Chapter 484 Creating Opportunities

Cilic took a deep breath and adjusted his mood.

Facing Berdych and Federer, Cilic always put himself in the right position and played the role of the attacker, but this was not the case when facing Gawain: the opponent was a dark horse, the opponent was winning the first Grand Slam in his career, and the opponent had never even entered the main competition of any ATP-level professional event... All these things indicated that Cilic was the one with the upper hand, Cilic was the one with a higher chance of winning the championship, and Cilic was the one dominating the game.

Add to that the raucous atmosphere of a Grand Slam final and everything becomes different.

At the beginning of the game, from Gawain's four straight points to save his serve to Cilic's first four serves, the whole strong impact made Cilic feel vaguely uncomfortable.

It's a bit awkward.

call……

Cilic took another deep breath, calmed himself down, and began to prepare to serve.

"30:30".

Zone 1, close range and forehand pressure.

Cilic made a slight adjustment in his serving tactics, using close serve to suppress the opponent, trying to contain Gawain's intention to attack in the first shot. Regardless of success or failure, if Gawain continued to fight fiercely, Cilic's psychological pressure would become greater and greater, and he needed to suppress Gawain.

At least we can't let Gawain do whatever he wants.

From this point of view, Cilic's basketball IQ is still good, at least he doesn't just go for it recklessly.

But Gawain still batted at his own pace.

Cilic's first serve ensured the speed. Gawain barely moved sideways to make room, and swung his forehand quickly to block and tear. It was obvious that Gawain's handling of this ball was a bit hasty.

The two consecutive serve aces before that were indeed largely due to luck.

The return ball drew a flat parabola; and the landing point of the return ball was not deep enough, landing in a position neither high nor low in the half court.

Objectively speaking, this is the norm when receiving Cilic's serve. Cilic can often establish an advantage through serving, which also makes his subsequent attack easier.

However, Cilic had never expected that Gawain's return would be shallow! Regardless, two consecutive serve aces created psychological pressure, especially Gawain's mediocre response, which made Cilic feel heavy pressure.

Naturally, Cilic had a lot of pressure on Gawain's serve return, and the result was -

That’s it?

Unexpectedly, Cilic's reaction speed was obviously a little slower.

For the audience in front of the TV, this little delay in reaction is just a pause in footsteps, which seems harmless; but for the audience at the scene, they can clearly feel how serious the impact of Cilic's pause in footsteps is -

The hitting point is wrong.

Cilic rushed forward, but the tennis ball had reached its highest point and then entered the descending range, which also meant that Cilic had no chance to launch a half-court attack. In order to avoid hitting the ball into the net, he also needed to adjust his steps, make sure his center of gravity was squatted, and the entire hitting action was full enough to hit the tennis ball over the net.

In other words, it was originally an opportunity to directly score the winning point, but now it gave Gao Wen a chance to fight back.

Diagonal, forehand, backhand.

Gao Wen saw that Cilic's starting speed was a little slow, so he immediately made a judgment that a forehand diagonal shot was a high probability event.

Because Cilic is 198 cm tall, he is also a bulky big man. Although he has solid basic skills, good mobility and defensive abilities, some of his shots are still limited by his height.

Simply put, it's the same for Gao Wen. Naturally, Gao Wen can understand what kind of shots can make Cilic uncomfortable, and he may need to be more careful and cautious, and then the return line will also be restricted.

For example, this time.

For big guys, half-court balls, and missed hitting points, in order to avoid the ball going into the net and ensure the landing point and power control, a forehand small diagonal shot is the safest choice.

Cilic happens to be a player who chooses his shot lines very conservatively.

Chance!

Although this was not the opportunity that Gawain had planned, he immediately captured the change in the situation and realized that this was an opportunity.

Gao Wen took a sideways step and shook Cilic with a fake move. Then he immediately used his left calf to push the ground and push his body in the opposite direction. When Cilic hit the ball in front of him, he was already in place and led the forehand in advance.

Stand firm, straighten your body, and move forward.

Whoosh! Swing!

Speed ​​up, speed up again, speed up all the way! In an instant, Gao Wen's arm swing speeded up significantly, the speed of the entire racket head increased immediately, the rotation of the upper body was extremely complete, and then the tennis ball was directly hit out.

Bang! Diagonally! Diagonally! Like a playful elf, the tennis ball swiftly and nimbly passed right in front of Cilic.

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It can be seen from Cilic's position that he was obviously not prepared. He did not step forward in time to block the net, nor did he retreat back to the baseline to prepare for hitting the ball. This awkward position caused him to fall into a dilemma, and then the half of the court in front of him became the space for Gao Wen to break through.

This is also the most classic breakthrough route when the player's footsteps cannot keep up with the rhythm in time.

sudden.

Cilic reflexively rushed towards his forehand position, but was unable to hold his position. He watched the tennis ball pass over his racket, fall into an empty position within the boundary, and then slip out.

“30:40.”

Wow! Tate was the first to stand up and cheer, venting his emotions passionately, but he soon found that he was the only one standing up. He turned his head to look at Jiang Yanyun, Sampras, Meng Xiushan and others beside him. Tate laughed twice, but he was not too panicked. He opened his arms and hugged the court.

“Who doesn’t like this sport?”

Although it was a bit abrupt, the bustling applause and cheers in the Arthur Ashe Stadium had begun to surge, and the atmosphere of a bloody final quietly spread. Then looking at Tate's actions, it didn't seem so abrupt.

Involuntarily, people thought of the two semi-finals. Both Gawain and Cilic quickly got into the game at the beginning, launched their attacks as challengers, broke their opponents' serve, took a 2:0 lead at the beginning, and eventually won the first set.

At this time, Gao Wen also got a break point in Cilic's first service game, and won four points in a row after losing two points. Everything was very similar to Djokovic's match. Could it be...

ACE!

Cilic used his strongest weapon to gain a foothold and saved the first break point of the final, proving to the audience at Arthur Ashe Stadium that this was a brand new game. He obviously had no intention of handing the championship to his opponent.

"ah!"

Cilic raised his fist and shouted at Gawain on the other side of the court, like an angry bulldog, trying to mobilize his enthusiasm at the beginning of the game, as if shouting to Gawain:

I am here to compete for the championship!

(End of this chapter)