Chapter 443: Slow Start
When people mention Federer, they will definitely think of his sharp serve and smooth attack; when people mention Nadal, they will definitely think of his super topspin forehand and never-give-up defense.
When people mention Djokovic and Murray, the biggest impression that comes to mind is that they are well-balanced in all aspects but lack outstanding weapons. Relatively speaking, Djokovic's ability to change lines and Murray's layout ability are the most powerful of their various techniques, which can reflect the different styles of the players from the side.
Even after 2017, when Djokovic adjusted his training focus and his serving ability improved significantly, people still overlooked his serving ability because his baseline ability was so outstanding, just like Serena Williams' serving ability was so outstanding that people always overlooked her baseline ability, which is also at the top of the pyramid.
Then, let’s go back to the semi-final. Why did Gao Wen choose to receive the serve?
Part of the reason is indeed because Djokovic's serve ability was not top-notch during this period, but the main reason is because Djokovic was slow to warm up.
Djokovic is a very slow-warming player. Because of his playing style, he needs a lot of time to find the feel of the ball in the baseline round, and also needs a lot of time to adapt to his opponent's serving style. This makes him even slower to warm up than the "King of Clay" Nadal, and he often faces many challenges at the beginning of the first set.
Gawain chose to receive the serve first to prevent Djokovic from gaining more time to adapt to the ball in his own serving game. After all, Djokovic's ability to receive the serve is really too strong. If Gawain served first, it would give Djokovic more time to find his form.
So, this is a strategic choice.
Moreover, this is only part of Gawain's tactics.
Snap. Snap. Snap.
Djokovic is bouncing the ball.
Professional players all have their own habits developed since childhood. Djokovic's is bouncing the ball. He is used to adjusting his breathing and rhythm by bouncing the ball, while also determining the serving tactics in his mind. The more nervous he is, the more times he bounces the ball.
Normally, it is normal to bounce the ball more than ten times, but in the crucial moment, Djokovic even bounced the ball more than thirty times, so that his opponent had to wait until the ball was cold.
Later, tennis modified the serving rules, allowing players only 25 seconds to adjust after a ball was over, and then they had to serve. Otherwise, after two warnings, they would be penalized for one serve opportunity.
The biggest influencers of the serve interval timing rules are Djokovic, who likes to bounce the ball, and Nadal, who has an obsessive-compulsive routine.
However, in order to shorten the game time and facilitate TV broadcast, this rule was still implemented. However, the referee can adjust the degree according to the specific situation of the game.
For example, if two players have just gone through an extremely long round of tug-of-war of thirty-six shots, then the twenty-five-second timing rule should naturally be relaxed, at least to give the two players a chance to catch their breath.
Now, the serve timing rule has not yet been introduced, so Djokovic can still hit the ball slowly.
Gawain maintained a high level of concentration. Even though Djokovic kept bouncing the ball, he did not become impatient. He kept swaying his body gently, waiting for Djokovic's signal to throw the ball.
Then--
The ball was thrown! His eyes followed the tennis ball as it rose, but Gao Wen only knew about Djokovic from TV videos. He had never played against him before, so he had no way to predict. He could only stay focused and observe Djokovic's serving habits.
Close-range forehand! Gao Wen's brain immediately sounded the alarm, and his footsteps slightly deviated to his left, while his upper body continued to retreat to make room for the racket.
Djokovic's serve speed is not fast, but after experiencing Isner and Kyrgios, he is much more calm when facing such serves.
But Djokovic's serve often lands very accurately, limiting his opponent's return line and then preparing for his next attack.
At this moment, Gao Wen's position was squeezed, but he dodged in time, and the whole conditioned reflex instantly made room.
When being squeezed, the forehand should be swung quickly to touch the ball as quickly as possible within the hitting space, and then the upper body should complete a turning movement, and the racket head speed should be added immediately.
Bang! In the entire hitting action, you can clearly see the wrist swinging outward, and at the last moment, the speed and angle of the return ball are increased by the speed of the racket head.
Although there is no room for active effort, the improvement in the overall rhythm can still be clearly seen.
Whoosh! The next second you can see the tennis ball flying back diagonally.
Because there was not enough space to swing the racket, changing the line was almost impossible, and just as Djokovic had calculated, Gawain returned a diagonal line.
But at the moment when Gao Wen shot, Djokovic immediately realized the slight speed increase in the rhythm, and he suddenly kicked out towards his forehand.
Step.
Djokovic's upper body was fully stretched out. Although Gawain put some effort into his wrist and the tennis ball was obviously jumping out after landing, Djokovic still caught up with it. And he did not cut it. Instead, he hit the tennis ball back with his forehand with a swing of his forearm.
Rely on backhand in the middle.
In a hurry, Djokovic still cleverly completed the package and control. From the line to the landing point, his strong control over the baseline shots can be seen.
However, the team didn’t feel hot in the opening stages, so the depth was not well controlled.
The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!
From the tactical intention point of view, Djokovic chose the middle road. He needed to use his backhand to receive the ball on the path of Gao Wen's lateral movement. If he pressed deep enough, the backhand swing could not be fully exerted. Following the inertia of running, returning a back diagonal or middle road should be the most likely possibility.
Then Djokovic can wait to complete the next shot in his forehand half to turn the situation around.
Unfortunately, the depth is a little lacking.
When Gao Wen moved sideways quickly, he noticed the landing point at the first moment, and immediately took a small half step forward, almost stepping on the inner edge of the baseline, and his two-handed backhand was already set up early -
Push! Grab! Grab the rising point.
A push! A swing! Full force.
Gao Wen's two-handed backhand hit strongly, directly grabbing a rising point, and then suppressed Djokovic's return with speed and power, hitting a low and flat diagonal line.
Whoosh! Djokovic realized that his return was too shallow, but he didn't realize that Gawain had such an outstanding sense of connection, so he rushed up at the first time, and then the ball was gone.
Djokovic watched helplessly as the tennis ball turned into a streamline and shot out from the gap in his backhand, landing, bouncing, and hitting the billboard behind him.
Bang.
There was a dull sound, and Djokovic didn't even have time to take a step to defend before the point was over.
At 0:15, Gao Wen took the lead and scored the first point! Obviously, facing the world's number one, Gao Wen had no burden or nervousness and was fully prepared at the start.
(End of this chapter)