Chapter 775 Golden Partner
A little trivia: Among the Big Four, Nadal has the best doubles performance.
Nadal has represented the national team many times. He not only appears in singles competitions, but also in doubles competitions.
In Nadal's doubles career, in addition to the doubles gold medal at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, he has won nine doubles titles, including three Masters tournaments.
Among them, it has basically become a routine to participate in doubles competitions in Doha at the beginning of the year to warm up. He won the championship three times in 2005, 2009 and 2011.
This year, Nadal once again chose to participate in the doubles competition in Doha, continuing the tradition and opening the season in this way. However, his partner this time was a little unexpected. Nadal did not choose his compatriot to partner, but like Djokovic, he chose a young player to partner.
It seems that this year's Doha race is indeed worth looking forward to.
At this time, the two players standing on the other side of the training ground were also familiar faces, both from Spain.
One is Verdasco, whose highest singles ranking in his career was seventh in 2009. He is also a famous Spanish player, but compared with his performance on the court, this handsome guy's off-court stories are always more eye-catching.
He once dated Ana Ivanovic, and it was after Ivanovic won the French Open in 2008 that the two sparked a heated discussion. Unfortunately, they broke up after just five months.
Afterwards, he dated several other beauties, including a tennis player, a fashion model, and a movie actress. Unfortunately, each relationship did not last long, so the media paid attention to his love affairs every now and then, and his treatment was comparable to that of the top stars in the entertainment industry. The name "Playboy" spread like wildfire.
This also took away from Verdasco's excellent performance on the court. Many fans insisted that he was a "vase", and even some players thought so.
Kyrgios once criticized Verdasco shamelessly, "He thinks he is talented, but his backhand is too mediocre."
In fact, Verdasco has reached the fourth round in all four Grand Slams, and defeated Tsonga and Murray in succession to reach the semi-finals at the 2009 Australian Open. His performance on the court is also not to be underestimated.
Another is Marrero, who is less famous than his other compatriots because he specializes in doubles and has almost no participation record in singles. His highest doubles ranking in his career was fifth in the world in 2013.
Although Marrero is less well-known among fans, he has always been very popular in the Spanish team. He has partnered with many Spanish players in doubles, and his partnership with Verdasco was the most successful. They won the 2013 ATP Finals doubles championship, which was undoubtedly a feat and proved their strength.
This year in Doha, Marrero and Verdasco will continue to partner in the doubles competition, and they are both looking forward to achieving good results.
At this time, watching the combination of Gao Wen and Nadal still appear to be at ease and full of confidence when facing strong opponents, the relaxed mentality made the fans at the training ground feel relaxed, and Yu Jia's expectations for the doubles match began to rise -
It’s not about the results, but the competition itself.
The entertainment effect should be good.
Just like the last time in the imperial capital, Gao Wen and Thiem played doubles, those two games were very interesting and left a deep impression on the audience.
What's more, this time he is partnering with Nadal!
Yu Jia had thought before that maybe Gao Wen should participate in some doubles matches to practice, and sure enough, Doha came.
Facts also prove Yu Jia's conjecture:
The competition is really interesting.
"4:4", "15:40".
On the first day of the Doha Open, the doubles competition took place first.
The combination of Nadal and Gawain will face two old acquaintances, Simone Bolelli and L. Mayer, in the first round. All four players are main singles players and have played against each other before, so they are very familiar with each other. This time they are partnering in doubles in Doha, mainly to warm up for the Australian Open.
In comparison, Borelli and Mayer have participated in more doubles matches and have better coordination, which makes the game more tense.
The first set was very close with the score tied, but now it was Gao Wen's serve game and he was trailing by a small point and faced the test of two break points.
In Doha, the sun is still shining brightly. Just standing outdoors feels as if the sweat hairs on the skin will be singed, not to mention fighting on the court. The hot sweat keeps oozing out and is almost boiling.
However, even in such hot weather, the stadium's attendance rate still reached an incredible 80%. The seats within the field of vision were basically full, and the bustling figures seemed to be about to fill the entire stadium -
It was obvious that the fans in Doha came here specifically for Nadal and Gawain.
One is a top giant; the other is a shining new star.
Both of them are topical figures. If it weren’t for the special circumstances of the Australian season, how would they have seen these two players partner up in doubles competition?
Admittedly, the combination of Djokovic and Krajinovic is also worthy of attention. After all, Djokovic's doubles matches are indeed rare, but the current combination is completely overwhelming in terms of topicality, popularity, freshness and many other aspects, and will undoubtedly become the biggest focus of the opening of the new season.
The homepage of the ATP official website directly gives a central page to introduce it grandly:
"Nadal and Kowen, the best match of the new year."
The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!
I'm afraid that apart from the Big Four pairing up in pairs, there will be no other such craze in the tour.
The attendance rate also gave feedback, and even the single quarterfinals might not be able to achieve such box office results.
The sun was scorching and the air was filled with a burning smell, but the audience was still full of energy, and applause and cheers filled the venue between points.
No one wants to miss such a golden partnership.
Nadal and Gawain are discussing serving strategies.
Doubles matches require strategy. It is not just about whoever is better will be responsible for arranging tactics; there are certain rules to it.
If it is a serving game, the non-serving player will arrange the tactics, because this player often needs to exert tactical pressure in the first half of the court.
If it is a serve-receiving game, the receiving side will arrange the tactics, because the return line of this player often determines the subsequent offensive connection.
Moreover, whether serving or receiving, the tactics of first and second serves need to be adjusted. As partners, the two players always need to communicate.
At this time, Gawain served and it was natural for Nadal to arrange the tactics.
Yu Jia looked at Nadal and Gao Wen with curiosity as they were discussing tactics. He was also very curious about how they would respond on break points.
In the first eight games of today's match, neither side gave away break points. It can be seen that the first game after returning to the new season still needs adjustment. The batting feel and competitive state are far from the best. Both sides are groping, so the serving games progressed relatively quickly.
This round was the first time the balance was broken.
(End of this chapter)