Chapter 398 Taking turns to be the banker
Unbelievable!
Unmatched!
From the change from "1:6" to "7:5", the strong confrontation that the audience had been eagerly looking forward to finally took place. Gawain's "dark horse quality" once again shone throughout the audience, proving to everyone with practical actions that the first three victories were definitely not just luck, and the atmosphere of Louis Armstrong was pushed to a climax.
So, can fans look forward to a classic?
The answer is yes.
After the first two sets ended in a tie, the third set became a tactical fortress. Both players had to win this set and seize the commanding heights on the tactical level. However, after the fierce battle in the second set, the physical strength of both players faced a severe test.
As for Wawrinka, he is older and seems to have been out of shape during the North American season, but he benefited from his opponent's withdrawal before the game in the last round and was able to gather his strength and wait for this game.
As for Gao Wen, he is younger and more energetic. He involuntarily rested for two weeks before the start of the US Open, but he was in a tough battle in the first three games. Currently, his total match time ranks among the top 16 players.
Therefore, as the game progresses, the uncertainty caused by physical effects will play an increasingly important role.
The facts prove this to be the case.
In the third set, the conditions of both sides declined to varying degrees, and the opening stage turned into a break battle. First, Wawrinka broke Gawain's serve, and Gawain immediately broke Wawrinka's serve back; then after both sides held their serve, they broke each other again and exchanged another serve. The whole back-and-forth game was very tense and exciting.
In fact, in terms of the intensity and excitement of the rounds, the third set was not as good as the second set, but because of the continuous breaks and counter-breaks, the score was never able to be widened, so the tension was even higher than the second set.
In the end, it was the new Australian Open champion Wawrinka who used his backhand to withstand Gawain's ever-changing attacks and launched a counterattack at the critical moment. He broke Gawain's serve for the third time at the end of the set and won the set in one go, taking the third set victory.
"4:6".
Wawrinka once again took the lead, occupying the tactical high ground and successfully seizing the initiative in this battle for a place in the US Open quarterfinals.
At the end of the set, Wawrinka won three games in a row, first holding, then breaking, and then holding again, showing the strength of the third seed and pushing Gao Wen directly to the edge of the cliff.
Gao Wen was very dissatisfied with his performance.
On the one hand, his decreased physical strength caused obvious fluctuations in his shots. While he made more mistakes and gave away points, his restrictions on Wawrinka also loosened, and he was unable to hold on to the game.
On the other hand, Wawrinka once again showed his "God moment" at the critical moment. The incredible backhand really made people feel powerless. Even in the third set, even in the face of physical fluctuations, Wawrinka's backhand was still able to produce unparalleled winning points, and his overall strength was fully demonstrated.
But Gao Wen believes that he can do better. He has learned a lot from Wawrinka's performance. Compared with talking on paper, actual combat is the best way to accumulate experience.
In the fourth set, both sides successively reached their physical peak and their overall performance improved, but after all, unlike the first and second sets, the intensity of the confrontation was still slightly weaker.
At this time, Gao Wen showed his calmness and composure. He was not affected by the loss in the third set at all. He adjusted his tactics step by step, which really made Wawrinka very uncomfortable. He continued to disrupt Wawrinka's hitting rhythm, and the number of change-ups began to increase significantly.
Cut, spin, small ball, high lob.
Gao Wen's tactical system advantage shined after his relative physical weakness. The two sides were deadlocked all the way to "6:6". Just as the audience expected, they witnessed the two players with a very high winning rate in the tie-break fighting with bayonets and blood. The atmosphere was obviously tense.
After all, Wawrinka was leading by a large margin, and there were many uncertainties in the tie-break. It was very likely that Wawrinka would get the match point and win in one go.
However, the progress of the tie-break was surprising. Standing on the edge of elimination, Gawain showed great courage and performed very well. He firmly controlled the initiative of the game and forced Wawrinka to make consecutive mistakes in his backhand, leading all the way and eventually winning with a small score of "7:2".
Especially in the set, Gawain used his signature backhand straight line to create the winning point, leaving no chance for Wawrinka, and won the fourth set neatly, successfully winning thunderous applause at the Louis Armstrong Stadium.
"2:2".
Gao Wen successfully equalized the score, which also means that the two players are about to enter the deciding set.
Although Gawain defeated Borelli in the deciding set in the second round to advance, Borelli was obviously lacking in competitiveness in the fifth set due to his physical strength. Gawain won easily with a score of "6:2" and did not face a truly severe test.
But the Wawrinka in front of him is different.
At the Australian Open at the beginning of the year, in the quarterfinals against Djokovic, the two sides were tied in the first four sets and had to go to the deciding set to decide the winner. The Australian Open still maintained the rule of long sets to decide the winner, that is, after the score is tied at "6:6", there is no tiebreak, but one side must win two sets in a row to win.
In the end, Wawrinka defeated Djokovic in the final set with a score of 9:7. The match was truly thrilling.
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Now, Wawrinka will not surrender easily when facing Gawain, and the outcome of the final set is still full of suspense. The entire Louis Armstrong Stadium is boiling; moreover, at this moment, the games in other venues have all ended, and only the Arthur Ashe Stadium is waiting for the night session to begin. Naturally, all eyes and all live broadcast signals are focused here.
The orange-red sun in the sky has turned into blood red, and the whole world is dyed a colorful red, as if you are on Mars.
Then, the deciding set began, with Wawrinka serving first.
At the beginning of the game, Wawrinka seemed to be holding back his breath, very dissatisfied with the loss in the previous set tie-break. His condition improved very quickly and strongly. On the contrary, Gao Wen, who had planned everything in the tie-break, was a little distracted. Then Wawrinka won three games in a row to take the lead.
But then Gao Wen gained a firm foothold, first saved his own serve, and then took advantage of Wawrinka's obvious decline in serve power and speed to launch a fierce attack, winning four points in a row to break back in a "love game", and after saving his own serve, he won three games in a row to return to a tie.
After that, both players calmed down and held their serve, and the score was already "4:4".
The audience thought it might be a break point battle like in the third set, but now it seems more likely to be a tie-break like in the fourth set.
The US Open is the first and currently the only Grand Slam tournament to abolish the long set system in the final set. Even in the final set, a tie-break will still be used to decide the winner after a 6:6 tie.
If this is true, it would be a "gambling" that would make one's palms sweat, comparable to the huge sums of money gambled in Las Vegas. The randomness of the suspense of victory or defeat is so great that all the spectators inside and outside the stadium, inside and outside the TV, became tense.
But will the game really proceed like this? (End of this chapter)