Chapter 282 Winning Streak
At the same time, in Lexington, a small town 700 miles away from New York, the 2014 Tennis Challenge is in full swing.
The three musketeers of the Bruins have both joy and sorrow.
Jilong's first round opponent was Austin Krajicek, who lost to Gawain in the last round of 16. However, Jilong still failed to adapt to the rhythm of professional competitions and lost the game with a very different score. He had no chances in the whole game, which made Jilong very frustrated and his confidence was somewhat hit.
After the game, we practiced for two more hours.
McDonald had a breakthrough. In the first round, he faced Daniel Cox, who lost to Gawain in the quarterfinals of the previous tournament. He won the final set in a tiebreak and successfully advanced to the second round. In the second round, he defeated the third seed Sugita Yuichi in three sets and advanced to the quarterfinals. His performance was eye-catching.
Unfortunately, in the quarterfinals against Kokkinakis, McDonald tried his best, but after saving three match points, he still lost two tiebreaks in a row and was eliminated.
The final scores of the two tie-breaks were "9:7" and "10:8", which were very, very close, but unfortunately we still lost the game.
Despite not making it to the semi-finals, McDonald still saw progress, which is good news.
As for Gao Wen? It is obvious that the long-distance travel in professional games is more intensive and more tiring than that in NCAA. In addition, without the close follow-up of the coaching team, the ups and downs of his condition are still out of control. The entire training state and game feel are relatively slow to warm up, and it takes some time to adapt to the atmosphere.
No wonder top players always say that the first round is always the most difficult, not because of the opponent, but because they are not the familiar self.
In the first round, Gao Wen narrowly defeated the eighth seed Hiroki Moriya in three sets. Although the score in the third set was "6:2", he won easily; but the score in the first set was "1:6". He was completely out of shape and had no touch. In the end, he was able to win because his opponent was limited in strength, which ensured that Gao Wen passed the test.
In the second round, facing the semi-finalist Odensnik of the previous tournament, although Zverev easily defeated his opponent last week, it was obvious that Odensnik was in good shape now. In the encounter with Galen, both sides were once again in a tough battle. Odensnik easily won the first set with a score of "6:2", pushing Galen into trouble again.
Now Gao Wen can feel the pressure of the professional tour more and more clearly. On the one hand, there are his own fluctuations, and on the other hand, there is the strength of his opponents. It is not easy to maintain a strong state in this back and forth.
Fortunately, Gao Wen is young after all and can adjust quickly.
“6:4”, “6:4”.
Gao Wen won two consecutive sets and defeated Odensnik to enter the quarterfinals.
After two consecutive fierce battles, Gao Wen finally adapted to the climate and environment of Lexington, and his condition and feel finally returned to the familiar track.
First, he defeated Irish player James McGee in straight sets, and then eliminated the fifth seed British player James Ward in two sets, reaching the final of the Challenger Tournament for the second consecutive week.
In the final, Gao Wen faced the sixth-seeded Australian player James Duckworth.
Duckworth defeated compatriot Kokkinakis in the semi-finals, so "Kokkinakis VS Galvin 2.0" unfortunately did not take place. However, Duckworth made it to the main draws of the first three Grand Slams this year, and he is obviously in a period of rapid growth. Judging from his current strength and form, it is natural for him to defeat Kokkinakis.
Moreover, strictly speaking, at least this year, Duckworth's stability and continuity are better than both Stakhovsky and Zverev.
Sure enough, the intensity of the final proved this point.
In the first set, Gao Wen won 6:3, and then Duckworth fought back strongly in the second set, 6:4, tying the score and forcing the two sides into a deciding set.
This is the third time this week that Gao Wen has faced the test of a deciding set. In addition, he has reached the finals for two consecutive weeks, so the physical test is very severe.
In the deciding set, Duckworth broke first and led 4:3 at one point, but Gao Wen came from behind, breaking first and then holding to overtake the score, leading 5:4, and then forced a break point and match point in Duckworth's serve game, which she had to hold. Although Duckworth saved two match points in a row, Gao Wen, who performed better at the critical moment, still broke on the third match point and won the game.
The final score was "6:4".
For the second week in a row, Gao Wen topped the list with a brilliant performance!
Moreover, compared with Binghamton, the championship in Lexington was more difficult and more valuable because it was the first time for Gawain to face the test of long-distance travel. Despite some fluctuations in his condition, Gawain still defeated himself and his opponents and had the last laugh.
However, Gao Wen still couldn't rest, and he didn't even have time to celebrate. He returned to California without stopping to participate in the competition for the third consecutive week.
Unlike Binghamton and Lexington, this challenge held in the small town of Aptos, California, is the highest level so far.
There are still 32 slots, but the total prize money has doubled to 100,000 US dollars; and the points for each round have also increased, with the champion getting 100 points and the runner-up getting 60 points. This is the third level among all challenge tournaments, so naturally the participating lineup is also different.
The top seed is Mikhail Kukushkin, currently ranked 180th in the world. The quality of the entire tournament has risen to a new level. Moreover, he reached the fourth round of the Australian Open in 2012 and the third round of the US Open in 2013. He is undoubtedly a tour-level player.
The second seed is Marcos-Baghdatis, runner-up at the 2006 Australian Open and semi-finalist at Wimbledon. His career-high ranking was eighth. Despite ups and downs due to a series of injuries, he entered the top 20 in the world rankings in 2010.
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In addition, Hungarian player Marton-Fucsovis, who later broke into the top 40 in the world rankings in 2019 and has performed steadily since then, also appeared in the draw, seeded eighth.
Simply put, the entire lineup can feel the pressure coming at them, especially when compared with Binghamton and Lexington. It can be clearly felt that the closer to the U.S. Open, the more players are able to pass the qualifying test and enter the main draw, and they all need to find their form through the challenge tournament.
That's why, after being eliminated in Lexington, Gillon and MacDonald returned to Los Angeles early and headed straight to Aptos to prepare for the event.
Gao Wen, who fought till the end, changed planes that night after winning the championship, arrived in Los Angeles in the early morning, and then rushed to Aptos alone.
Celebrating a championship?
We have to wait a little longer.
But Tobias, who was far away in New York, was able to celebrate Gawain's second championship trophy because he had more chips than last week.
It's time to talk to Adidas again.
Fourth update.
(End of this chapter)