Chapter 449: Burning Eyes
Staggering.
Staggering!
After Gao Wen finished hitting the ball, he almost lost his balance. He used his hands and feet to support his body, and knelt on one knee to stay where he was, staring at the flight trajectory of the tennis ball. In a trance, he completely forgot about his burning lungs and tired legs. There was only that tennis ball in his eyes and mind.
Then.
Within the boundaries!
"ah!"
Gawain immediately clenched his fists and roared.
“Ahhhh!”
The passionate roar continuously released all the emotions in his chest.
“Ahhhh!”
Gawain waved his fists heavily, pounded his chest fiercely, looked up to the sky and roared, then stood up, staring at Djokovic, who was separated by a net, with scorching eyes, and challenged him with his eyes, shouts, and voice.
Facing the world's number one, the Grand Slam champion, and one of the Big Four, Gao Wen not only did not show any fear, but also challenged with great ambition, winning the first set with an unparalleled performance.
After saving six break points and going through eight deuces, Gao Wen finally won the third set and took the first set victory!
“Ahhhh!”
The entire Arthur Ashe Stadium went crazy.
Even Djokovic's fans were stunned. They were not surprised that Djokovic might lose the set, after all, everyone knew that Djokovic was slow to warm up; but what surprised them was that it was obvious that Djokovic had regained his form at the end of the set, but Gawain still won the first set with such a tough and outstanding performance.
Neutral fans started swearing, looking at Gawain who was roaring and clenching his fists in the middle of the court with irrational eyes. It was not because they were angry but because they were surprised. It was too unexpected and too exciting that their brains went blank and swearing came out. They were excited and agitated.
“Incredible.”
“Incredible!”
Zhan Jun's mind went blank and he was almost speechless for a moment.
"Gawain challenged Djokovic with a nearly perfect performance. Although he was a dark horse and a newcomer, he was not at all restrained when facing the world number one and the Grand Slam semi-final stage. The battle of wits and courage was really exciting to watch."
"The victory in the first set is undisputed."
Even with the wildest and most daring guesses, no one expected the first set of this semifinal to be so exciting.
Facing Djokovic, Gao Wen showed incredible competitive level and game wisdom. His calm and decisive performance at the critical moment was truly amazing.
“Ouch!”
“Ouch!”
“Ouch!”
On the other side of the Pacific Ocean, in the online live broadcast at midnight, the howling of wolves dominated the screen, and the label "US Open semi-finals" directly entered the hot search list. Those night owls who had no interest in tennis or sports also went online.
Gurgling.
Heat wave, sweeping.
Djokovic looked at Gawain who was so close to him, his energy was so strong that it was intimidating. His whole body exuded incredible passion and enthusiasm. He endured it again and again, but still couldn't control his anger.
"Grass."
Djokovic smashed his racket. It was more of a vent of anger at himself than at Gao Wen.
The quality of the final volley at the net was unacceptable, which directly led to the loss of the first set; but what was worse was that in this game, he missed six break points.
Six!
This is an unforgivable mistake.
In any match, missing six break points in a game is a disaster.
Djokovic was really angry.
Then Djokovic turned around and yelled at his team in the stands, seemingly complaining about something wrong with his own tactics.
Apparently, the crowd didn't like Djokovic's "complaints".
For the first time, boos were heard in Arthur Ashe Stadium, and they were directed at Djokovic.
It's always like this in tennis matches. If a player keeps throwing his racket and getting angry, the audience will boo him mercilessly. The US Open is already very tolerant because the audiences themselves are noisy enough; the French Open audience is truly ruthless and can even boo the players until they collapse.
Faced with the boos, Djokovic finally regained some of his sanity.
Instead of confronting the crowd like Kyrgios did, he stopped swearing, and then his eyes became brighter and brighter as he just stared at the audience.
Such occasions are not unfamiliar to Djokovic. When facing Federer and Nadal, and even when facing American players, he is always the one who is booed.
And Djokovic also knows that to deal with such a situation, instead of getting into a verbal dispute, it is better to fight back with performance on the court. The best way to shut up those noises is always to win.
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So Djokovic returned to the dugout, his eyes like a hawk, and just kept watching the audience at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Then, the break between sets ends and the second set begins.
The strongest point of the Big Four is not their technical ability but their psychological quality. They have faced countless difficulties and dealt with countless crises. The more important the game and the grander the stage, the more you can see their ability to handle critical moments.
It is precisely because of this that they are able to withstand the test time and time again and become stronger when faced with the impact of the new generation.
Losing the first set in a Grand Slam semifinal? That's no problem for Djokovic.
The second set, a comeback.
Djokovic was the first to serve again. After getting into the game, he became more and more courageous and easily saved the first serve with a "love-game".
But Gawain is no less impressive.
At this time, Gao Wen once again showed a maturity and stability that was inconsistent with his age and experience. Even though he won the first set, he still performed very stably in the second set.
Gao Wen only lost one point and also saved his first serve game in the second set.
"1:1".
"2:2".
"3:3".
The two players took turns to hold their serve, and the stalemate remained throughout, both in terms of game points and small points. No one could break the situation easily, and then the second set entered the end of the set.
"Apparently, Gawain is having some physical problems right now."
"Looking back at the two players' progress, Djokovic only played 16 sets, which took less than 11 hours, while Gawain played 21 sets, which took more than 16 hours. The physical exertion of the two players was not at the same level."
"In addition, in this match, Gawain fought more fiercely than Djokovic in the first set, especially in the final stage of the set, where he served to win the set, which was very difficult."
"It can be seen from all aspects that Gawain's physical strength is more seriously depleted. Of course, Gawain is also younger, so his physical strength recovery speed must be faster."
"However, now that we are entering the final stage of the second set, Gawain seems to have reached the end of his strength first, but we don't know how much physical reserve Djokovic has. The only thing that is certain is that the battle-hardened Djokovic will definitely not miss such an important opportunity. Now the game is very difficult for Gawain."
There is no need to distinguish between the authorities and the bystanders, everyone can see that Gao Wen is indeed facing some crises now.
"4:3", then in the eighth game of the second set, Gao Wen's serve.
"15:40", the break point comes.
(End of this chapter)