Chapter 936 Weird Start
"I just saw Lewis Hamilton show up. He should be coming to Australia to prepare for the opening game of the new season."
“Oh, and Tiger Woods.”
Zhang Sheng's words surprised Yu Jia a little. He turned around and did not hide his surprise.
"I knew Tiger always liked to watch Nadal's matches, but I didn't know he was interested in other tennis matches as well. I thought he didn't watch tennis."
Zhang Sheng shrugged.
"In my opinion, if the game was a foregone conclusion, they wouldn't bother coming to Melbourne Park in such hot and humid weather. They are much more professional than AI algorithms. They are professionals who can really see the essence through phenomena. Their willingness to attend is the best proof of that."
In last year's US Open final, both "dark horses" Gao Wen and Cilic made their first appearance on the Grand Slam final stage, and expectations for the game plummeted.
This can be seen from the attendance rate and number of guests at the finals.
At that time, they scanned the entire field but couldn't see any superstars worth mentioning, so all the audience were forced to focus on the game itself.
This year is different.
Before the game even started, the obvious difference in enthusiasm could be felt. In some ways, it was even comparable to a showdown between the Big Four.
After hearing what Zhang Sheng said, Yu Jia also expressed his deep agreement and felt a little more relaxed. "I just saw Navratilova is here too."
"Mrs. Billie-Jane-King and Mr. Rod Laver also arrived one after another." Zhang Sheng exhaled another puff of smoke.
"You know, the presence of these two figures is of great importance."
Rod Laver is still a flagship figure for the entire Australian professional tennis world, needless to say.
So what about Billie Jean King?
On the court, with twelve Grand Slam titles, sixteen Grand Slam women's doubles titles and eleven Grand Slam mixed doubles titles, she is undoubtedly a legend in women's tennis.
But the real greatness of this pioneer lies in the fact that she established the status of women's professional tennis through her own game.
First of all, the legendary "Battle of the Sexes" in 1973 is still a legendary event that people talk about today.
Bobby Riggs ranked highly among amateurs and professionals in the 1930s and 1940s, and became the best male player in the world in the mid-1940s.
Later, Riggs would brag about being a "promoter" of tennis during business challenges.
In 1973, Riggs openly promoted his male chauvinism, claiming that the gap between the women's game and the men's game was so huge that a 55-year-old retired male player like himself could still beat the top active female players.
Riggs challenged the legendary Margaret Court and won easily with scores of "6:2" and "6:1".
Mrs. Billie Jean King, who had once rejected Riggs' challenge, finally decided to accept Riggs' challenge after this game.
On September 20, 1973, Mrs. Billie Jean King and Riggs fought the "Battle of the Sexes" of the century. In front of 30,000 spectators on site and 50 million viewers around the world, Mrs. King defeated Riggs in three straight sets.
The public generally believes that this is an important tournament that promotes respect and attention for women's tennis and will go down in history.
Later, this historical event was adapted into a movie, "The Battle of the Sexes".
Secondly, Mrs. Billie Jean King also realized the challenges facing the women's game, so she acted as a bridge and organized the first formal organization -
WTA.
Mrs. King was the first president of the WTA.
From on the court to off the court, Mrs. Billie Jean King's promotion of women's professional tennis is incredible, which also establishes her unique position in today's professional tennis.
tonight!
The appearance of two legendary figures, Billie Jean King and Rod Laver, directly proved the importance of this Australian Open final and it indeed attracted countless attention.
Surprises! One after another.
Yu Jia was also very surprised to hear the unexpected name, "Mrs. Jin is here too."
A little excited.
But then, he became more nervous. "Tonight, it may be a very, very difficult match for Gao Wen. Xiao Djokovic will definitely be fully prepared."
Zhang Sheng glanced at Yu Jia and said, "You see, this is the difference between us and Gao Wen. We are nervous about the upcoming challenge, but Gao Wen is excited about the upcoming challenge. Do you believe it? Gao Wen should be looking forward to tonight's game and even can't wait to get on stage."
Yu Jia was slightly stunned and laughed, because he knew Zhang Sheng was right, "Then let us look forward to a wonderful duel."
At night, seven-thirty.
The last match of the 2015 Australian Open, the men's singles final, "Djokovic VS Galen", officially kicked off.
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The start was very strange.
Tonight, both Djokovic and Gao Wen had problems with their serves and were unable to take the initiative in the first serve, which also resulted in severe tests for both players' serve games.
Djokovic had already had problems with his serve in the previous semifinal, and now it continued into the final. Not only was his first serve success rate low, but the quality of his first serve was also poor. It was difficult for him to take the initiative after serving, and he was repeatedly attacked by Gawaddin.
Gao Wen's serve problem, which continued from Doha to Melbourne, had basically returned to normal when he played against Nadal and Murray, but it reappeared in the final. He also had a low first serve success rate and once again faced the severe test of double faults.
Melbourne at night is stuffy, humid, hot and humid. The entire Rod Laver Arena is like a big stuffy pot. Even though the roof has been opened, it is still difficult to breathe.
After just two games, both Djokovic and Gao Wen were sweating profusely, and their physical exertion and breathing adjustments were put to severe tests.
In Gao Wen's first two service games, he saved three and four break points respectively and managed to hold his serve with great difficulty.
Djokovic fell behind at 0:40 in his first service game, but then the world number one showed his true strength and continued to put pressure on the net. Becker's training was being integrated into the game, and he broke the stalemate at the baseline in the opening stage and saved his serve.
It was clear from the start that this match was different from the previous three encounters between the two players.
After “2:2”——
The hot and humid temperature had an obvious impact. Gao Wen's backhand performance was very bad. Not only did he fail to hit the ball into place, but he also made consecutive mistakes. Djokovic showed top-level prediction and precise control, breaking the serve first and taking the lead for the first time in this final.
However, Djokovic also faced the test of high temperatures. First, he had breathing problems and made many mistakes. Gawain immediately seized the opportunity to break back and returned to the same starting line. Then Djokovic requested a medical timeout because of finger cramps and skin abrasions.
The rhythm and atmosphere of the game are always in a discontinuous, fragmented, chaotic and bumpy state.
Whether it is Djokovic or Gao Wen, the performance of both players is not normal.
“Weird.”
Zhang Sheng made such an evaluation.
"This much-anticipated final had a very strange opening."
(End of this chapter)