Chapter 482 Tactical Attack
Obviously, serving is not Gao Wen's strongest weapon. He is not even in the top 20 of the ACE list, and is even worse than other serving cannons who have only played two or three games. It can be said to be shabby. For the fast hard court of the US Open, the serving advantage can indeed be further magnified.
However, there are some unexpected gains when looking at the ACE number list. Raonic and Cilic ranked first and second respectively, Kyrgios ranked third, Wawrinka ranked fourth, Federer ranked fifth, and Djokovic ranked tenth.
In addition, Isner, who was eliminated unexpectedly after playing only one game, served out 26 aces, which was in stark contrast to Karlovic's 55 aces, who was eliminated in the second round. He can be called the king of efficiency, leading the pack in the number of aces per game.
A small set of data can reveal an interesting fact:
Isner, Kyrgios, Wawrinka, Djokovic, all lost to the same opponent.
Then let's look at another list of technical statistics. In terms of first serve return scoring rate, Federer, Murray and Kovan ranked in the top three among all male players; in terms of second serve return scoring rate, Kovan, Kei Nishikori and Cilic ranked in the top three at this year's US Open.
A cross-comparison of the two data shows that Gao Wen is not afraid of facing a serving cannon at all.
Well, the opening is a bit interesting.
Gao Wen, who is not good at serving, chose to serve first, and then won four points in a row to save his serve; Gao Wen, who is good at receiving serves, is about to face Cilic, one of the players with the best serving performance in this year's US Open, but he doesn't know what Cilic's serving condition is and whether he is ready.
The two sides exchanged courts and Cilic quickly prepared to serve.
Cilic's entire playing rhythm is still relatively fast. Like those great serve cannons, the entire preparation process is relatively simple, but he still has his own habitual routine: move his toes, look up at his opponent, tap the tennis ball twice, move his toes again, glance at his opponent, and then toss the ball.
The whole process progresses very quickly, but all the details must be repeated each time before it can start, just like his batting style and return routine. Moreover, Cilic's serve speed is not explosive. He prefers a steady and uniform speed. The serve speed throughout the game can be maintained at around 135 miles (200 kilometers), not too fast but not too slow.
Stable, solid, and sharp.
Therefore, watching Cilic's games often lacks a bit of passion and excitement, but he can indeed maintain his competitiveness, whether it is best of three sets or best of five sets, and there are rarely any ups and downs or collapses until the very end.
Bang! In the first point, Gao Wen was very aggressive, raising his forehand to hit a diagonal line, aiming at the deep area of the baseline, but unfortunately he did not control the strength well, and the return ball went over the baseline and out of bounds, giving Cilic a direct serve.
In the second point, Gao Wen grabbed a serve again, and facing Cilic's serve, he also used both hands to backhand towards the baseline, but this time the swing was not complete, so he hit it directly away, giving away another point.
"30:0".
really!
The speculations of professionals and veteran fans were confirmed. This was a Grand Slam final and a battle between the two sides. The slow start and testing in the opening stage were necessary processes. Galvin was able to hold his serve in a "love-game" because Cilic was still finding his rhythm. Also, Galvin's touch was also adjusting in Cilic's serve, so the whole game progressed very quickly.
Because it was too fast, it was a bit messy.
But this is normal. Newcomers in Grand Slam finals need to go through this process. It is also for this reason that neutral fans do not like such dark horse duels, and the excitement is indeed greatly reduced.
In the third point, Cilic missed his first serve and pressed a close forehand with his second serve, but Gawain's back-to-back return hit a small diagonal forehand that went straight through Cilic's defense. He scored the point with an ace on his return serve, which was more or less a matter of luck, because Gawain's shot didn't hit the sweet spot, but instead created an unexpected small diagonal effect to score.
pretty.
But the mood at Arthur Ashe Stadium was not high.
In tennis, like table tennis and badminton, serving and receiving are indeed very important confrontation links, and the first step for both sides to compete for the initiative. But if the game remains tense here and the confrontation in the round ball cannot form a stalemate at all, it would be too boring.
No spectator likes to watch two players practicing serving and receiving back and forth. The ball caddy may have to spend even more time on the court to grab attention. The game will only be exciting when the two sides confront each other on offense and defense and when the offense and defense transitions collide.
Therefore, even though Gao Wen hit an ace in his serve return, the audience was not too excited; however, the audience still applauded and whistled, cheering for the two players and looking forward to them getting into the game state as soon as possible.
Only Cilic looked up at Gawain. He could notice that Gawain's receiving position had changed slightly in the past three serves.
Generally speaking, the further back you stand, the more defensive your posture will be, and your success rate in receiving serves will increase while your aggressiveness will decrease; the further forward you stand, the more offensive your posture will be, and your offensive threat in receiving serves will increase while your success rate will fluctuate dramatically.
When watching Serena Williams' games, she often goes to the baseline to receive the second serve, and then kills the ball with one shot.
Facing Cilic's powerful serve, Gao Wen's position was about one step away from the baseline, not too far back nor too close. He then made careful adjustments three times, not considering Cilic's serve tactics, but adjusting his offensive strategy centered on himself. The strategies for returning the serve three times were different.
Cilic could feel the pressure.
In the first game, Gawain held serve cleanly and gave Cilic almost no chance, not only the chance to attack or defend, but also the chance to adapt to the atmosphere and venue of the game.
Compared to Gawain, this was only Cilic's second time entering the Arthur Ashe Stadium. The light refraction brought by the sunset at 5 pm was completely different from that of other stadiums. Coupled with the warm and tense atmosphere of the final, Cilic was indeed a little confused and disoriented.
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Then the first game ended in a daze and the second game began immediately. Cilic felt that he needed a little time to sort out his thoughts.
But obviously Gao Wen's return serve did not give him time and space, as if... as if Gao Wen was always increasing the tempo of the game.
But the problem is, between the two of them, Cilic has always had a faster pace of play, while Gawain prefers to slow down the pace of the game. Why does Gawain seem to be more impatient and anxious than Cilic now?
A mess of thoughts were surging in my mind.
The only thing to be thankful for is that Gawain has made many mistakes so far, and the pressure has not resulted in any points. Cilic still has the initiative in the score, so the pressure has not yet broken the balance.
What if Gawain continues to attack? Huh...
Cilic realized that he needed the first serve. Although Gawain grabbed both the first and second serves, the first serve was more threatening after all, and it was still difficult for Gawain to succeed. So he needed the first serve to protect himself, and at the same time, the quality of the first serve also needed to be guaranteed.
One shot. Quality. One shot. Quality.
After taking a deep breath, Cilic adjusted his thoughts and prepared to serve.
(End of this chapter)