Chapter 259: Steady and steady
Boom boom boom!
Ahhhh!
The whole audience was boiling.
Heat wave, mist.
Stakhovsky was a little helpless and looked up at the sky, as if he was making a silent protest. On the break point, his shots were already very solid and on point, but Gawain's inspiration turned the situation around. Was this luck?
Stakhovsky looked at the passionately celebrating Gawain and let out a long breath. He was not particularly depressed. He turned around and strode towards the players' rest area.
Having experienced so many top tournaments, he was not so surprised by a break. What he needed to do now was to calm down and think about how he should break back. "3:2".
With a break lead, Gao Wen returned to the rest area.
In this game, Gao Wen has slowly figured out some ways, which is more important than breaking the serve.
Stakhovsky is a player who plays power ball, he is very conventional and down to earth. If they were to compete in a conventional hard power competition, Gao Wen would probably still be struggling now, and the comparison of the advantages and disadvantages of the game experience would not be in his favor. I am afraid that at the critical moment, the balance of victory would still tilt towards Stakhovsky.
But Gawain can disrupt Stakhovsky's judgment by breaking the rules with some details, which can change the situation and increase the variables of the game.
In fact, just a little change, a little breakthrough, a little surprise, and invisible interference can catch Stakhovsky off guard.
The key point is suddenness and unexpectedness.
In other words, there can't be too many changes, because frequent changes may allow Stakhovsky to adapt to the rules and then find a way to suppress Gawain.
For example, in order to break Stakhovsky's prediction, the straight line and the return line of the back ball must be hit.
For example, the slice, spin and small ball shots disrupted Stakhovsky's rhythm of hitting the ball at a steady speed at the baseline.
Keep trying, keep attacking, this is the only way out.
When Gawain and Stakhovsky came on the court again, the match was still tense. It was not that Stakhovsky was strong, but that he always maintained the quality of his shots and was not affected by the break just now. This also meant that Gawain could not take every point lightly.
Stakhovsky's basic skills are indeed solid, not perfect, but the average quality of his shots is kept at a relatively high level. On the contrary, for Gao Wen, when he keeps trying to make surprise attacks, if he is not careful, he may be counterattacked and lose points.
As the situation changes, the balance of advantages and disadvantages is always swaying. All the variables are in Gawain's hands and depend on Gawain's own performance. This is both a good thing and a bad thing.
In his own service game after Gao Wen broke the serve, he encountered two deuces but did not give up any break points. In the end, he managed to hold his serve with difficulty and established a lead in the first set.
Afterwards, the game entered a stable stage again. Both players created some opportunities and missed some opportunities. As a result, they were unable to break again, and the first set ended uneventfully.
"6:4".
Gao Wen won the first set! Roar, roar, roar! The audience cheered. Is the dark horse really going to make it to the final? Is the "insignificant" really going to challenge the top seed?
After a short break between games, the second set began immediately.
This set was somewhat familiar, not because of the progress of the game, but because of Stakhovsky's diligent hitting. It had nothing to do with the time progress and the score disadvantage. He still completed every shot solidly, and there was no drastic fluctuation in the overall performance. This is also the biggest difference between Stakhovsky and Gawain's previous opponents.
Although Gao Wen won the first set, he had to start the second set from scratch, as if it was a brand new game.
In a daze, I couldn't tell the first plate from the second plate.
From the beginning to the middle, the two sides were deadlocked all the way to a 4:4 draw, and then Gao Wen got the first break point, but this time the situation was slightly different.
In fact, the physical strength of both Gawain and Stakhovsky has begun to decline sharply, and they are not far from the peak. However, Stakhovsky is obviously affected by injuries and age, and his decline is faster. Then we can see that the quality of the return ball also shows obvious fluctuations.
Gao Wen held his breath and got the break point through continuous active attacks.
After completing this point, both players were gasping for breath. The scorching sun in July was shining down mercilessly, as if it could drain all the moisture in the chest cavity. Even if they tried their best to breathe, they could not feel the clarity and coolness of much oxygen. Now both of them were relying on willpower to persevere. It depends on who can be more resilient.
The second set is different from the first set after all.
On the break point, Stakhovsky finally managed to score a first serve, but the quality was far from satisfactory.
The reason why it is a first serve is because the power, speed, rotation and landing point can form suppression, so that it can create a threat; but at this time, Stakhovsky's physical strength was reduced, in order to ensure the success rate of the first serve and form a deterrent, he obviously increased the insurance.
Naturally, the angle could not be broken, so a close serve was served, trying to suppress Gawain's forehand, but the choice of landing point was still not good enough, and the power and speed were average, so even if it was a first serve, the effect was similar to the second serve. It was just an attempt to use the name of "first serve" to intimidate Gawain and see if it could scare Gawain.
The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!
That's the problem.
Gao Wen knew that Stakhovsky was facing physical problems and the quality of his serve was relatively mediocre. He simply ignored the difference between the first serve and the second serve and made preparations early.
When he saw where the serve would land, Gao Wen quickly adjusted his footwork and took a step sideways to ensure that his forehand swing could complete a complete movement and fully release the power. At the same time, he leaned his upper body forward and tried to use his body's strength to support the ball as much as possible.
Bang! The forehand shot was completed, relying on the rapid swing of the forearm, drawing a small diagonal line and hitting it towards Stakhovsky's backhand.
boom.
It can be clearly seen that Gao Wen did not burst out too much power, and won more by speed and landing point, so his return was relatively light and lacked stamina. However, his forward speed was so fast that Stakhovsky, who had just completed the serve, had no time to adjust his steps. He could only awkwardly hold the racket with both hands and reach out to grab the ball, using the feel of his wrist to complete the return.
The tennis ball bounced back, and Stakhovsky stumbled a bit, obviously a little unstable because he didn't have enough power to push off the ground; but he still quickly adjusted his steps, holding the racket with both hands, preparing for the next defensive shot, and only then did he see his return ball -
Hmm? In a hurry, I actually got a good quality ball back! What a surprise!
First update.
(End of this chapter)