Chapter 694: Brainstorming Snap
. Snap. Snap.
Djokovic was bouncing the ball, once, then again. The long, endless sound of bouncing the ball echoed in the court. No other sound could be heard, and the sound of bouncing the ball hit the heart heavily, suffocating it.
Snap. Snap. Snap.
Djokovic remained unmoved, concentrating on hitting the ball, as if all his energy was immersed in hitting the ball.
From this small detail, it can be seen that Djokovic was a little nervous. It was because of his nervousness that the number of times he bounced the ball increased significantly.
The score board showed "6:5", "40:40".
That is to say, split equally.
But the problem was that this was Djokovic's serve, "40:15", he got two consecutive match points, but was helped by Gao Wen's divine performance and tied the score.
As a result, the situation became intense. Will the next point be a match point or a break point? As expected, the second set was a stalemate.
The first to serve was Gao Wen.
In the first service game, Djokovic showed his determination to pursue victory, launched continuous attacks aggressively, and successfully forced a break point again.
At the critical moment, Gao Wen used a close-range forehand serve to force Djokovic's forehand return into the net, and saved the break point by directly scoring with the serve.
Djokovic was very dissatisfied with his performance. Although close serve was indeed difficult, Djokovic would not hit the ball so hard that it could not pass the net. The main reason was that Gawain's serve was weakened, which directly led to Djokovic's failure to borrow strength when he could not exert strength.
This led to being taken offline.
Djokovic once again roared at his player box to vent his anger. Wasting so many opportunities in this game was definitely not the situation he expected.
This point successfully boosted Gao Wen's morale, proving that his calculations and layout were correct. Next, he won two points in a row, reversed the disadvantage, held his serve, and gained a firm foothold.
Gao Wenbaofa.
Djokovic holds serve.
Gao Wenbaofa.
Djokovic holds serve.
The situation of back and forth and no one giving an inch was able to widen the gap, and the stalemate and entanglement in the second set took on a different look.
On the one hand, Gawain's concentration improved; on the other hand, Djokovic's concentration decreased. In the interweaving, the competition for key points seemed to have regained balance. Both players got break points but missed them all, Djokovic missed six and Gawain missed two.
"5:5", the stalemate lasted until the end of the set, and then the break finally came.
In Gawain's serve, Djokovic hit two incredible shots in a row and exerted strong pressure to cause Gawain to make a mistake. Finally, Djokovic seized the eighth break point in the second set, broke the serve first, and strode into the serve-winning game.
And then, it’s now.
Is there any difference between the second set and the first set?
In fact, from a tactical point of view, there was no earth-shaking change. Djokovic was still trying to suppress Gawain's backhand, while Gawain was always trying to break through Djokovic's forehand. The advantage conversion of game and suppression lasted throughout.
But the difference in details is objective, and it all comes down to subtle changes in physical fitness and mental will. It was just the difference in the handling of a few key points that ultimately kept the score deadlocked, and the two players fought all the way to the end of the set.
In addition, Gawain discovered a detail, which, to be more precise, should have confirmed Sampras's inference: Gawain had participated in the competition for two consecutive weeks and reached the finals in Valencia and Paris back to back. The intensity of the entire confrontation and the degree of adaptation to the game had reached the best; however, this was not the case for Djokovic.
An objective fact that every professional player must face is that in the game, one needs to find the right form.
Including one's own state, batting feel, game atmosphere, etc., the most important thing is the tension of the game, the pressure that cannot be felt through daily training -
That is the intensity of the game.
Even top players like the Big Four need time to adapt.
Djokovic has been avoiding competition since his arrival in Shanghai. After arriving in Paris, he played four matches in total, but encountered no challenges in any of them. Except for a tie-break against Monfils, he won all other matches easily.
Didn't lose a single set.
From a positive perspective, Djokovic is indeed in hot form and unstoppable.
From a negative perspective, Djokovic has not experienced the test of tough battles, and after being out of action for a long time, it is difficult for him to reach his ultimate state at critical moments.
Simply put, it is the difference in combat intensity.
The more top players are, the more severe challenges they need to go through in order to gradually push out their best performance. Otherwise, facing ordinary opponents, they might be able to easily win with 50% or 70% of their strength. This is one of the reasons why Grand Slam tournaments become more exciting as they enter the second half.
Sampras knows clearly how strong Djokovic's personal ability is, and after the upset loss at the US Open, he is well prepared this time, so the game is bound to be very, very difficult.
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Therefore, the strategy that Sampras formulated for Gao Wen was to increase the difficulty of the game as much as possible and extend the game rounds as much as possible.
As time goes by, Djokovic, who has not faced a tough battle this week, will inevitably see fluctuations in his hitting ability. There should be no problem on the defensive end, but his offensive power will inevitably decline. As long as he can withstand Djokovic's powerful impact, Gawain will be able to find opportunities to launch a counterattack.
From the first set to the second set, it can be seen that Djokovic's ability to grasp key points is indeed slowly declining, and the quality of the entire shot is also fluctuating.
This also proves Sampras's guess and, to some extent, the correctness of the entire tactical strategy.
However, the reason why Djokovic is Djokovic is because of his strong control. Even when standing on the edge of a cliff, he still has a tenacity, like a tumbler. He is about to fall, but he can always get back to his position unless he encounters a destructive force.
In the eleventh game, Gao Wen was a little impatient in his own serve, and Djokovic seized the opportunity and completed a fatal break.
Then, match points came, two in a row.
But Gawain's advantage is that he is calm enough, tough enough, and strong enough. Facing match point, he remained calm and instead pushed the pressure to Djokovic, so that the world No. 1's shot was a little conservative. Gawain immediately seized the opportunity and completed incredible shots for two consecutive points to tie the score.
Djokovic is also a flesh and blood person. He has his own emotions. He gets irritated, nervous and makes mistakes. Now, the game has come to a critical moment.
Snap. Snap. Snap.
Fourteen.
Djokovic slapped the ball fourteen times, then looked up, glanced at Gawain, and finally prepared to serve.
Area 1, inner corner.
Bang! Gao Wen kicked his legs and rushed out. His reflex was very fast, but when his racket met the tennis ball, he immediately realized that something was wrong: he reduced the force and hit it.
At the critical moment, Djokovic copied Gao Wen's serve on the break point in the first service game of the second set, breaking the balance by reducing the force.
(End of this chapter)