Chapter 613: The Edge of Match Point
The air is burning.
Qiao Wangsheng could clearly hear the sound of his own heartbeat, which seemed to echo on his eardrums. He subconsciously held his breath, but found that the echoes became more and more violent and roaring, as if the whole world was shaking with the earthquake.
It wasn't just Qiao Wangsheng who was the problem. At this moment, the entire center court couldn't help but hold its breath.
The Shanghai Masters has entered the penultimate day of competition, and the top four have all been decided. The upper half is the much-anticipated "Federer VS Djokovic", which is also the last match of the center court today and has not yet started; the lower half is the unexpected matchup of "Simon VS Gawain", which is currently in progress.
Gilles Simon, born in 1984, is currently ranked 19th in the world. He failed to be seeded in the Shanghai Masters.
Before the competition started, no one could have predicted that the semi-final matchup in the lower half would be between Simon and Gawain.
It is precisely because of this that all local media are in an uproar. The dream of "Gawain making history and entering the final of the Shanghai Masters" has been impatiently laid out. Compared with the "king meeting king" in the upper half, the lower half has seen a series of upsets, and finally ushered in an unexpected showdown.
Qiao Wangsheng is no exception.
When Qiao Wangsheng learned that Gao Wen was about to return to his hometown to compete, he had been looking forward to this day.
Last week, Gao Wen was competing in the imperial capital. Qiao Wangsheng looked at the photos Jiang Yanqing sent back from the scene and listened to their stories of close contact with Gao Wen. He couldn't help but feel excited as well. Even though they were thousands of miles away, they were happy and excited together, as if they were back in college.
At that time, they were still young, still had endless energy and beautiful dreams. They would curse when their favorite team lost, would be excited when their favorite singer came to hold a concert, and would stay up all night because of the World Cup.
However, slowly, they grew up, the pressure of life became greater and greater, and their interests became more restrained. They still paid attention to their favorite competitive sports, but they no longer had the motivation to go to the scene to cheer, nor did they have the physical strength to stay up late to watch the games. Everything became like Buddhism.
But it lacks a little passion.
Until now, Qiao Wangsheng has regained the passion of his youth.
Day after day, Qiao Wangsheng looked forward to Gao Wen coming to the Magic City Masters Tournament. He could finally go to the scene and watch Gao Wen's game in person.
It’s not because Gawain was able to win, nor because Gawain won the US Open, but because Gawain proved with practical actions that dreams are possible.
Qiao Wangsheng thought, perhaps there is more to life.
In the Imperial Capital Open, Gao Wen was in poor form. The veteran fans were extremely anxious, but they did not dare to add more pressure to Gao Wen. They kept telling the new fans on forums and social networks:
Don't be anxious, ups and downs in condition are normal, give Gao Wen some time.
Qiao Wangsheng was worried that the expectations and heated discussions from the outside world might become a burden that Gao Wen could not get rid of, tying his ankles. After all, Gao Wen was not yet nineteen years old.
After Gao Wen arrived in Shanghai, he canceled several public training sessions in a row and calmed down to devote himself to systematic training. Although Qiao Wangsheng could not watch Gao Wen's training up close, he felt relieved because he knew that Sampras must have realized the problem and they were already making adjustments.
really!
Gao Wen regained his concentration. Although his condition was still not at his best, he still withstood the pressure at the critical moment. His overall performance was significantly better than that of the Imperial City. With a little bit of luck in the draw, Gao Wen successfully made it to the semi-finals. After the Grand Slam, he proved himself in the Masters.
For Qiao Wangsheng, being able to watch Gao Wen's game up close is a kind of happiness. Now he finally understands the happiness of Gu Xiao and Jiang Yanqing.
Moreover, now Qiao Wangsheng has become the object of envy of Gu Xiao and Jiang Yanqing, because he saw Gao Wen and Tim play doubles in Shanghai, which was the first time in history; what's more, Gao Wen's liveliness and briskness in the doubles match were a different look.
Every day when Qiao Wangsheng heard the envious words from other golfers in the group, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl up.
Watching Gao Wen's game up close reawakened Qiao Wangsheng's passion, not only his love for tennis, but also his expectations for his dreams and life. Qiao Wangsheng has been suppressing his excitement and excitement, because there are already too many expectations on Gao Wen's shoulders, but he can't help but start to fantasize: Maybe, this is Gao Wen's chance to make history.
After the Grand Slam, Gao Wen made history again by becoming the first Chinese male player in history to reach the semi-finals of the Masters Tournament. He proved with practical actions that his performance in the US Open was definitely not a fleeting meteor, and was not inferior to that of the Chinese female players.
So, facing Simon, can Gawain go one step further?
Reaching the final? Then, Gao Wen might face Federer or Djokovic, challenging the Big Four for the third time in just one month?
Just thinking about it in my mind makes me excited.
Qiao Wangsheng kept reminding himself not to be greedy or have extravagant hopes, and not to put his own urgency and desire on the shoulders of the 18-year-old boy. There have been more than one or two superstars ruined by the "deification movement" in the long river of history. He sincerely hoped that Gao Wen could create an era -
But Qiao Wangsheng just couldn't help it.
In fact, Qiao Wangsheng knew that Simon was a tough opponent. Even Djokovic and Nadal had said that dealing with Simon was very, very difficult.
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Perhaps, Simon has never been able to prove himself on a higher stage, but this player of the same generation as the Big Four also has his own glorious moments. For Gawain, this is definitely a severe test, not to mention that Gawain has not yet adjusted to his best condition.
Reality also confirmed Qiao Wangsheng's guess: Simon is much more difficult to deal with than imagined.
“6:2”, “6:6”.
Currently, Simon is in the lead.
After Simon won the first set with a big lead, the second set was in a stalemate.
Simon broke first and served to win the set; but Gawain broke back and tied the score, bringing the two sides to a 5:5 draw.
Afterwards, Simon broke again and had his second serve to win the set, and got a match point, but Gawain incredibly broke back again and continued the game standing on the edge of the cliff. The score came to "6:6" and the two sides entered a tiebreak.
Simon remained stable and did not seem to be affected too much. In the tie-break, he played steadily and broke Gao Wen's two serve points in succession, bringing the score to a "5:3" lead. The next two points were both Simon's serve points. As long as he saved them all, he would be able to win the game.
On the brink of match point.
(End of this chapter)