Chapter 322 Stalemate

Gao Wen anticipated the difficulties of the competition and was fully prepared to face all possible situations, but if he had not experienced it before, he would have no experience. There would always be a deviation between the difficulties imagined by the brain and the actual situation. Sometimes, the deviation could be quite large.

That’s why the chance to play in Winston-Salem is so important. After missing it, Gao Wen can only try and make mistakes through actual combat.

After being broken by Isner, Gao Wen quickly adjusted his mentality and devoted himself to Isner's serve again.

However, Isner showed his maturity and experience, as well as his great control over his own serve. He had an excellent serve to protect the opponent, leaving no chance for a second serve. He held his serve strongly, successfully realized the advantage of breaking the serve, and took advantage of serving first to widen the score.

At the end of the set, although Gawain kept making different attempts to create opportunities, Isner's serve was impeccable. In the serve-winning game, all of Gawain's attempts failed, and all possibilities were cut off - after Gawain successfully held his serve, Isner also successfully held his own serve.

This also directly verifies the saying that when facing Isner, losing a serve game may mean losing a set.

"6:3".

Isner won the second set, tying the overall score, and the two players were back on the same starting line.

In the words of Hu Litao, "This is equivalent to changing the best-of-five system to the best-of-three system. Of course, physical exhaustion is another issue, but the third set is the commanding height of strategic deployment. The competition between the two sides should be very fierce. Both players hope to lead the score and lay the foundation for victory."

It can be seen from the first two games that Gao Wen does have the ability to compete with Isner. This is also a common phenomenon in men's tennis. The gap in hard power between the top 300 players is not that obvious.

However, the key point is whether the game can be played? How much strength can be played? How long can it last? Can it remain stable at the critical moment? How big is the difference between the peak and the trough? In the best-of-five game, can there be enough weapons to fight to the end? These details are the difference between the top 100 and the bottom 100.

The best example is Zverev Jr.

Two months ago, Zverev, whose world ranking was still outside 800, was able to perform well in the ATP 500-point championship-level event, defeating four players ranked in the top 50 in the world in a row - the highest ranked being 19th-ranked Youzhny, making a stunning debut.

Two months later, Zverev, whose world ranking was approaching 150, arrived in New York with great ambitions to participate in the US Open qualifying round. However, he lost to an unknown player ranked 144th in the world, Marsel-Llhan of Turkey, in the second round and missed the main competition.

So, is Zverev not strong enough? Obviously not, but he has not been able to find a way to fully exert his strength and persevere.

In fact, as of 2021, young players have still not been able to break the Grand Slam dominance of the Big Four, and the same logic applies.

Young players have already taken over the ATP Masters. Almost all the nine Masters titles throughout the year have been won by young players. However, there is still no breakthrough in the Grand Slam events. It is definitely not because of lack of strength. Psychological control and performance at critical moments are the key.

At this moment, the same is true for the game in front of us.

At least from the first two sets, Gawain was not inferior to Isner in terms of his ability to fight. But can Gawain still maintain this kind of hitting state in the third, fourth and even the final set? In the crucial moment of deciding the outcome, can Gawain still keep his mind clear like he did in the first set tiebreak?

After all, the player standing opposite was Isner, who had set the record of "70:68" in the deciding set.

Competitive sports have never been that simple. An "on-the-spot performance" contains too many possibilities.

really!

The third set became a tactical high point. Both Gawain and Isner realized that this was a match that would determine the course of the match, and both sides gave their best performance without reservation.

Especially after two sets of exploration, both players have now adapted to each other's style and abilities, which made the third set even more tense.

"1:1".

"2:2".

"3:3".

…

The two players were in a stalemate all the way, and because of the decline in physical strength, there were fluctuations in their own serve games, and break points appeared more frequently.

Before and after, Gawain created four break points and missed them all; Isner created seven break points and missed them all.

At critical moments, the serving side was always able to improve its condition in time, save break points with better performance, and keep its serve in one go, and then the two sides remained deadlocked until the end of the set.

"6:6".

No one was able to get a set point, and the third set entered a tiebreak again. In the tiebreak, Gao Wen was still the first to serve.

However, this time was completely different from the first set. The two players still gritted their teeth and focused highly, and the stalemate continued until the end.

The score was deadlocked from "1:1" to "6:6". The gap between the two teams never widened and the tense atmosphere was suffocating.

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Because neither side had a break point, at "5:5", Isner won his second serve point and took the first set point of the third set. However, Gawain remained unmoved and made a beautiful serve attack to easily save the set point.

So the score was tied again, "6:6".

Then, the two players will exchange courts for the second time in the tie-break, and either side must win two points in a row to win.

"The set score was '1:1', the game score was '6:6', and the final score was also '6:6'. Just like the entire third set and the entire match, the situation was still very close, very, very close, and no one was able to pull away."

"Obviously, both players were in a state of intense concentration, not giving up an inch and fighting hard. Now, every point is worth a thousand gold."

"Any side, no matter who it is, as long as they can win this tiebreaker, they will be able to gain an advantage on a psychological level."

"Now let's see who is more daring to take action at the critical moment."

"Teacher Hu, what do you think?"

In the studio, the gurgling and boiling air was almost suffocating. People watching the game were always more nervous and anxious than those on the field, and their hearts seemed to be about to explode at any time.

Facing Zhan Jun's questions, Hu Litao maintained his professionalism and analyzed the game as objectively as possible, although the balance deep in his heart was tilting wildly towards Gao Wen.

"In fact, Isner is a bit soft now, especially on his forehand. Today, Gawain broke through him several times. He was not ruthless enough at the critical moment and missed at least two chances to kill in the tiebreak."

"But Isner's serve points were very precise and stable, without any flaws, so the balance was maintained."

(End of this chapter)