In his first match after winning the US Open, and also his first match in his hometown, Gao Wen is about to face L-Mayer.
Currently, there is more than one "Mayer" in men's professional tennis. There are Mayers in Germany, Chile, Spain, etc., so the official needs to add the first capital letter of the name as a prefix to indicate the distinction.
Argentina's Mayer is now in the best shape of his career. This year, he not only won the first ATP-level singles championship in his career, but also entered the top 30 in the world rankings for the first time, temporarily ranking 20th this week. Third, every step is refreshing the personal best ranking.
In addition, the performance of the four Grand Slams is also very stable, including the second round of the Australian Open, the third round of the French Open, the fourth round of Wimbledon, and the third round of the US Open.
Overall, Mayer is a player who performs better on clay courts than on hard courts. Stability and balance are his advantages. Although explosive power is not his strong point, his overall performance has remained stable and his upper limit is relatively low. , the lower limit is also relatively high, so the fluctuation range is relatively narrow.
He may lack a bit of competitiveness when facing top players, but he has always been a very difficult character to deal with among ordinary players.
Moreover, Mayer's baseline hitting has its own characteristics. He has solid basic skills in flat hitting, cutting and rotation, which also gives him more room to adapt to changes - although he is not a player who is good at changes.
It is very worth noting that Federer once took the initiative to invite Mayer to train with him for a period of time and serve as a sparring partner - which is Russell's current role. This also means that Federer believes that hitting practice with Mayer can help him. , this is undoubtedly an affirmation.
But Mayer thought it over and refused.
"I think it's good to train with superstars like the Big Four, but it's not easy. They will put extra pressure on you, because even in training, they have to compete for every ball, so you have to be 100 percent. Just invest a hundred dollars.”
For Mayer, this is a pressure and a burden.
Mayer's character can be seen in small details.
In the first round of the Imperial Open, Gao Wen faced Mayer. As Sampras said, this is a good thing because Mayer is characterized by stability but lacks a little explosiveness and impact. This also means that he can use the game as a substitute for training. , finding more time to adjust slowly, which is at least better than facing Djokovic or Cilic in the first round——
Facts also prove this.
Before the match draw came out, major news media could not wait to start analyzing the possibility of Gauvin and Cilic meeting again. The "US Open final replay" gimmick even surpassed Gauvin's first-round performance to some extent. The potential encounter with Djokovic ignited the focus.
After the draw results came out, Cilic faced Bai Yan, and Gao Wen faced L-Meijer. More importantly, the two players entered the upper and lower half respectively. However, the news media still continued to report hotly:
"The only chance for a repeat of the US Open final is the second meeting in the final. Is it possible for a miracle to happen again?"
"The familiar draw, the familiar situation, from the US Open to the Imperial Capital, is it possible that the plot will repeat itself again?"
"Judging from the lottery, this plot seems familiar. Is it really going to be 'I've seen this scene before'?"
If you think about it carefully, it is interesting, indeed interesting.
Federer did not come to the Imperial Capital to compete, but went directly to the Magic City to participate in the Masters next week. The main reason is because he signed an appearance agreement with Basel, Switzerland, and he needs to fly back immediately after the Magic City Masters. Basel plays at home, so the schedule has been adjusted.
Instead, Nadal, who had been exempt from competition throughout the North American season, chose to come back at the Imperial Capital Open to prepare for the following Asian season and European indoor season. Three more of the "Big Four" have arrived and are preparing to compete in the Imperial Capital next week. The Masters comes together.
Among them, Djokovic and Murray entered the same half again, Nadal guarded the lower half alone, then Cilic was drawn into the upper half, and Gauvin entered the lower half. All aspects were consistent with the US Open draw. There is a mirror effect, but the positions of Cilic and Gao Wen have changed slightly.
It’s no wonder that the media couldn’t contain their excitement and couldn’t wait to hype. The bustling voices couldn’t stop. All resources were used to build momentum for Gao Wen. Even the popularity of the “Big Three” competition could not be compared to— —
The anticipation is overwhelming.
But for Gao Wen, there is only one thing that needs to be focused on at this moment: L-Mayer, this first-round opponent is not as easy to deal with as imagined.
Perhaps, for ordinary fans, they rarely pay attention to Mayer, who has never been in the top twenty in the world in his career; but for professional players, who have truly experienced hard work and tried, they will know that the world The ranking can be used as a reference to some extent——
The first three hundred and the last three hundred are two different things; the first one hundred and the last one are two different things.
The first fifty and the last fifty are two different things; the first twenty and the last twenty are two different things.
To put it simply, players who can remain in the top 50 in the world rankings for a long time are already the top components of the professional tennis pyramid. Then at this level, the top ten, the top 20, and the top 50 It is divided into three grades, but the differences between them are relatively limited.
In other words, winning or losing all depends on on-the-spot performance. Even if there is an upset, it cannot be regarded as a shocking surprise.
l-Mayer, since entering the top 50 in the world rankings for the first time last year, has remained stable and has shown a gradual upward trend.
Since entering the top 30 for the first time this year, he has not fallen out of the top 30 - and he has maintained this ranking for more than two years, which also means that he has always been able to play as a Grand Slam seed player. Both stability and durability are outstanding.
This is definitely an opponent that cannot be underestimated. It is very difficult to deal with. If you take it lightly, the result of the game may be different:
In April, in the match in Hamburg, Mayer defeated Ferrer, known as the "Stable Man", defeated a world-ranked player for the first time in his career, and won the first ATP-level men's singles championship trophy in his career. .
Facts also prove this.
The first game between the two sides was tense.
Facing the new US Open champion, the enemy was in the open and we were in the dark. Mayer was fully prepared. He quickly entered the state in the opening stage, dared to fight and fought hard, and was the first to break Gawain's serve. The audience even cheered While looking for a seat, Mayer took the lead before he even had time to sit down.
But Gao Wen immediately stood firm and took the initiative to seek changes to disrupt the rhythm of the game. Then he completed a counter-break to equalize the score and the two sides returned to the same starting line.
In the middle of the set, the two sides kept each other's serve and got along without incident. Then Mayer took the lead at the end of the set, breaking Gao Wen's serve for the second time, taking a "5:4" lead and facing the opponent. Come to your own serve to win the set.
However, Mayer failed to see the set point when he served to win the set. At the first break point, Gao Wen broke serve with his iconic backhand straight line, and the game returned to a draw for the second time in the first set. The stalemate continues.
And then?
After that, the two sides entered a tie-break, and the outcome of the first set was about to be decided by the tie-break.
Everything seemed familiar, as if I were back in Flushing.
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