Chapter 600: Close Combat
Watching Tim silently turn around and leave, Gawain stood there, hands on his hips, shaking his head with a look of despair on his face, and sighing to express his regret.
Like a pantomime performance.
Noticing Gao Wen's action, the audience laughed sparsely, and the atmosphere was so relaxed that it stole the limelight from the Bryan brothers.
Bob also noticed the momentum at the first moment, turned his head to look at the other side of the court, and then saw this scene. He patted Mike's shoulder with great joy and laughed happily, as if to say:
I told you, he's a funny guy.
Laughing, the Bryan brothers returned to the baseline, ready to continue the game.
Break point.
In the second zone, Tim serves and Mike receives.
Gawain and Thiem slightly changed their serving tactics. Gawain did not stand at the baseline of zone one or the serving area as usual, but stood at the junction of the two serving areas. Then he squatted down, curled up like a hedgehog, waiting for Thiem to serve.
This is a very classic doubles serve return tactic:
For the receiving side, the entire opposite court is open, and all possibilities for the direction of the return ball are open; but at the same time, they cannot be sure how the player standing in front of the net will move, and the game of uncertainty gives rise to countless possibilities.
With such tactics, the advantage will be slightly on the serving side, because the server can control his serve, create the desired effect, and then the partner will complete the subsequent attack.
In fact, this is exactly the case.
Thiem chose a close serve, and Mike's position was obviously squeezed. He habitually pushed the ball diagonally with his forehand, but the ball did not have any spin attached to it. Then, Gawain, who was waiting for him, waited for him, and he returned the ball directly by standing and blocking.
Tennis, back inside the Bryan Brothers’ grounds.
Gao Wen's return was very low and shallow, and Mike was still standing at the baseline. His vertical movement was a little slow for half a beat, so he missed the hitting point. This also meant that Mike could not drive the ball and could only save the ball, falling into a passive defensive state.
Mike chooses cutting.
But Mike is worthy of being a veteran who has been on the court for many years. Before cutting, he took a look at the positions of Gawain and Thiem. Both players had come to the net, forming a frontcourt suppression, leaving Mike with very limited room for choice.
Then.
Mike cut a small ball in front of the net, straight line.
Tim took small steps forward, completed the defense in the first time, faked a shot, pretended to cut diagonally but cut back in a straight line at the moment of shooting.
Unfortunately, Tim's net skills were just like Gawain's, too crude, and his fake moves were not covert enough, so they were seen through by Mike.
Mike took a step forward and made a light stroke like cutting sashimi, and then the tennis ball could be seen falling rapidly like a dragonfly landing on a lotus leaf.
Slash.
Strong side spin.
Light and thin.
The angle of incidence should be only about ten to fifteen degrees, almost flying sideways along the net, and I could almost hear the sound of cutting paper.
Gao Wen focused his attention and followed the tennis ball's horizontal movement step by step, but he found that even with his preparations in advance, he still couldn't catch up with the flying speed of the tennis ball, because Mike's delicate touch was too good.
This is completely different from hitting the ball from the baseline.
The baseline shots seem simple and rough, without any details; but the handling in front of the net is as delicate and meticulous as embroidery.
Gao Wen's footsteps had already entered the area outside the singles line and inside the doubles line, and the tennis ball continued to fly outward, hitting the sideline and rushing out directly, completing a perfect breakthrough from the line to the landing point, so that the sound of people gasping for breath echoed in the stadium.
Tap tap tap.
Gawain rushed forward in small steps, leaned forward, stretched his upper body as far as he could, and used a two-handed backhand to catch the tennis ball that was about to disappear in the air.
But Mike's shot had already won an advantage for the Bryan brothers. The two men stood near the midfield, covering the entire situation, so that Gawain's outside-in straight shot fell directly into Bob's hands. A volley easily cut back the tennis ball that Gawain had almost saved by losing his balance.
It was so chaotic, there was no room to breathe.
Then, hand-to-hand combat.
"Tim VS Bryan Brothers", three quick volleys at the net were exchanged, and tennis evolved into badminton.
At this time, Tim had no tactics at all. He could only defend himself, relying entirely on conditioned reflexes to push left and block right. He had no time to think at all. His subconscious reactions enabled him to complete incredible blocks in a row. Even Tim didn't know how he accomplished it.
Fortunately, Gawain quickly adjusted his center of gravity, returned to his defensive position immediately, and joined the battle with a lateral cut. Mike seemed to see Gawain's figure, and not only did he not avoid it, but he also cut sideways and hit Gawain's body directly.
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It's spinning and heavy.
Mike's shot choice was completely unexpected and caught Gawain off guard.
Ah! Gao Wen's footsteps were in a forward-rushing posture, and he couldn't get out of the way at all, so he could only use both hands to block the opponent's backhand, and simply gave up the swinging action, using the power of his body to complete the collision; but his wrist was cleverly pulled outwards and rubbed lightly, and in a flash, his delicate technique could still be seen at a high level.
rub.
The tennis ball flew out in the direction of Gao Wen's forward movement, leaving a small diagonal line and flying towards Mike.
Mike was stepping up to the net to block the angle, but was instead caught off guard by Gawain's small diagonal shot. It was obvious that Gawain's impact also imitated Mike's previous cut, pushing out a tricky and sharp side-spin return ball, which broke through Mike's defense like a falling meteor.
Treat others as you would like to be treated.
But Mike did not have time to admire Gawain's learning ability. He retreated in small steps but could not catch up. Seeing that the tennis ball was about to break through his defense, he hastily switched from a two-handed backhand to a one-handed backhand, kicked his legs, and flew out, barely reaching the tennis ball below the net.
Because of the flip of his body's center of gravity, Mike leaped into the air, and he had no control at all with the racket held in one hand, he just blocked it.
The tennis ball shot up into the sky diagonally like a rocket!
In the previous second, Tim was in a desperate situation as he was fighting one against two, and he had almost no ability to fight back; in the next second, Gawain arrived quickly and turned the situation around with a side cut. Mike's passive defense immediately lost all the advantages of the Bryan brothers, and instead gave Gawain a high ball from the baseline.
Dengdengdeng! Just as his feet were back in place, Gao Wen stopped, turned, and then turned around and rushed to the baseline without stopping. In an instant, his whole body entered an anaerobic state and ran at full speed.
Bottom line, inside the big triangle.
Mike's passive defense was of good quality. The landing point was in the big triangle, and there was nothing to say about the strength and rotation. In extremely difficult circumstances, Mike also showed off a little, demonstrating his skillful touch, and reversed the passive situation again, pushing Gawain to the cliff.
The wind whistled and the whole place was in an uproar.
(End of this chapter)