Chapter 873: Waving Sleeves
At the beginning of the third set, Kyrgios was facing many troubles. The control of the game was obviously slipping away from his hands little by little, but the real key problem was:
There was a very serious problem with Kyrgios' prediction.
What does it mean?
Once Gawain formed a continuous attack on the backhand, Kyrgios could not hold on to the ball and often lost some balls inexplicably, and his ability to sustain the ball in the round dropped very quickly.
Simply put, Kyrgios had no confidence in his backhand and was scared of being beaten.
It is precisely because of this that Kyrgios frequently worries about his backhand, and his footwork always subconsciously protects his backhand. At this time, Gawain starts to sneak attack his forehand, and Kyrgios often cannot predict it. His entire forehand gap is completely open, and Gawain's shot becomes much easier.
Every time he steals one, he hits the target accurately, with an alarming success rate.
Who could have thought that Kyrgios' forehand would become a breakthrough point for Gawain, who was beaten into a sieve; of course, the backhand was not much better.
The whole court is full of gaps and loopholes, it's basically a completely open pocket.
The final situation was that Kyrgios had lost his basic predictive ability. He did not predict Gawain's shots and basically just hit the ball blindly and without any rules. He then vented his anger by hitting the ball violently, as if he was ready to blow up the tennis ball with every shot.
Some balls, if they successfully enter the zone, are magical balls.
But more balls went into the net, out of bounds, or flew all over the court.
The scene gradually widened the gap.
At the beginning of the third set, Kyrgios was still holding on, barely holding on, and even hit a magical ball to save the break point, avoiding the fate of being broken just at the beginning. He still kept the hope of the game going and ignited the hope of the home fans again, who cheered, supported, and roared continuously.
But the flame of hope did not last long. It was completely extinguished by Gawain's series of fierce attacks. The scene even became one-sided: a massacre.
“5:1”.
After both players saved their first serve at the start, Gao Wen won four games in a row and soon found himself serving for the match.
The game was nearing its end, and Kyrgios seemed to have finally come back to life briefly. He took the lead in attacking in Gawain's serve and won two points in a row.
"0:30".
It can be seen that Gawain was a little nervous. He was going too smoothly in the middle of the third set, so when the tempo of his serve to win the match increased, Gawain himself could not keep up. The depth of his forehand shot was not guaranteed, and Kyrgios broke his balance with a single violent shot.
But at the critical moment, Gao Wen still showed his big heart, stood firm, scored three points in a row, regained the lead, and got the first match point.
"40:30".
Match point has arrived.
"Come on! Nick!"
"Nick! Forward!"
The heart of the entire Melbourne Park was stuck in its throat. Everything was silent, so much so that the shouts in the Margaret Court Arena suddenly exploded like thunder from a clear sky. The air, which was so tense that it was almost stagnant, rippled layer by layer, and a wave of restlessness surged among the crowd.
The determined and affectionate home fans still refused to give up, still refused to surrender——
Kyrgios, there's still a chance.
Especially when Gawain served the ball out of bounds, the whole audience burst into incredible cheers, as if they were celebrating Kyrgios' winning point.
The air is burning.
Second serve.
Beep! The sound of the net-hitting alarm echoed around the Margaret Court Arena. Then you could see Gawain's serve hitting the baseline and flying out.
"oh."
The home audience collectively covered their faces——
Just a little bit, just a little bit, the second serve would hit the net and go out of bounds.
According to the rules of tennis, if the ball hits the net and enters the zone, it will be re-served no matter how many times it hits the net; but if it hits the net and goes out of bounds, then it is out of bounds.
In such a tense moment, a second serve hitting the net was enough to make the home crowd's hearts stop.
On the contrary, the two players on the court seemed very calm and were not affected at all. After a slight adjustment, they were ready to continue the game.
District 2.
With the first serve, Gao Wen tried to hit the ball to the outside corner, but it was a little too long and out of bounds. With the second serve, Gao Wen tried to hit the ball close to his backhand, but it was still in the outside corner range, but the ball after the adjustment was hit too hard and hit the net.
So, will Gawain continue to hit the outside corner on the second serve?
Not only Kyrgios was guessing, but the audience was also guessing.
Push off the ground! Toss the ball! The tennis ball was tossed up lightly.
Time paused for a second, then the magic was lifted and everything went into fast forward. The tennis ball, attracting everyone's attention, rushed towards Kyrgios's close position.
Close serve.
It is a pure close-range squeeze serve. If you have to judge it, the landing point is slightly biased towards the forehand side.
Kyrgios obviously didn't make the correct judgment. He was about to move towards his forehand position when he immediately realized that it was a trap.
Whether he bets on forehand or backhand, if he moves in advance, his swing will be squeezed.
In a hurry, Kyrgios awkwardly hit the ball back with his forehand, and the power of his forearm was released instantly.
Under extreme difficulty, Kyrgios still hit a backslash shot that fell into bounds.
Gao Wen's serve and attack were very fast. He stepped forward and entered the baseline, and raised his backhand high with both hands.
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Straight line? Or diagonal line? Kyrgios did not hesitate. Following his inertia, his body moved horizontally to his right side and cut into the gap on the right side of the half court.
Forehand.
Kyrgios guessed, not only because of the large number of points that Gawain won with forehand breaks in the third set, but also because of the hints that Gawain's serve gave.
Gao Wen should realize that his continuous attack on the backhand line has been seen through, so he should prepare to break through from the forehand.
Kyrgios believes so.
However, Gao Wen's batting action paused slightly.
It means deliberately pausing at the moment before shooting, missing the predetermined hitting point, delaying the shot, and disrupting the opponent's advance prediction.
A meal.
Then, the batting action began to flow smoothly and gracefully.
Push off the ground, swing the racket, and hit the ball.
Slash!
Across the entire field.
Kyrgios goes right, tennis goes left, one goes right, the other goes left, like two points that will never meet.
No, if they orbited the Earth once, they would eventually meet, but unfortunately, there was not enough time in the tennis match for their fateful reunion.
Land and bounce.
Score!
The game is over.
Kyrgios is still running, looking back at the moon, watching the tennis ball flying, getting farther and farther away, out of reach.
How is that possible?
It’s still a backhand!
The entire backhand court has been completely penetrated, like a hornet's nest, from the first point to the last point, with a beginning and an end.
He felt like a fool.
A feeling of shame, anger, and frustration were about to explode in my chest, but they just couldn't.
That feeling is really uncomfortable.
Then, while running madly, Kyrgios saw Gawain across the court and once again gently brushed off the non-existent dust on the hem of his clothes.
Easy and carefree.
(End of this chapter)