Chapter 907: Fully Prepared

Bang! Here it comes.

Bang! Once.

The entire Rod Laver Arena was in complete silence. Everyone held their breath, staring at the tennis ball flying back and forth on the court.

The baseline round has reached the 25th shot, but the winner is still not decided. It is another long round of multi-shot tug-of-war.

As expected before the game, this was a very tough, close and difficult game.

Both Gawain and Murray showed good competitive form, especially the ability to switch between offense and defense in baseline shots. Even in extremely passive and extremely dangerous situations, they can often turn the situation around with a high-quality shot. This also shows the core of the top level of men's tennis today.

Relying solely on offense or defense, or relying solely on one skill, can indeed occupy a place, but if you want to break the blockade of the Big Four, then the ability to switch freely between offense and defense is the key, especially in a five-set three-win competition like the Grand Slam.

At least, that's the technical aspect, but the psychological aspect is another story.

This is also the direction of progress and development of professional tennis in the era of the Big Four.

For a long time, the duel between Federer and Nadal was generally regarded as a "battle of contradictions", extreme offense and extreme defense.

But with the rise of Djokovic and Murray, Federer and Nadal have also been constantly improving and making progress, gradually polishing their shortcomings. Step by step, the comprehensiveness and fluency of baseline shots have been improved to a higher level, and finally developed to what they are now.

Watching the games of the Big Four, their timing in transitioning from offense to defense, their hitting methods, their grasp of opportunities, etc., are all top-notch.

Murray is obviously no exception.

Just as Dimitrov said, Murray has indeed fully recovered from his injury. Compared with Valencia last year, the thickness and texture of his entire defensive return have been significantly improved.

Naturally, this also adds pressure on Gao Wen on both offense and defense, including the tactical layout also needs to take this variable into consideration.

Murray's shots often look stumbling. He doesn't have the calmness of Djokovic, the heaviness of Nadal, or the inspiration of Federer. They seem to have no characteristics, so much so that ordinary audiences simply can't understand why such mediocre shots can score points.

Especially in defensive shots, it is almost normal for Murray to run all over the court with an unbalanced center of gravity.

But the truth is definitely not that simple.

Murray's defensive shots are often planned or purposeful. Even if they are extremely passive and reflexive shots, he will complete the idea while moving or at the moment of hitting the ball, and then pave the way for his subsequent shots and look for opportunities to reverse the situation.

He has always had his own unique inspiration in batting style, batting routes, and batting choices to limit the opponent's continuous attack.

Simply put, he knows how to make his opponents uncomfortable, and seemingly ordinary shots can often make it more difficult for his opponents to deal with the ball.

Of course, players are ordinary people, and not every layout, every plan, and every shot can be done as they please. It is precisely because of this that Murray's frustration in the game often does not come from his opponents playing too well, but from his own plans not being accurately executed.

What's more, tennis is an interactive, confrontational and competitive sport. The opponent is always an indispensable and crucial part of the game. Therefore, the opponent's response, thoughts, inspiration, style, etc. will inevitably become a variable factor that can never be determined.

Murray is good at layout.

Gao Wen is good at breaking the deadlock.

At the same time, Murray and Gao Wen are both good at finding opportunities, adjusting tactics and turning the situation around in a flash in chaotic situations.

The only difference is that Gao Wen is more offensive, and he is more daring to take shots and take risks at critical moments, and he dares to break the balance.

However, "risk" is a variable that is constantly fluctuating and cannot be accurately predicted. The greater the risk, the greater the benefits and risks.

From the pre-match analysis, it was possible to foresee how tense this game would be.

This is indeed the case.

Both players are well prepared for this match. Murray knows the impact of Gawain, and Gawain knows the control of Murray. The game between them should run through the whole match.

It is impossible for either Murray or Gao Wen to rely on one set of tactics to win the game. They must adapt to circumstances.

In the first set, “7:6 (9)”, Gao Wen won.

From the first game and the first point in the match, one could deeply feel the two players' desire for victory and desire for the game, which was absolutely full of motivation.

Throughout the first set, both players had a very firm control over their serve games. Break points were few and difficult to convert: Gawain: 0/1 Murray: 0/3 In the first set, the two players had only four break points in total, and the break success rate was 0%. No one was able to seize the initiative.

Then, the stalemate continued all the way to the seventh game.

After entering the tiebreak, the balance still could not be broken. After Gawain completed a mini break first, Murray immediately broke back successfully. The gap between the two sides still did not widen, and the game was stalemate and the court was exchanged three times.

"9:9".

The two players tried to take each other's points and save each other's points, but neither of them was able to win.

In the end, Gao Wen dared to take action. On the third set point, he scored the winning point with a forehand straight line attack and won the first set.

The whole audience was restless.

No one expected that Gao Wen's performance of not losing a set at this year's Australian Open would continue! At the critical moment, he once again showed his big heart! The first set alone lasted 74 minutes.

It is precisely because of this that in the second set, both players experienced a decline in physical strength and their control over their serve was significantly weaker.

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Murray, on his fifth break point, finally broke Gao Wen's serve and took the lead.

Gao Wen showed high efficiency and seized the opportunity on his second break point, returning the second set to a balance.

The stalemate between the two sides continues.

Just like this moment.

Thirty-two beats!

The stalemate lasted until the 32nd shot, when Murray defended Gawain's forehand straight attack and hit a light backhand shot with both hands in an extremely passive defensive state.

Straight line, back ball.

Oops!

Gao Wen's prediction was a slash.

His feet, which were moving sideways to the left, suddenly stopped and turned around to save the ball, but as soon as his feet touched the ground, he clearly felt a lack of strength in his knees.

When physical strength declines, the steps of emergency braking and emergency starting often cannot keep up with the strength, and the ground cannot be pushed off, which then affects the hitting of the ball.

Gawain's forehand swing did not have enough power, and he did save the ball, but before it touched the ball he realized that Murray's shot was very smart, and he deliberately chose to hit the ball lightly with less force, resulting in Gawain being unable to use the force to hit the ball. He tried to speed up his arm to swing, but it was too late.

then--

Lower the net.

Murray, score.

And with this point, the victory in the second set was decided and belonged to Murray.

"6:7(5)".

Another tiebreaker.

(End of this chapter)