Chapter 612: Steady Progress

Gao Wen is looking forward to the match against Youzhny because, like Felipe Lopez, he is a player with distinct characteristics and is definitely not an ordinary power-based player.

Youzhny is right-handed and uses a one-handed backhand, but he is different from other one-handed backhand players such as Lopez, Federer, Wawrinka, Dimitrov, Shapovalov, etc.: his one-handed backhand is of the traditional type.

In other words, the single-handed backhand is mainly based on cutting, either transition or defense, and does not have the ability to launch a strong attack. The rise of Federer and Wawrinka later overturned people's stereotypes about the single-handed backhand.

But Youzhny's SLR is not that simple, otherwise he would not have been ranked in the top 20 in the world in 2013 and should have been eliminated long ago.

More than one player and expert said that Youzhny has one of the best backhand slices in the world because it has many hidden variations and very strong wrapping power, and his defensive attack can always put his opponent in trouble.

Except for Nadal who is completely immune to slice shots, other players need to be extremely careful when facing such returns.

If you watch the match between Federer and Youzhny, you can see the two players' backhand slice duel, and everything is just eight or ten beats, which is also a very rare sight.

For Gao Wen, in the current professional tour, almost all players simply hit the ball, with little change in rhythm, rotation and hitting method, and the content of the game is very monotonous:

Of course, it is possible to win, but this is not Gao Wen's style.

Changes, layouts, tactics, and games have always been important components of Gao Wen's game, so he hopes to play against players of different styles as much as possible, and then draw different nutrients from them to enrich the content of his own game.

Only in this way can we continue to challenge the Big Four head-on, instead of waiting for time and injuries to weaken their abilities, and then be complacent about a lucky victory and think that we can match them.

Since he wanted to challenge the Big Four, of course he had to challenge them when they were at their peak.

That's what makes it fun.

So, both the match against Felipe Lopez and the match against Youzhny were learning opportunities.

Moreover, Youzhny's killer move is not just the backhand cut.

If an excellent backhand slice allowed Youzhny to survive on tour, then the backhand topspin straight line was his lethal weapon.

Long before Nadal emerged with his super topspin, Youzhny was able to use strong topspin on his backhand to complete incredible straight line changes and thus turn the situation around.

People often think that Youzhny is a simple power player because of his buzz cut, muscles and "soldier" image, but in fact Youzhny's delicate touch has always been a secret weapon hidden under his muscles.

He handles many of the return balls very carefully and gently, combining both hardness and softness, just like wearing a pair of velvet gloves on his steel hands. This is why he can perform well on different venues.

Don't judge a book by its cover. Don't be easily deceived by appearance.

If we have to point out Youzhny's weakness, it is not his backhand as ordinary fans think, but his serve.

A professional tennis magazine once described Youzhny's serve as like an unlucky poker player, which was often useless when needed, and then he ended up in complete failure.

Youzhny's serve is not bad, but he always lacks a little control. First, he has very few aces; second, his serve fluctuates greatly at critical moments and is always of no help; third, the quality of his first serve and second serve is easily separated, which can be seen from the sharp gap between the first serve scoring rate and the second serve scoring rate.

Watching Youzhny's matches is often like a roller coaster of ups and downs. It's rarely because of problems with his backhand or movement, but often with his serves.

The same was true in the match against Gao Wen.

In the first set, Youzhny, who had faced three consecutive tough battles, was obviously slow to get into the game. He made a mistake in the first service game and lost four points in a row. Most of the time, Youzhny didn't even need to wait for Gawain to launch an attack, as his own mistakes had already given away points.

Throughout the entire match, Youzhny's first serve success rate was only 51%, which meant that he had to face the dilemma of Gao Wen attacking his second serve at all times. Later, the vicious cycle affected the quality of his first serve. Even if he scored a goal on the first serve, it lacked a bit of threat, and his first and second serve scoring rates began to drop.

Looking at the 38% second serve scoring rate, you can tell how much pressure Youzhny is facing.

Moreover, Gao Wen was very well prepared for Youzhny's backhand slice. Patience was the first and foremost factor. If the rotation of Youzhny's slice was not clearly identified, the quality of the return ball would decrease, and then Youzhny would be able to launch a violent forehand attack immediately. Therefore, how to restrain the backhand and form suppression is the key to the round ball.

Apparently, Gawain did a good job.

“6:2”.

In the first set, Gao Wenbing won easily without encountering too many challenges.

In the last game, Youzhny smashed the racket so hard that even the frame collapsed completely, leaving the "inexperienced" Gawain dumbfounded, unable to take his eyes off Youzhny's racket.

When Youzhny returned to his seat to change his racket, he said to Gao Wen loudly, "Don't worry, I won't hit you."

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As a result, the entire audience burst into laughter and the atmosphere was very relaxed.

Entering the second set, Youzhny regained his concentration and his entire serving condition improved significantly. His first serve success rate increased to 72%, and his first serve scoring rate also increased to 65%. His own serving games became significantly calmer, which also enabled him to launch more attacks in Gao Wen's serving games.

Youzhny's very characteristic one-handed backhand unexpectedly suppressed Gao Wen's forehand.

On the one hand, his physical strength fluctuated, the rate of his footwork decreased, and the accuracy of the hitting point was also affected; on the other hand, Youzhny's cutting changes were indeed very many, and this set of techniques was extremely sophisticated, and his competition experience played an important role, which restrained Gao Wen's forehand, which originally lacked stability.

"4:6".

At the end of the set, Youzhny successfully broke Gao Wen's last must-win serve on the second break point, and the match entered the deciding set.

In the deciding set, the match was not able to widen the gap, but Gao Wen still seized the gap in Youzhny's serve fluctuations in the middle stage of the set, quickly improved his condition, and caught Youzhny's two second serves and one first serve in succession. His smooth attack suppressed Youzhny to the point of being breathless, and the situation was reversed.

Gao Wen got two consecutive break points and successfully converted the first break point, forcing Youzhny's backhand slice into the net with a very solid forehand straight line flat backspin ball, taking the lead in the deciding set and steadily maintaining his lead.

In his own serve-winning game, Gao Wen withstood the test of deuce, curbed Youzhny's final counterattack, did not give away break points, and successfully cashed in the victory on the second match point.

The final scores were: “6:2”, “4:6”, and “6:4”.

(End of this chapter)