Chapter 641: Head-on Battle

Valencia, the flames of war have begun.

Valencia, located on the southeast coast of Spain, is far less famous than Madrid and Barcelona in the world, but it is actually the third largest city in Spain and also the largest granary in the whole of Spain. The development of agriculture and new generation technology industries makes this city exude vitality.

Although it is located in southern Europe, where clay tennis courts can be seen everywhere, Valencia is a little special. The ATP events held here are not on clay courts, but on indoor hard courts.

At the same time, because the Valencia and Basel events were held in the same week, and Federer signed a long-term playing agreement with Basel, and because of the venue itself, it was unable to attract Spanish superstar Nadal to participate, which also made the influence of the Valencia event very limited.

However, this year is an exception.

Thanks to the final sprint competition for a spot in the year-end finals, ten of the top twenty players in the world came to Valencia to compete. Despite the lack of top stars like Federer and Nadal, the box office appeal of Ferrer and Murray still ensured attention.

More importantly, the most eye-catching focus now is the competition for a place in the year-end finals. Compared with Basel, Valencia's strategic position is more prominent: Cilic, Berdych and Murray, who won championships in three different cities last week, all came to Valencia at the same time, which is an important highlight.

A number of competitors will engage in head-on competition on this land, and the focus of discussion on social networks will quietly shift.

Facts also prove this -

Heavy pressure, constant traveling, the test of full attendance, etc., undoubtedly put severe and even demanding demands on the players.

Valencia's first round of matches was full of upsets.

Among them, Berdych and Cilic both lost and were eliminated.

From a time perspective, they just finished the final in the previous city yesterday afternoon, and today they came to Valencia and started the first round of the competition without stopping. Physical recovery, state adjustment and invisible pressure are all uncertain factors. Despite this, the loss is still an upset.

In addition, Youzhny, Isner and Simon all lost unexpectedly.

Especially Simon.

He had just reached the final in Shanghai two weeks ago and showed incredible competitive form. Not only did he defeat Gao Wen in the semi-finals, but he also pushed Federer to the extreme in the final, which made people believe that he was on the right track.

This time in Valencia, Simon and Gao Wen were drawn in the same 3/4 zone. If everything went well, the two players would meet again in the quarterfinals. As a result, they lost to Ukrainian player Alexander Dolgopolov unexpectedly and also lost the first set.

It's really surprising.

In comparison, Berdych still has some room for maneuver, and the overall situation is still favorable. Then Cilic's situation is very, very bad -

Although we won the championship in Moscow last week, that was a 250-point event. This week we were eliminated in the first round in Valencia, which has a score of 500. I don't know how to calculate this.

However, looking at the results of the first round of Basel matches, it is not so surprising.

Wawrinka and Gulbis also both lost, creating another shocking upset.

This also officially announced that Gulbis was completely out of the year-end finals.

Judging from the experiences of Gulbis and Cilic, even if they participate in all the competitions, the negative impact of the intensive schedule is clearly visible, and the feeling of emptiness after giving their all but getting nothing in return is inevitable.

In addition, Thiem also lost in the first round, losing to Goffin, who appeared on the ATP official homepage with Gao Wen in July this year.

In fact, in last week's competition in his hometown of Vienna, Thiem also suffered an upset in the first round. Since his amazing performance at the US Open, his record is only one win and four losses, and he was eliminated in the first round in three of the tournaments.

"Grand Slam Syndrome" is very obvious in Thiem.

Be it Valencia or Basel, the first round of matches has just ignited the flames of war, and the battle for the final spot in the year-end finals can already be felt with the smoke of gunpowder, and every game may change the situation.

So, what about Gawain?

Last week, I strategically gave up the competition, rested and adjusted, and started systematic training, trying to get back on the right track. Now it seems to be the right decision.

Although he missed the fierce competition for 250 points last week, Gawain showed a good mental state in Valencia this week.

As the fifth seed, Gao Wen will face a qualifier in the first round, Serbian player Nobert-Gombos, who is currently ranked 127th in the world.

At the beginning of the first set, Gumps played actively and proactively. After two qualifying matches, he advanced to the main match. This gave him more time to adapt to the venue. At the same time, his performance was more comfortable and open, which did cause some trouble for Gao Wen.

On indoor hard courts, the impact of ball speed and wind speed is still different after all.

However, after the trial phase, Gao Wen quickly gained a foothold, and his overall tactical depth and on-the-spot response clearly prevailed.

Gombos' style is that of a typical Challenge Tournament player. His entire attack is vigorous and powerful. On the fast court, his strength and speed are very good. However, his offensive rhythm does not change much, maintaining the same frequency of bombardment, and his absolute strength is slightly inferior.

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Therefore, Gawain frequently used the tactics of grabbing ascending points and changing the rhythm to disrupt the opponent's offensive routines, constantly putting Gombos in an awkward state.

Not only did the continuity of the offense face severe challenges, but the accuracy of the offense also suffered continuous damage.

Then, the game slowly entered a pattern that Gao Wen was familiar with.

“6:4”, “6:1”.

Gao Wen defeated his opponent in straight sets and successfully advanced to the second round. He took a solid first step in Valencia. Although he still needs some time to adapt to the venue, his condition and touch have improved to a certain extent compared to the Asian season. This is the best news of the whole game.

In the second round, Gao Wen will face a Spanish player born in the 1990s:

Pablo Carreno Busta.

Busta's most well-known match later took place in 2020, when he faced Djokovic in the fourth round of the US Open that year.

In the first set, he was trailing 4:5, and in his must-win serve game, he was trailing 0:40.

At this time, Busta played bravely, saving three break points in a row and successfully holding his serve, and then broke Djokovic's serve, reversing the score and entering his own serve to win the set.

Djokovic lost control of his emotions and hit the tennis ball directly to the ball boy, but accidentally injured the linesman. As a result, he was directly judged as the loser by the referee and lost the entire game.

This match also went down in history in an incredible manner and caused a sensation around the world, but it was obviously not the way Busta wanted.

(End of this chapter)