Chapter 415 Asian Showdown
"...Dear viewers, welcome to ESPN. We are broadcasting for you..."
"…This is the first Asian match in the history of the Grand Slam men's singles quarterfinals. Regardless of the result, the winner will make history by becoming the first Asian male player to reach the Grand Slam semifinals. Today's opponents are Gao Wen and…"
"...After the US Open draw was released this year, no one could have predicted such a quarterfinal matchup. The presence of No. 3 seed Stan Wawrinka and No. 5 seed Milos Raonic made the two-quarter zone known as the death zone. However, the two top seeds both stopped in the round of 16, which was a shocking upset..."
"...It can be said that the breakthrough of the two dark horses disrupted the draw of two quarters, which also made the matchups in the upper half of the draw appear interesting. On one side, there is a direct confrontation between Djokovic and Murray, and on the other side, there is a dark horse encounter between Kovan and Kei Nishikori..."
Rustling.
Rustling.
As the two players walked onto the court to warm up, the commentators on all the major TV stations began their preliminary introductions, bringing the audience this historic "Asian Showdown". In every aspect, this was the absolute focus.
However, compared with the two blockbuster matches at night, the attendance rate in the opening stage of this match was average. After all, the "Wawrinka VS Raonic" duel did not take place as expected, and the meeting of the two Asian dark horses was still slightly less attractive to the local audience; but the Asian faces in the audience quickly filled the gap.
It is obvious to the naked eye that the number of Asian spectators has increased significantly, and during the players' warm-up phase, spectators continued to enter the stadium.
Since the local audience is not very interested, it also means that there is still time to buy tickets on the spot, so naturally you can see many Asian audiences who come to Flushing to watch the game on a whim.
Such a scene is indeed a rare sight in professional tennis, and it is undoubtedly even more special for Arthur Ashe Stadium to have the honor of witnessing history.
Arthur Ashe, the three-time Grand Slam champion, is black.
He is the first African-American player to represent the United States in the Davis Cup, and the first African-American world number one after the official introduction of the world ranking system. At the same time, he is also one of the main initiators of the ATP organization, whose purpose is to protect the interests and rights of the players.
In order to recognize and pay tribute to this legendary star who changed professional tennis, the U.S. Open named its center court after Arthur Ashe.
Today, Arthur Ashe Stadium will witness the first Asian showdown for the semi-finals in the history of the four Grand Slams, which is indeed of great significance.
"... Kei Nishikori, ranked eleventh in the world before the US Open, is the tenth seed in this tournament."
"This player, who was born in 1989, made his first Grand Slam breakthrough at the 2012 Australian Open, where he reached the quarterfinals for the first time. After that, his performance was slightly below expectations."
"The Australian Open is the Grand Slam where he performed best. He successfully advanced to the fourth round last year and this year. In addition, he also had a fourth round performance at the French Open and Wimbledon. Unfortunately, he was never able to break through the shackles of the round of 16. In addition, he was eliminated in the first round of the US Open last year and Wimbledon this year."
"This year, in Flushing Meadows, Kei Nishikori once again performed well, reaching the quarterfinals for the first time, not only creating his best result at the US Open, but also tying his best performance at a Grand Slam. Obviously, he is looking forward to going one step further, continuing to break his best performance and making new history."
"This is indeed Kei Nishikori's best chance, because the one standing in front of him is the biggest dark horse of this tournament..."
Rustling.
Rustling.
The commentary that provides a detailed introduction to the background information of the two players was transmitted to every corner of the world through radio signals. However, when it comes to the high-level part, you will find that the content is really too little, less than the size of a piece of tofu that can be held in the palm of your hand, and it is very difficult to conduct an in-depth analysis even if you want to.
However, it is precisely because of this sharp contrast and huge gap that this historic Asian showdown is full of unknown fun.
On paper, Gao Wen is obviously at a disadvantage, but the magic is here. Facing any player in the men's singles draw, Gao Wen is at a disadvantage, but Gao Wen has made it to the quarterfinals. So how should we judge and analyze it? Kei Nishikori is currently in hot form, but Gao Wen is also in good form. So, what will the encounter between the two sides look like and what trend will it present? We still need both sides to play on the court to know.
The game begins and Gao Wen serves.
In the coin-guessing session, Kei Nishikori guessed the front side, but he chose the side of the court that was not illuminated, so naturally Gao Wen would serve first.
One choice can reveal two signals.
First, Kei Nishikori is still the same as always. He often starts by receiving the serve because his own serve is weak and he is used to defending and counterattacking.
Second, Kei Nishikori took the lighting issue into consideration.
Tennis matches try to avoid the influence of light and wind direction as much as possible, and the venue is changed every two games, which also reduces the environmental impact as much as possible; but it is undeniable that the glaring sunlight will still have a direct impact.
At this time, it was three o'clock in the afternoon local time in New York, and the sun was shining brightly. Kei Nishikori chose to serve on the side away from the light, while Gawain needed to serve facing the sun. In the opening stage, when he had no time to get into the state, the impact of the environment would be further amplified.
It can be seen that Kei Nishikori is ready to take the lead in the opening.
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Throughout Kei Nishikori's entire career, he was able to adapt to different courts, but he performed best on hard courts because he grew up in the famous Bollettieri Tennis Academy in the United States - the largest professional tennis academy in the world, without a doubt, and it is a hard court tennis academy.
So, apart from the Australian Open, Kei Nishikori's best performance is actually the US Open. He made it to the fourth round in his first participation in 2008, but his performance in the past four years has been very unstable, third round, first round, third round, first round. Why?
Both the Australian Open and the US Open are played on hard courts. The Australian Open is mainly made of plastic, which is considered a slow hard court. The US Open is mainly made of concrete, which is considered a fast hard court. The main difference lies in the bounce height after landing.
In general, the return ball at the US Open has a relatively low rebound height after landing and a faster forward speed after rebounding; at the same time, it is more advantageous for players with excellent serves.
The material of the US Open court determines that there are more variables, it is more difficult to control, and the competition is more intense. In 2009, the 20-year-old Del Potro defeated Nadal and Federer consecutively on this court to win his first Grand Slam championship trophy, breaking the Grand Slam monopoly of the Big Four.
From a technical and tactical perspective, the US Open venue is more suitable for Kei Nishikori's style of seizing the rising points, but the prerequisite is that Kei Nishikori needs to stay absolutely focused and use his brain at all times; once the thinking speed does not keep up, the deviation in the feel will have a very low tolerance rate in Kei Nishikori's style.
Therefore, Kei Nishikori's best and worst Grand Slam results are all at the US Open.
This year is undoubtedly the year when Kei Nishikori is in the best form. From his opening choices, one can feel his confidence, a kind of determination that is extremely focused and dedicated.
Before he even started batting, the alarm in Gawain's mind had already sounded.
(End of this chapter)