Chapter 461 Young and passionate

Opportunity!

Djokovic's chance!

For the fifth time in a row, he controlled the tennis ball to Gawain's forehand position, disrupting Gawain's center of gravity in his continuous defense, and finally forcing Gawain to cut the ball with his forehand. The balance of the entire stroke's rhythm was broken, so Djokovic finally got the chance and created it through his full-court control of the ball.

So, how to attack? If it was Djokovic in his prime, he would have already attacked directly at this moment, whether it was forehand or backhand, but this year at the US Open, Djokovic did lack a little dominance and courage. He obviously thought too much about the handling of key balls and his shots were not as decisive as usual.

The same is true for this ball.

Djokovic glanced at Gawain's position and saw that he was adjusting his center of gravity with a series of small steps. Judging from his movement trend, he should be preparing to defend the backhand gap, but Gawain's movement was very smart. He kept his center of gravity active and could change his movement route at any time with a sudden stop and turn to cover the entire court.

Throughout today's game, Djokovic has already felt the defensive ability of this 193 cm tall man in front of him.

So, how should he attack? Djokovic hesitated for just a moment, a millisecond, and then he realized that he had missed the shot, because Gawain's return was also a trick. The return ball with strong topspin landed very shallowly. On the surface, it looked like an ordinary cutting defensive return, but the shallow landing point and the ample space after the rebound allowed the spin to be fully released, so -

The hitting point has risen to the shoulder position and is still rising.

Djokovic's backhand shot requires a comfortable space, otherwise his body will be awkward and he will not be able to successfully complete the swing of the racket. This is also the only shortcoming in the use of the body of Djokovic, who has top flexibility. It cannot be considered a shortcoming or loophole, but it is indeed difficult for him to fully exert force.

Therefore, in the backhand position, Djokovic's shot will often be pressed a little forward, completing the shot before the hitting point continues to rise.

But this time it missed a little bit.

Djokovic was not upset. He had not figured out how to attack anyway, so he simply hit a transition ball, gave up the risky action of actively exerting force, and hit the tennis ball directly back.

Moreover, Djokovic also had a little clever idea hidden. Instead of creating an angle, he pressed the middle, disrupting the rhythm of Gao Wen's lateral movement at both ends of the baseline; his return ball landed very deep, directly on the baseline, further compressing Gao Wen's reaction time and swing space.

Even if it was just a transition ball, Djokovic was still able to control the situation.

However, Gawain's pupils shrank slightly——

Here we come!

In fact, Gawain was trying to induce Djokovic to break his balance and attack actively. As long as Djokovic took the initiative to increase the angle of his return, his counterattack would be able to further increase the angle, and the movement of his center of gravity would be in preparation for his defense; but if Djokovic was soft-handed, he would launch the attack!

Tap, tap, tap! Gao Wen immediately realized Djokovic's trick in returning the ball, and took small steps to adjust his center of gravity and position, but his expression was not panic or nervous at all. After his steps were in place, he immediately shot with his forehand, without any false moves or hidden intentions, because he needed to seize the rhythm of the attack -

Cutting!

For the second consecutive shot, Gao Wen cut the ball with his forehand, and it was obvious that he used his wrist to make a fancy move to increase the rotation of the tennis ball. The whole feel of the shot and the feel of the ball were fully displayed at this moment, and then the tennis ball jumped out at a high speed.

This is the way that tennis queen Stefanie Graf is very good at hitting the ball.

She is the only tennis player in the Open Era who has won all four Grand Slams and the Olympic Gold Slam in a single year. Her 22 Grand Slam titles are also the most among male and female players in the Open Era, a record she was only surpassed by Serena Williams in 2017. She also married Andre Agassi in 2001 to form a legendary couple in tennis.

Graf often uses backhand slices to create strong side spin and outspin, which opens up the return angle and compresses the opponent's hitting space.

The same is true for Gawain.

It was a forehand cut, and his cut was in a clockwise and outward direction. The wrist strength further increased the rotation, and then the tennis ball flew over very lightly and very quickly, landing on the sideline of Djokovic's left half of the court, and then quickly rushed outward.

Danger!

Djokovic immediately realized the crisis, not only because of the outward parabola, but also because Gawain cut a downward spin, and the height after landing and rebounding was very low, it seemed that he was almost about to land and form two jumps.

This made Djokovic run at full speed -

It is dangerous, but such a slice shot has limited impact on Djokovic. Graf's slice shot was able to sweep the field in the 1980s and 1990s, but it may not be effective now.

Just as Djokovic was wondering whether to choose to cut twice in a row, his two-handed backhand had already completed the shot.

Diagonal, diagonal, force.

Djokovic finally took the initiative and used the power of pushing off the ground and sprinting to hit the tennis ball hard while moving at high speed.

Boom! But the next second Djokovic realized something was wrong.

trap!

Because Gawain had already rushed to the backhand position in advance, it was obvious that the two cuts just now were to induce Djokovic to take the initiative to launch an attack. Once the angle was torn apart, both sides had to enter the rhythm of force confrontation, and then Gawain had the opportunity to break the deadlock by taking advantage of the force.

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Djokovic's slightest slackness and hesitation quickly turned into a trap for himself, and emotions of frustration, regret, anger and irritability exploded directly.

Damn it!

Here, Gawain remained calm, not ecstatic, his attention completely focused on his steps, adjusting them continuously, with the howling wind whistling in his ears. Then he pushed the ground hard with his left leg, hitting the ground firmly, keeping his upper body stable, and setting up the turret with a backhand shot of his hands.

Push off the ground! Turn! Swing the racket! Attack! The mind is clear! Calm, composed, focused, and devoted. From the first cut, the layout and calculations are started. From the second cut, the preparations are brewing. The sound of the brain working at high speed is clearly audible. The burning eyes are fixed on the incoming ball without turning, and then the hitting action is done in one go.

Boom! Following the swing of the racket, the whole body rushed out, the dark blue jersey fluttered in the wind in the golden sunlight, and one could even see the glittering light of golden sweat. The boiling blood continued to roar in the ears, as if one could see the glory of the whole world condensing and rushing out, and all the strength was poured into the tennis ball.

straight line!

Flat hit!

Violence!

Speed ​​up! Lightning and thunder! Rolling in!

Bang.

It landed firmly, accurately and fiercely in the blind spot of the big triangle at the baseline, then jumped out and slammed into the billboard behind the court, making a dull sound, like a tornado, without giving Djokovic any chance at all, and it became a dead ball.

"Set, high!"

(End of this chapter)