Chapter 54 Steady Sailing
Facing Gawain's heart-wrenching blow, Thompson exaggeratedly covered his chest, unable to utter a word, with a face full of sorrow.
Seeing Thompson, a 198cm tall man, giving such exaggerated acting skills, Gao Wen couldn't help laughing. He bumped Thompson's shoulder to show his affection and explained, "I am not the same height as you guys. I was just thinking about the game."
Di Giulio, who lost the team's only set today, bumped into Gao Wen's shoulder and said, "What's wrong? Are you still upset about your opening? Don't be like this. If you are like this, what should I do? I should be covering myself with a towel and crying." His self-deprecating words made everyone laugh.
Without waiting for Gao Wen to answer, Sayre, who loved to join in the fun, chirped loudly, "Joseph, you should compete with Mike."
Burst into laughter!
McDonald was in full swing today, delivering two donuts - "6:0", "6:0", clearing the game directly and beating his opponent to a pulp.
McDonald, who was innocently named, seemed a little shy, his bronze cheeks slightly hot, and he smiled stiffly, not knowing how to respond.
It was Gao Wen who took care of his friend and shouted, "You mean, we want to practice more on the court? Come on, Mike and I haven't finished warming up yet. Let's go back to the court and play a few more rounds now?"
This sentence immediately made Sale and Di Giulio retreat.
Sayre acted as if he had seen a ghost, and said in an exaggerated manner, "Devil! The devil is coming!"
There was laughter in the locker room again.
MacDonald also came to Gawain and asked, "Are you okay?" He also noticed Gawain's disappointment. Everyone was laughing and no one was serious. Gawain said he was thinking about the game, but no one cared about the details, so he came over to ask one more question.
In fact, Gao Wen didn't care about today's opening - in a tennis match, everything is possible, there is no need to worry about a poor opening performance; nor did he sigh and return to the court - he didn't have so much time to feel sad, he should enjoy the time standing on the court.
Of course, it certainly wasn't Elena.
Mainly because of the value of the competition.
Originally, Gao Wen thought that competition was more valuable than training, after all, it was a real fight with real swords and guns that determined the outcome of the victory or defeat, but the actual situation was not the case.
Today's match was not challenging as the opponent was limited in strength. It might be an exaggeration to say that "I didn't sweat much throughout the whole match". However, the growth potential only increased by 10%, which is far below expectations. It would be better for me to practice serving by myself on the training ground.
To some extent, Gawain was still a little disappointed.
But if you think about it carefully, it is not surprising. Firstly, the opponent is also playing singles with number six, and his strength is limited.
Secondly, the Bruins were on full fire today. When Gawain came on the court, the score was already 5:0, and the outcome was decided. Naturally, the opponent's desire to resist was not high. Even Gawain himself was very relaxed after getting into the state, with no pressure at all. The whole atmosphere was completely different.
The final game intensity may be weaker than the Bruins' in-team practice games. Judging from the system rules of daily training, basic training, and mini-showdowns, it is natural that the gains from this game are not high.
Thinking of this, his emotions only stayed for a moment, and Gao Wen quickly cheered up and looked at his practice partner MacDonald, "I'm going to practice serving again, how about we join?"
McDonald was truly "hardly sweating" today, and his eyes lit up slightly, "Okay, okay."
When I appeared on the court again, I found that Jilong was also there.
"Hey, Marcos!"
Gao Wen greeted them with a smile. Jilong wiped the sweat from his forehead and nodded to them, but continued to train without saying anything else.
Bang!
Snap!
The sounds of the ball hitting the ground and the friction of footsteps echoed quietly over the court, but they did not last long before being interrupted by laughter again.
"You bunch of animals...ah, I thought 'no way no way', I didn't expect you to actually practice extra time."
"Alas, I don't want to practice more. I'm not that self-conscious. But every time I look at the coach's eager eyes, I can't say no."
"Eh? Sayer, why are you here too?"
"Haha, I came here specifically to fight for the starting position. Didn't expect that? Be careful, maybe in the next game, I will be promoted."
"I knew we would be able to find Mike and Gao Wen at the stadium. You guys! You two guys!"
"I was just thinking about taking a good rest, but how did I end up here? This is not normal. I am very abnormal."
One, two, three.
In a blink of an eye, the training ground was bustling again, the setting sun was burning brightly on the horizon where the sea and sky met, and the smell of sweat was floating in the air.
The Bruins officially announced the arrival of the spring season with a thrilling sweep, and the UCLA school newspaper reported it immediately.
The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!
"The spring tennis season has begun, 7:0 opens a new journey——
New season, new atmosphere, the Bruins welcome two new faces. "
Against a weak team like UC Irvine, a big win was a natural result. Even the progress of the game was uneventful, which was undoubtedly very unfavorable for writing news reports. Lack of gimmicks and explosive points meant lack of attention.
However, school newspapers are not commercial newspapers after all. They do not need to be profit-oriented and they have to create something when nothing is going on. They can still find interesting highlights in ordinary news.
For example, two freshmen were selected for the main lineup.
Strictly speaking, this is not some earth-shattering news; it can only be considered a small highlight of a low-probability event, and it is worth looking forward to the performance of the young freshmen.
But it would be much more interesting if both freshmen had Asian faces and Chinese ancestry, and one of them was an international student.
In the NCAA tennis arena, there are actually quite a few Asian faces, especially in the second and third leagues. Some of them are able to serve as the first and second singles positions on the team, but overall, they are still a minority. If placed in the top competition of the first league, the number is even smaller.
Now, two players from the Bruins appeared at once, which naturally attracted attention.
Moreover, in the season opener, both players performed extremely well, with one only losing a three-game sweep and the other delivering two donuts directly. Therefore, it was not surprising that McDonald and Gawain became the protagonists of the school newspaper reports.
“…McDonald and Gao, two freshmen, showed excellent competitive form and good touch in the first game, proving that they are ready to meet the tough challenges of the new season.
'Maybe, our championship competitiveness this year can rise to a whole new level. 'Head coach Billy Martin commented on the two freshmen in an interview. ”
(End of this chapter)