Chapter 950 A Little Deviation
The score is “2:2”.
The score of the game is “2:2”.
Sub-score: “40:AD”.
Time, 04:40.
The game has been going on for four hours and forty minutes.
It is 11:40 pm local time in Melbourne, and there are still 20 minutes to midnight. Judging from all the signs, it is impossible to finish the game "today". They will accompany each other through midnight and watch this game that may go down in history together.
Although it was almost midnight, the temperature on site was still rising, and the Rod Laver Arena was like an active volcano.
After entering the deciding set, both players adjusted slightly and started smoothly. They encountered no challenges in their serve games and easily held their serve.
In the fifth game, Djokovic was the first to show signs of fluctuation and gave away a break point. Although he saved it with a serve attack, he gave away the second one right after that.
A small detail, Djokovic's forehand and backhand returns were obviously much more conservative. He began to continuously bounce the ball and entered a tug-of-war mode at the baseline.
On the one hand, this is the round rhythm that Djokovic is best at and likes best. While consuming Gao Wen's physical strength and energy, it can also consume the young man's patience and will.
On the other hand, this also shows that Djokovic's entire tactical strategy has undergone a fundamental change. The more active and aggressive style of play in the first three sets is no longer there. He began to enter the stage of "playing Tai Chi", throwing all risks to Gawain and sitting back on the Diaoyutai. This is also the new tactics that the world No. 1 adopted after the fourth set.
In terms of experience, whether it is the Grand Slam finals or the tour, Djokovic is several levels higher than Gavin. It can be seen here that in the fourth set, Gavin was still going all out, but Djokovic had already begun to lay out for the deciding set.
There is no doubt that Djokovic exerted force in the deciding set, but his "force" was slightly different from that of ordinary players, and the situation that emerged was also different.
However, the actual situation was slightly different from Djokovic's expectations, because Gawain's hot form and touch did not decline. Not only that, but he still maintained a high frequency and high intensity state and continued to exert pressure.
The focus of the game has now quietly shifted, and it mainly depends on Gao Wen——
First of all, how long can Gao Wen's concentration and impact last? From the second half of the third set to the fifth set, there will be a time when he will be tired and gasp.
Secondly, when will the next round of physical strength peak? Will he be able to hold on until the end of the final set, or will Djokovic be the first to turn the tide? Every game, every point... all are contests, and the stalemate of the game has reached an unprecedented height.
At this time, Gao Wen got the second break point of this game.
Moreover, Gao Wen understood that this was the deciding set, which was different from the fourth set. Djokovic would never let up, so every opportunity was even more precious.
The ability to seize opportunities and the ability to grasp the key points are often the key to success or failure in head-to-head competition between top players.
One serve, out of bounds.
Djokovic's first serve was still unstable; moreover, this serve was out of bounds in an outrageous way. Even if one has a thousand degrees of myopia and takes off his glasses, one can tell that the landing point and route are off track.
"Come on! Novak!"
"Noel, go! Noel!"
The cheers of support came out sporadically, but were quickly stopped by the audience, who said, "Shh," signaling everyone to keep quiet.
Are those fans really not undercover agents?
At such a critical moment, there was a noise between Djokovic's first and second serves, disrupting the serving rhythm. Damn it!
In a blink of an eye, the stadium became quiet, and one could even hear the night breeze blowing gently. In that very, very brief moment, goose bumps popped up one after another, as if they couldn't wait to see this incredible matchup.
Who could have thought that Gawain could drag Djokovic into the fifth set?
But all this is happening right before our eyes.
Snap. Snap. Snap.
Djokovic was hitting the ball, and it seemed that if no one reminded him, he would keep hitting the ball until the end of time and would never stop.
finally!
Djokovic dropped the ball.
Second serve.
Close range and forehand pressure.
The landing point is not surprising.
Gao Wen made an accurate prediction because he knew that Djokovic was trying to drag the ball into a seesaw match, which was completely different from the serve and attack and even serve and volley in the previous two sets.
Serve speed: 134 kilometers per hour.
slow.
Literally slow.
However, Djokovic had obviously calculated this serve, and the entire topspin was fully pulled up. It was not like Djokovic's serve at all, but it was similar to Nadal's second serve strategy.
It did an upward spin, and not only spun, but also drilled. After landing, it drilled towards Gawain's face. Judging from its flight trajectory, it was almost jumping over his head.
Ingenious indeed.
In this way, even if Gao Wen accurately predicted the serving line and landing point, he would have no way to attack and might even fall into a passive position.
For the second serve, the tactical intention of limiting the attack is fully demonstrated.
Gawain was not panicked.
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Move horizontally to the left side after two consecutive cross steps to make room, and without any hesitation, raise your forehand and hit.
There was no way to exert force when hitting the ball from a position diagonally above the head, and even the swing of the racket was irregular, but Gawain's hitting was very clever.
With a slight flick of the wrist, take full advantage of the high point of the ball - for reference, Gao Wen is 193 cm tall, which means the hitting point is already higher than two meters, and then push and flick the forearm forward.
There is no need to exert any strength at all. A light, cutting shot can create a strong backspin effect. Go straight and hit the ball like hitting a wall.
Basically, tennis balls go back to where they came from and where they are going.
state.
Even the sound of hitting the ball is not very crisp.
However, the return effect was very good because Gawain's return landed right under Djokovic's feet, very close to the baseline.
Djokovic anticipated the line of the return ball, but not the way to return it. Moreover, he had no way to exert force, and could not use the force to leverage the opponent's force. He could only barely hit the tennis ball back as a rebound. He had no control at all, and instead lost the quality of the return ball.
Djokovic, serve smartly.
Gao Wen, great serve return.
From here we can see the different game content that Agassi brought to Gao Wen after joining the coaching team.
Danger!
Danger danger danger.
When Djokovic saw the arc of his return ball, he immediately sounded the alarm and moved quickly sideways towards his forehand position.
Because Gawain's forehand was raised without hesitation, without pause or breathing, and he attacked with force, sweeping diagonally.
Boom! Djokovic was a little embarrassed. Although he moved in advance, Gawain's ball landed very beautifully within the large triangle area of the baseline. At the same time, his speed and power forced Djokovic to do a split and scoop the tennis ball back with his forehand.
Slash!
Gao Wen followed very quickly, taking small steps forward, almost moving along the baseline, and his forehand shot once again crossed the entire court and launched a bombardment.
Slash!
Another slash!
It is very rare that Gavin and Djokovic confronted each other on the forehand position, with Gavin attacking and Djokovic defending.
but!
That was the shot! Gao was about to hit the repeated point, catching Djokovic off guard, but he didn't expect that Djokovic would accurately predict it.
With a brake and a pause, Djokovic has found the hitting point, and immediately sweeps the ball with a windmill-like forehand, turning defense into offense! (End of this chapter)