Chapter 592 Growth and Transformation

First zone, first serve, outside corner, press forehand.

Johnson's serve remained at the same level, with a speed of 199 kilometers per hour and very precise pressure, aiming at Gao Wen's forehand to create suppression.

However, Gao Wen suddenly pushed his feet outward, and his forehand swing was significantly increased, pulling out a super topspin large loop swing trajectory.

It's not a flat hit or a block, but an upward spin.

This is Nadal's signature serve return style. His philosophy is very simple. Relying on super topspin, he first hits the tennis ball steadily to ensure that the return ball can enter the boundary, and then circulates the ball through the return ball.

Later, Thiem also adopted a similar way of receiving serves, which earned him the title of "Little Prince of Clay".

Obviously, Gawain's forehand is not of this style, and his topspin speed is far less than that of Nadal or Thiem, but at this time Gawain suddenly changed the way he received the serve.

Johnson was not panicked, because super topspin often means relatively slow speed and power, which gave him enough time to react.

After adjusting his steps, Johnson did not hesitate to attack with his forehand. Although he had to hit the ball near his shoulder due to the strong topspin, which made the hitting force less sufficient, the attack still took the initiative.

Backslash.

Johnson aimed at the gap in Gao Wen's backhand and attacked directly.

But Gao Wen had anticipated it and moved quickly sideways across the field.

It doesn't matter if you waste some steps, the key is to catch up smoothly.

He hit a normal diagonal backhand shot with both hands. It looked like an ordinary transition ball in a defensive state, nothing special.

However, just as Johnson was about to take the right step, he noticed something unusual: it was deep and heavy.

Gawain's two-handed backhand was very solid, and although the landing point was not in a dead corner, which allowed Johnson to arrive smoothly, the swing action of the racket to hit the ball obviously felt pressure, and the incoming ball still had a strong topspin, and the continued rotation after it bounced off the ground hit Johnson's body position, so that Johnson's backhand was a little "top".

To put it simply, the swinging action is suppressed and restrained, so that the elbow is pressed against the stomach and cannot be stretched out at all, and naturally there is no way to exert force.

Johnson's backhand also went straight.

It was also a transition ball, but Johnson's transition ball was very honest, without any hidden tricks, it was just an ordinary transition ball.

The next second, Johnson discovered that Gawain took a step forward and his footsteps had already cut into the baseline. He took the initiative to meet the incoming ball, and grabbed a rising point with a backhand shot with both hands. The rhythm of the shot instantly accelerated, and the whole swing action was like the standard gesture of hitting a baseball.

Full! Full! Coherent!

Then--

straight line.

Just like a sword being unsheathed, the speed of the ball return suddenly increased in an instant.

It was very sudden and very fast. Before I could even blink, the tennis ball flew out like a naughty elf.

Score! Quick and easy, no fuss!

What's going on?

Johnson's footsteps were still at the backhand position. He had just returned to his position and entered the defensive state. He only had time to rush out half a step and watched the tennis ball fly out.

There's no chance.

Serve, no problem; forehand, no problem; but how come the advantage suddenly widened? How could a normal backhand transition ball not even have a chance to defend the ball?

Johnson didn't react for a while.

Because of the inertia of the forward charge, Johnson was still rushing forward, but he could not help himself. He turned his head across the court and glanced at Gawain with a hint of confusion in his eyes. However, he found that Gawain was very relaxed. He did not even celebrate loudly, but just jumped lightly twice on the spot.

No fist.

It can be seen from Gawain's reaction that the ball just now was completely within his ability, but Johnson was so embarrassed that he couldn't save the ball. Could it be that the gap in strength between them is so big?

Johnson couldn't understand.

In fact, the secret lies in the layout. By combining the batting method and rhythm to create the situation you want, the wisdom at the tactical level will instantly widen the gap.

This is what I learned from last week’s match against Nadal:

When you are in good shape, everyone can play and finish the game in their own style; but when you are not in good shape, how should you play? How to interpret and analyze the game in your own style and find the way to victory? Nadal taught Gao Wen a good lesson.

At present, Gao Wen is learning and practicing, which is also one of the most interesting parts of competitive sports. From the match against Andujar to the match against Johnson, Gao Wen has been exploring little by little, and the tactics are also slightly different.

Johnson is a typical hard court player, that is, he likes balls that have both speed and power. Although it does not mean that the faster or heavier the better, steady and fast round balls are indeed Johnson's comfort zone.

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Therefore, you need patience when facing Andujar, and you need cunning when facing Johnson, hiding the changes in rhythm in every round. As long as the layout is appropriate, the final score can be easily achieved without taking any risks, because the real difficulty has been completed in the previous round.

After four rounds of fighting and exploring, it was now time for Gao Wen to take action.

The next point was the same.

Johnson's serve quality was still good. His close serve successfully squeezed Gao Wen, and the entire flat serve was heavy and solid.

Gao Wen simply gave up the full swing and used a forehand slice diagonally! As mentioned before, Federer is the only one who actively uses slices when receiving serves, because slices often mean giving up the opportunity to form a confrontation in the first shot, and subsequent layout and control will be very difficult.

First Nadal, then Federer? So, what's next, Djokovic?

What is Gawain doing, a chameleon or an imitator?

But Johnson didn't mind because his attention was completely focused on the incoming ball.

When Johnson saw the cut, he was delighted and took small steps to adjust his position. Realizing that Gawain's cut was still suppressing his backhand, he moved sideways and switched to his forehand.

Sideways forehand.

He was ready to launch a powerful attack, but just before he shot, Johnson realized that it was a backspin ball, and that the seemingly ordinary shot was actually a trap.

alarm!

Johnson was highly focused, lowered his center of gravity, pulled up his forehand powerfully, and added topspin to his hitting motion as insurance.

Although a little speed and power were sacrificed, the forehand attack still hit hard.

Uh ah!

Backslash! Johnson let out a roar because of his active force. Under very difficult circumstances, he still burst out all his strength and hit a repeated route: back-to-back ball! Johnson tried to catch Gawain off guard. In this case, when the speed was not good, the power and the landing point were crucial. Johnson stared at his own shot, and his footsteps were adjusted in a series of small steps, preparing for the next shot.

(End of this chapter)