Chapter 664: Comprehensive Balance
Push off the ground and throw the ball.
The tennis ball flew high into the air, and Berdych stretched out his body like a white crane spreading its wings. He stared sharply and intently at the fluffy tennis ball, trying to stay focused.
standard.
Berdych's every move is exemplary, with his methodical serving and hitting movements perfectly interpreting the elegance and lightness of tennis. He is dressed in white, as white as snow, and looks very graceful. Even in fierce sports confrontations, he still has a gentlemanly demeanor, which is truly pleasing to the eye.
The indoor hard court of the Paris Masters is a little special. The hitting area is light grass green, and the surrounding moving area is light gray-blue.
From a distance, there is an illusion of blue sky and grass, and Berdych's white jersey looks even more light and elegant, like a knight with a sword.
But the problem is that it is not very friendly to the audience and the broadcaster: the movement trajectory of the mustard yellow tennis ball flying in the air is not very clear. It’s not that it cannot be seen, but you just need to stay focused and engaged.
It was precisely because of this that the entire audience fell silent, and everyone held their breath involuntarily, watching the flight of the tennis ball.
Bang! Zone 2, first shot, 201 km/h.
The outside corner serve has both speed and angle. At the same time, the hidden topspin is released after it lands, and the rebound force of the tennis ball jumps out directly.
Gawain's feet were immediately pulled out, and with his body almost losing its balance, he barely managed to hold on with his hands on his shoulders.
The only thing Gawain could do was to control the landing point of the return ball in the middle area as much as possible to limit Berdych's attack angle, but the control of the return ball's arc and landing point was very difficult.
Berdych's footsteps were light and nimble as he adjusted quickly. He stepped forward and entered the baseline. He took the initiative to meet the incoming ball. His right forearm swung quickly and his forehand hit the ball like a whip. The speed and power of the entire shot were released instantly, and then the tennis ball disappeared.
Whoosh! The tennis ball went into Gao Wen's right half court, accurately pressed on the sideline, and then jumped out directly.
Even though Gao Wen changed direction in the first place and tried his best to move sideways, he was still a little bit behind and could not catch up. He watched the tennis ball fly into the audience stands.
Berdych clenched his fists tightly and looked at Gawain firmly with his azure eyes. He did not shout or release, but the determination in his eyes burst out with a power, showing his determination and belief in the bloody battle of bayonets.
Head-on, confrontation!
Then, without any unnecessary movement, Berdych turned back to the baseline, ready to continue serving.
The game was a bit stalemate.
Berdych is a very comprehensive and balanced player, both in forehand and backhand, offense and defense, baseline and net.
Of course, objectively speaking, there are still some slight differences. The baseline is stronger than the net, the offense is stronger than the defense, and the forehand is stronger than the backhand, but the gap is slight. Overall, Berdych is a comprehensive and balanced player, but it is precisely because of this that while he has no shortcomings, he also lacks characteristics.
If such players participate in challenge tournaments or youth competitions, they will easily be buried, because in relatively low-level competitions, an outstanding killer move can often break the situation.
But if the level and ability reach the top professional level, such players are very stable, because their overall performance can always be maintained at an average level. Maybe their upper limit does not reach the height of genius, superstar, or legend, but similarly, their lower limit is also much higher than that of ordinary players.
This also means that if you want to beat him, you must deliver an above-average performance, otherwise the game will be in trouble.
Only very, very occasionally does a player like Berdych fail to perform well, such as when he traveled to Valencia straight after winning the championship in Stockholm.
In the first set, the deadlock could not be broken.
On the one hand, Berdych is very comprehensive and has no obvious weaknesses.
On the other hand, Berdych's match rhythm is relatively crisp and neat, which is further amplified on indoor hard courts. There are relatively fewer long and multi-shot rounds, which also means that the time given to Gao Wen to explore, plan and adapt is compressed.
The most important reason is that Berdych's defense is not the airtight and tight type. Although he has good defensive ability, he is not keen on or enjoys defense, so his mentality determines that the focus of the game will often be on offense.
In comparison, once Berdych enters a passive defensive state, the possibility of flaws is relatively high, and the speed of ending a point will be relatively fast. The possibility of falling into a tug-of-war of more than 20 or 30 shots is generally low.
So the process was rapid.
In just thirty-five minutes, the score was already "6:5".
Among them, Gao Wen got two break points, but missed them all; Berdych got three break points, but also missed them all.
The two players entered a tie and then repeatedly engaged in lengthy innings, without a single inning, which kept the pace of the game moving at a relatively fast pace.
Just look at the game time and you will know that the pace has never slowed down.
Gao Wen has been looking for an opportunity to break the deadlock.
However, as Berdych said before the game: he took this game and this opponent very seriously. He did not think that Koeman's victory in the US Open was a fluke, so he prepared very carefully and seriously. All the preparations were presented in the game. His performance so far has been perfect and he did not give Koeman any chance.
Until the end of the trading session.
Gawain, who served first in the match, made full use of his advantage of serving first to take the lead in the score and launched continuous attacks in Berdych's must-win serve game.
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Be bold and adventurous, attack boldly, and be the first to act.
Even if there are mistakes, it doesn’t matter, the rhythm and quality of the entire game will immediately be improved to a higher level.
In the tenth game, Gawain made many mistakes and did not create much threat, so Berdych successfully held his serve.
Afterwards, Gawain was not affected and stood firm. He also did not give Berdych any chance and saved his sixth serve, surpassing the score again and temporarily leading with "6:5".
In the twelfth game, Berdych had to face his second must-win serve in the first set and try to drag the game into a tiebreak.
In this round, Gao Wen's attack success rate increased significantly, taking a "15:30" lead and gaining a slight advantage.
However, Berdych still showed his rich experience in the game.
It was just this point.
He established an advantage with a beautiful serve, and the attack connection in the second shot was very firm. Before the shot was released, the decision had already been made in his mind, and he hit the ball cleanly and neatly against the wall, like a "one-two-punch" in a boxing match, leaving no chance.
So, “30:30”.
Next, it is the crucial point, maybe it is Berdych's game point, or it may be Gawain's break point and set point.
The air also started to burn.
Everything is just like the battle for a spot in the year-end finals. Every point is a crucial point, every point can turn the situation around, and every point is a bloody battle.
The game has come to the most critical moment.
(End of this chapter)