Chapter 485 Controlling the Situation
"ah!"
Cilic stared at Gawain and roared. The match had just entered the second game and Cilic was the first to shout. This also directly showed the pressure that Gawain brought to Cilic, so Cilic needed to vent and make himself excited. Shouting out is a good thing.
On the other side of the court, Gao Wen, who was always passionate on the court, seemed to be particularly quiet, as if he had not heard Cilic's protest at all. He walked silently to his second zone, ready to face Cilic's next serve in the first zone, thinking in his mind:
The ACE just now is an inside corner.
Serving in the second zone, Cilic avoided the most classic outside corner backhand route. Does this mean that Gawain's previous straight backhand ACE return still created enough deterrence and pressure, at least in the early stages of the game, when Cilic's serve was not yet fully in shape, so he must have been cautious?
The game has just begun. Gao Wen has no time and no need to compete with Cilic for momentum. He still needs to focus on his own game. In a short period of time, his mind was full of thoughts, and then Gao Wen was ready to continue receiving the ball.
Zone 1.
First serve, outside corner, out of bounds, Cilic tried to open the angle a little wider, but it went out of bounds.
And what’s interesting is that the outside corner is still aimed at Gao Wen’s forehand.
Whether you admit it or not, something happened in the limited time at the beginning of the game, and the suppression and counter-suppression of players from both sides were quietly going on.
The second serve was close to the opponent, not biased towards the forehand or backhand, but aimed at the middle, at Gao Wen's position, and still did not try to suppress Gao Wen's backhand.
Gao Wen subconsciously leaned back to his right side, hit the ball with both hands, supported his waist with his elbows, and quickly swept his arms. Although his body was still suppressed and he couldn't stretch out, he naturally couldn't exert force, but he still hit the ball into the wall with his two-handed backhand and hit a good ball deep in the baseline area.
It is indeed the ability of Gawain's two-handed backhand that played a major role in his two wins over Wawrinka and Djokovic.
Cilic's heart suddenly contracted and he panicked when he saw the trajectory of the return ball.
You can't blame Cilic for being timid. In fact, from the start of the match to now, only ten points have been played. But Gawain played every point very actively and proactively, suppressing Cilic in every aspect. Cilic's strongest weapon, the serve, was not able to be brought into play, which made Cilic, who was not good at dealing with changes and emergencies, inevitably feel a little frustrated.
An ace allowed Cilic to release his emotions, further proving this point.
This is exactly the situation that Gao Wen hopes to create.
Cilic took small steps to adjust his position and tried to hit the ball with a two-handed backhand, but as everyone knows, Cilic's weakest technical link is his backhand.
His backhand can basically only push and block, and even his slices are just transitional balls without any control. He occasionally exerts force, but firstly, his force is not solid enough, and the threat and penetration are far inferior to his forehand; secondly, his hitting movements are very rigid, and he is basically only able to hit diagonally, and he almost dares not and cannot change the line.
At this time, Cilic was about to push with his backhand, but he immediately found that Gawain's return was pressed quite deep, only about one step away from the baseline. This kind of ball is between a rebound ball and a rising point, and it is very ambiguous to handle. Cilic's backhand was timid, and the power of the push was not bad, but the line had no characteristics and returned to the middle in a regular manner.
Gao Wen immediately turned the situation around, taking two steps forward to the baseline without changing his hitting position. After adjusting his footwork delicately, he hit the ball with a two-handed backhand.
Gawain deliberately chose to hit with his backhand, just to repeatedly deepen Cilic's impression of his backhand. Even if Cilic's serve did not avoid Gawain's backhand, Gawain consciously used this method to make Cilic feel the pressure over and over again.
state.
In this shot, Gao Wen did not use his full strength, but hit it lightly, with a diagonal stroke, aiming at the gap in Cilic's backhand.
The goal is to mobilize Cilic and force Cilic to complete the shot on the backhand.
Tap tap tap.
Tap tap tap.
Cilic ran across the court at full speed from the baseline. Even though Gao Wen did not exert his full strength, the connection between his shots was very compact and fast, which still put Cilic into a passive position.
The 6-foot-6 big man showed incredible mobility and completed a backhand push before completely losing his position.
But the next second, Cilic found that his return ball was sent into the hands of Gawain.
Slash.
Gao Wen was waiting in the backhand position early, ready to lead the racket and wait for the incoming ball. He even had time to take small steps to adjust his position and find the best hitting point.
It felt as if Gawain had set a trap and Cilic had stupidly walked right into it.
Stand still! Push off the ground! Turn around! Swing the racket! Gao Wen's entire move was extremely resolute and confident. The moment he shot, one could see his signature whip-flicking action to complete the last step of the change of line, and then -
Boom! A straight line crossed the entire court and landed at the bottom line triangle position of Cilic's forehand position.
A perfect winning score.
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Wow! For the first time today, the Arthur Ashe Stadium erupted in incredible applause. All the fans applauded for Gawain's brilliant backhand straight shot. Even a layman could feel that at the start of the final, Gawain had the advantage.
“From the start, it can be seen that Gao Wen was well prepared for the game and played very actively and proactively.”
"And he didn't have the awkwardness and nervousness of a rookie in a Grand Slam final. He showed sharp aggression from his backhand in the opening stage. Cilic, on the other hand, didn't show the sharp aggression he showed against Federer in the semi-final. This start was probably a little different from what everyone expected."
"Now, Gawain has his second break point in the set and Cilic needs to face the pressure again."
Zhan Jun was able to remain calm and composed. After all, he had seen too many surprises from Gao Wen in the past two weeks. However, when he really stood on the final stage and saw Gao Wen's general style again, he couldn't help but feel excited.
Next, it depends on how the two players perform in the next point.
"40:AD".
In the second zone, Cilic looked up at Gao Wen. His entire serving rhythm was not affected by the break points at all. He still followed the standard process and immediately prepared to serve.
Unfortunately, it was caught in one shot.
Cilic tried an outside corner serve, but perhaps because he was shocked by Gao Wen's backhand, the whole serve was slightly rushed, and then it went directly into the net.
Otherwise, suppressing the backhand in the outer corner of the second zone is indeed an offensive routine with a very high safety factor on the break point.
But now Cilic has to face the pressure of second serve.
(End of this chapter)