"Gawain! Come on! Tim! Come on!"
"Gawain! Come on! Tim! Come on!"
Uniform cheers surged over Court No. 2 of the Qizhong Tennis Center. The bustling crowd spread out in sight. More than one-third of the stadium stands were filled with spectators, happily waving five-stars in their hands. The red flag flutters in the wind and fills the sky and the ground, which is a spectacular sight.
On the court, Gao Wen, who had just taken off from the spot to complete an overhead high pressure and successfully scored, clenched his fists, turned to look at Thiem, and let out a passionate roar.
Tim rushed up in small steps, high-fived Gawain in celebration, and roared together. The cheers in the entire stadium were pushed to the peak at this moment.
Such a scene made uninformed passers-by think that the World Cup preliminaries were taking place in front of them, but little did they know that it was just the first round of a doubles match.
Warm atmosphere!
Gao Wen tried doubles for the first time in an ATP level event, partnering with Thiem. However, because he held a wild card, his luck was not good. In the first round, he encountered Lukasz Kubert, the Australian Open doubles champion earlier this year. Kubot) and Robert-Lindstedt.
Lindstad is a veteran born in 1977 who specializes in doubles. His highest career ranking was the third in doubles in May 2013.
Wimbledon was his best Grand Slam performance. He reached the men's doubles finals for three consecutive years in 2010, 2011 and 2012, but all ended in defeat.
Kubert was born in 1982. He focused on singles in the early stages of his career. His highest career ranking was No. 41 in April 2010.
The masterpiece of Kubert's singles career also appeared at Wimbledon. In 2013, he unexpectedly reached the quarterfinals, and finally lost to the young Polish compatriot Jerzy-Janowicz, achieving the latter's record. Historically, he became the first "post-90s" player to reach the semi-finals of a Grand Slam.
However, Kubert realized after that that he was not competitive enough in the singles arena, and tried to shift his career focus to the doubles field. However, he did not expect that he would soar into the sky and partner up with Lindstad for the first time in the Grand Slam. Just become the champion.
It is worth mentioning that Kubert discovered his doubles talent at this time, and later focused on doubles competition and achieved very brilliant results. In 2018, he became the first Polish person in history to reach the top of the world. Regardless of Is it singles and doubles, or a men's and women's game.
The most incredible thing is that the doubles team of Kubert and Lindstede just partnered at the beginning of this year.
Lindsted was originally planning to partner with Austrian Jurgen Melzer in the Australian Open, but Melzer withdrew from the Australian season due to a wrist injury, forcing Lindsted to temporarily partner with Kubert. .
Before heading to Melbourne, they were eliminated in the first round of both events, entering the Grand Slam with zero wins as a doubles pair.
As a result, everything went dark.
Hey, does the story sound familiar?
Now, the showdown between the "Australian Open doubles dark horse" and the "US Open singles dark horse" is taking place at the Magic Masters. For senior fans who like tennis, it is actually very interesting.
Professionals all know that singles and doubles are completely different things. A famous singles player may not necessarily be able to perform well in the doubles arena, because the entire technology, tactics, and layout are all different, and the entire game content is simply different.
It is precisely because of this that the technical points honed in doubles games are different; and it can open players' horizons and update their interpretation of the entire court space.
So, what kind of sparks can the two young players Gao Wen and Thiem, who have performed well in singles, create when they face two senior players, Kubert and Lindsted, who are more suitable for doubles competition?
"Dark Horse VS Dark Horse", an alternative dark horse showdown.
However, at this moment, it is the young pair of Gao Wen and Tim who have the upper hand on the court.
With the score "5:4" leading, Gao Wen and Tim forced two consecutive break points and set points in their opponents' service games, igniting all the enthusiasm on Court No. 2.
In tennis doubles, just like badminton and table tennis, the serve takes turns.
For example, in the first game it was Gawain who served, in the second game it was Lindstedt who served, in the third game it was Tim, in the fourth game it was Kubert, and in the fifth game it was Gawain again.
And so on, in turn.
Due to the particularity of the doubles game, the role of the serve has been greatly weakened. After all, there are two more people on the court, and the space for returning the serve is compressed; nevertheless, the skills and combination of the serve are still particularly important, which can often be used for one's own success. Teammates create more opportunities.
In the Gao Wen combination, Tim's serve is slightly weaker, and there are still fewer permutations and combinations, but overall, the two people's serve strength is relatively average.
In the Kubert combination, Lindstad's serve is a shortcoming. The entire service layout always exposes more loopholes and becomes a target for his opponents.
In the tenth game, it was Lindstead's serve, and it was also Lindstead's second serve since the start of the match.
After "15:30", Lindstad's serving speed and power were good, but his serving action failed to hide his tactical intention, and he was caught by Tim who was standing on the baseline and responsible for receiving the serve.
At the moment when the ball was released, Tim's wrist flicked and twisted slightly, making an unconventional hitting action. Others didn't know how Tim did it, but when he returned the serve, he drew a weird little diagonal line. ——
Thin and biased.
Turning and rushing.
The ball completely passed over Kubert who was waiting in front of the net and was about to kill him. He tore open a gap and returned to the service area of Lindsted's serving half. Moreover, it was a shallow and light ball. It was incredible. With external rotation, you can clearly feel Gao Wen pushing hard with his strength, and he jumps out quickly after landing.
Lindsted started from the baseline to catch up, but the speed was too slow; Kubert moved laterally to complete the defense, but his steps were not fully in place. He barely used a forehand hook to look back at the moon, but he had no control at all. , the rotation, arc, and direction are all a mess.
Gao Wen, who was waiting in front of the net, was very alert. He moved quickly laterally, jumped on the spot, and hit the high-pressure ball directly to kill him.
Light, clever, and full of energy!
The whole court was filled with thunder. People marveled at Gawain's agility in making up for the ball, and even more marveled at Tim's unbridled return of the ball.
In fact, it was the doubles game that inspired Thiem: How can he return the serve while avoiding Kubert's interception at the net and putting enough pressure on Lindsted?
The stadium is so big, how should the three-dimensional space be used?
The game went back and forth for thirty minutes. Tim seized a flash of inspiration and hit a magic ball, giving them the opportunity to go to the next set at the end of the set.
It was their first time to try doubles. Both Gao Wen and Tim were very uncomfortable. They were unfamiliar and unfamiliar, and their cooperation was not tacit enough. The training time was still not enough. However, both players had very solid basic skills. They clung to the score and based on their own serves. Game, coupled with the fact that the opponent combination has continued to be in poor condition for most of the season since the Australian Open, now it is the Gao Wen combination that has created opportunities.
