and it is also the confidence for him to fight against those masters.
After all, he is just a newcomer who has won the title of "professional". Compared with those professional players ranked in the top 500 or top 300 in the world, the gap in physical and technical aspects is still quite obvious. If the mental level is not strong enough, then the confrontation may not be formed.
So, without hesitation, Gawain added this attribute point to the spiritual attribute.
For the first time, Gawain had an attribute that reached eighty points.
After getting himself ready, Gawain hummed a tune and left the player lounge, then headed to Court 2 to watch McDonald's game, only to find that the game on Court 4 had already ended and the audience was leaving the court sparsely.
After a short pause, Gao Wen turned around and walked towards Court No. 4, where the Jilong match should be. He could see the result of the match displayed on the scoreboard outside the court at a glance:
"4:6", "6:4", "6:3".
Jilong, lost the game.
Gao Wen was very surprised. Among the first-round opponents of the Bruins' Big Three, Jilong's opponent was actually the least threatening player.
It's not because of his world ranking, but because he has been in the professional arena for many years and is still playing in the Challenge Tournament. This is enough to show the upper limit of his talent. Then Jilong, who has more outstanding talent and ability, should naturally have the upper hand.
He was stunned for a moment, and then Gawain remembered what Tobias had said before.
To sum up, for players in professional tours, many people look down on those players who play in challenge tournaments all year round for bonuses, believing that they lack strength and ambition, and have turned competitive sports into a muddy workplace life.
But this is not the case. These players are unable to move to the next level due to their limited talent and are forced to treat professional tennis as a job to make a living. However, it does not mean that they do not have the ability. Those who can occupy a place in the Challenge Tournament all year round often have some impact and are very skilled and cunning. They may capsize if you are not careful.
Not to mention the young players who have just participated in the Challenge Tournament, sometimes these Challenge Tournament players pass the qualifying test and enter the Grand Slam main competition, and they are often able to cause upsets in the first or second round. Their strength is definitely not as bad as imagined.
Jilong’s opponent is such a veteran in the challenge tournament.
In terms of tricks and experience, I'm afraid it's not that easy to be defeated. It can be seen from the score that he had the advantage of breaking serve in all three sets.
Just as Kokkinakis deserved to defeat Gawain but failed to do so, Giron did not "deserve" to win.
Then, Gao Wen saw Jilong coming towards him with a tennis racket on his back.
"Marcos!"
Gawain waved and greeted him. Jilong looked up and saw him. He smiled and walked over quickly. Gawain asked with concern.
"How does it feel?"
The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!
Jilong shrugged, "It's okay."
Gao Wen thought that Jilong didn't want to talk after losing the game, so he didn't ask more questions. However, he didn't expect that Jilong would break his usual silence and add.
"My opponent taught me a good lesson. Professional competitions really cannot be taken lightly. I still have a lot to learn, especially in the deciding set."
A lot can be heard from these simple words. Professional players like them know that tennis games are really ever-changing. Moreover, in a three-set battle, the content of each set is different, and the key turning points that ultimately lead to victory or defeat may be far more than one.
Jilong noticed that Gao Wen was looking at the stadium in front of him, and he reacted immediately. He also raised his chin to signal, and the two of them walked towards Stadium No. 2. They showed their player cards at the entrance of the stadium and could enter directly without buying tickets.
Because both sides were batting, in order not to distract the players, Jilong and Gao Wen stood at the entrance of the spectator stand and discussed the game in a low voice.
It was basically Jilong who did all the talking, with Gao Wen responding occasionally. After waiting for a round to be over, the two of them hurried in and found a seat to sit down.
The attendance rate for this game was significantly lower, with about half of the seats being occupied and the other half empty.
However, a 50 percent attendance rate is already very rare for a challenge tournament, no wonder the Binghamton Challenge has been held for so many years.
Gao Wen glanced at the scoreboard. McDonald was also in a bad situation. The two sides were tied in the first two sets and had entered the deciding set, but McDonald was currently catching up with the score.
Unexpectedly, the first round matches of the Brown Bears’ Big Three all went to the deciding set, and the battles were indeed fierce.
(End of this chapter)