Chapter 407: Grasping the Essence
In the quarterfinals of the singles match of the US Championship, Gawain faced the "Dark Mark Star" Sarkeesian, a player who grabbed the rising point and controlled the rhythm of the game. At that time, the media believed that he was likely to become Gawain's nemesis because Sarkeesian could shorten the time Gawain had to think about his layout.
After all, Sarkisian is just an NCAA player with limited strength, but if Sarkisian grows up, his template in the tour should be Fognini - his imaginative way of hitting and controlling the ball can make the game easy, or... Kei Nishikori.
Raonic plays the same style as Isner and Kyrgios, and it is clear that Gawain is not afraid of him; but Kei Nishikori is a typical baseline player. He is best at grabbing rising points and rhythm connection points. Especially under the coaching of Michael Chang, he adjusted ten technical moves back and forth and slowly began to learn to play with his head.
In an interview, Kei Nishikori once said, "Playing with the brain consumes a lot of physical strength and energy. There is not much time and space for me to be distracted during a game. My mind must be constantly working, which is very difficult."
Under the guidance of Michael Chang, Kei Nishikori fully utilized his strengths and avoided his weaknesses, circumventing the disadvantage of his height and taking advantage of his low center of gravity and fast movement to seize the rising points and rhythm connection points, control the rhythm of the game, and then maximize his ability to use the opponent's force to play. This is why he can often have a strong impact in the opponent's serve.
Originally, it would be very difficult to play the topspin style against Nadal's super topspin, but Kei Nishikori made full use of his advantage of fast foot speed and took the lead when the spin was fully released. Instead, every confrontation made Nadal feel huge pressure.
Because Nadal is a typical clay court player who prefers a slow pace and long rounds, it was not until 2017 and 2018 that Nadal's game pace gradually became faster after being restructured by the coaching team to adapt to age and physical changes.
It is also because of this that, although as of 2014, Kei Nishikori had lost all seven matches against Nadal, and did not defeat Nadal for the first time until the 2015 Toronto Masters; but every time Kei Nishikori was able to make Nadal very uncomfortable, such as at the Australian Open at the beginning of the year, the two met in the round of 16, and Nadal finally won with a score of "7:6", "7:5", and "7:6".
Kei Nishikori is what Sarkeesian hopes to become when he grows up.
Especially this year, Kei Nishikori has risen across the board and his upward momentum is very strong. He is ranked the tenth seed in this year's US Open.
From the perspective of opposing styles of play, Gawain will indeed have a hard time facing Kei Nishikori, but facing Raonic, regardless of the outcome, will at least be much easier.
Tobias's consideration is not unreasonable.
But the question is, is Tobias really considering the problem of tennis tactics and playing styles? Or... is all this a cover-up to conceal the real purpose? So, Gawain did not answer Tobias' question, but just looked at Tobias with a smile on his face.
Tobias finally gave in and raised his hands in surrender. "Actually, I wanted to come over to see how you were doing because I need to make a decision."
"Your decision will not depend on whether I can continue to win in the next round, right?" Gawain immediately realized the deeper meaning in Tobias' words, and then he saw Tobias smile. Although he didn't say anything, he seemed to be affirmative.
Gawain also laughed, but stopped joking. Instead, he thought seriously, "John, to be honest, I still have a lot of shortcomings, but that also means I still have room for improvement. Whether it's Milos or Gui, they are more mature and experienced. Facing any of them, I am at a disadvantage."
Putting aside the question of whether the playing style is adaptable, this is the objective reality.
Then Gawain looked up at Tobias, his eyes revealing a light yet resounding determination, "But this also means that I have no baggage. I will not be complacent with my results so far. I will still lower my posture and attack them with all my strength. I will not hold back and fight until the end of the game. Then we will see what happens."
The suspense of victory or defeat, before the game starts and before the game ends, no one can assert, everything is possible, this is the greatest charm of competitive sports.
However, the desire for victory and the belief in fighting are another matter.
As long as you put your feet on the court, everything is possible.
Tobias quietly stared at the young man in front of him. He could feel the firmness and confidence hidden in his plain words and bright eyes. Humility does not mean timidity, and caution does not mean retreat. On the contrary, the high morale emanating from his whole body is so real.
Tobias couldn't help but think back to when he first met Gawain.
Asian faces are not uncommon in tennis matches, but they are not that common either. They are rarely seen in the top ranks, especially male players. Therefore, they stand out in the crowd but are easily overlooked.
They stand out because of their different appearances, but are ignored because of their low-key and modest temperament; coupled with the inertial thinking that always believes that the ceiling for Asian male players is obvious, this creates such a weird situation, where people notice it but subconsciously choose to ignore it.
However, Tobias really noticed Gawain, the sunny, calm, confident and generous young man.
At first, Tobias thought it was because of Gawain’s conversation and temperament, which was “interesting”.
However, after gradually getting to know her more deeply, I realized that it is a charm that radiates from the inside out, the ease and grace that shines from the court to outside the court, and the light radiated by that unique belief is attractive.
Since the beginning of the NCAA, no one has been particularly optimistic about Gao Wen's prospects, but he has created miracles all the way to where he is now, standing on the stage of the US Open quarterfinals, creating miracles step by step, not to prove himself, but because he fights to the end and refuses to surrender until the last point.
To be honest, Tobias didn't think Gawain could beat Isner or Wawrinka.
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Of course, he could just say that it was because Gawain needed to make steady progress and go all out to attack his opponent in order to have a chance of victory.
In fact, he knew that these were all hypocritical and polite remarks, and his real thought deep in his heart was "there is little hope". This is the answer when analyzing from an objective perspective.
But what is the result?
Gawain did it.
The 0.01% possibility turned into reality, not because of a miracle, but because Gawain firmly believed in this glimmer of hope and fought for it to the end, refusing to wait for a miracle to happen, and using his own hands and legs to fight his way out of a bloody mess and reach the other side of the legend.
So, now that we have reached the quarterfinals, why not continue?
(End of this chapter)