For Chinese fans, facing Simon may be Gao Wen's best chance to advance to the finals.
But the same goes for Simon.
This year, Simon's performance in the Grand Slams has slowly recovered, but his performance in the Masters has never improved. In the seven thousand events so far, except for Miami being eliminated in the first round, the other six have stopped in the second round. The unified and neat performance is really dumbfounding.
This time, in the Magic City, Simon made a strong comeback. Facing the newly emerging Gawain, there is no doubt that he also hopes to go further.
Obviously, Simon, like Gawain, came prepared——
Watching the previous rounds of games, we know that Gawain performed better in the Magic City than in the Imperial City. The main reason is to weaken the difficulty of the attack, reduce the risk of the attack through layout, and then increase the success rate of the attack.
what does that mean?
Gao Wen's offensive sharpness is far inferior to that of the US Open. When he was in poor condition, he played more with his head. There were more rounds and tug-of-wars. While the overall rhythm and speed slowed down, his offense and The proportions of defense also change, and this is all for Simon:
Just right, exactly what you want!
This is Simon's favorite way to play.
Therefore, Simon's game also continued the style he is best at, a "grinding" tactic, which he applied with great proficiency.
In the first set, Gao Wen's offense was repeatedly blocked.
Even if you remain patient and work your way around slowly, it is still difficult to break through Simon's defense. If you are not careful, you may be caught off guard by Simon's defensive counterattack; and once Gawain tries a more tricky angle or a more risky route, he may be caught off guard. Faced with mistakes.
Simply put, this is not the style of play Gawain is used to.
When facing Salamento, Gao Wen used layout and offense to open up the situation, but now Gao Wen's touch has still not returned to its best condition. The offense has not been able to achieve the desired effect for a long time. He only relies on layout and defense. Simon started to maneuver, which was obviously Simon's favorite rhythm of the game.
Looking at Simon standing on the opposite side of the court, Gawain had a new understanding of the term "iron wall". Simon at his peak was indeed a headache.
In the second game, Gao Wen tried to make a change.
Simon's prediction of offense and understanding of defense are indeed top-notch. His innate talent and experience in many battles have given him an invincible super-god state, so Gawain must "break the prediction".
What I started with was still Simon’s prediction.
Gao Wen tried to make more full use of the court, consciously mobilized Simon in the deep area, broke the inertia of Simon's lateral movement on the left and right of the baseline, and broke the use of the three-dimensional space of the court by returning the ball, back slash, and releasing small balls, destroying Simon prediction, and then interrupt Simon's defensive mode by grabbing the rising point and compressing the rhythm.
This is obviously not a routine Gao Wen is familiar with. Frequent use of vertical space means more requirements for small balls in front of the net and midfield control.
This is no problem for Gawain when he is in good condition; but at this stage, Gawain's brain must keep running at high speed all the time, which puts new demands on the consumption of energy and brain power. Such a game is a high-speed competition. Wen had never experienced anything before.
But at least a confrontation was formed.
Just now, there was another super long tug-of-war of twenty-five shots. Gawain tried several times to kill the shot to end the point, but Simon was like a roly-poly, staggering and about to fall, but he always managed to win. Miraculously, Gawain came back to life, and finally ended with Gawain's straight forehand slightly crossing the baseline.
Gawain, I'm a little sorry.
Just a little bit different!
However, Gao Wen has no regrets because he knows that this is the correct way to play, even if he now needs to face a match point.
Match point?
not a problem!
It was not a problem to win the game with Simon's serve twice, and now it is also not a problem to face three consecutive match points. On the contrary, Gawain's high fighting spirit was completely stimulated——
When else can we face such a situation? Just let the war drums sound and see what happens.
Snapped. Snapped.
Simon was shooting the ball, and the next two points were his service points.
Qiao Wangsheng had completely held his breath, letting his heart beat thunderously above his eardrums. The urge to scream surged deep in his throat, but he managed to control it.
Zone 2, inner corner.
However, Gawain's entire body kicked off the ground and rushed out. His upper body was fully extended, and his forehand hit the head of the racket. He did not hit the sweet spot, but the force of his wrist's forward thrust pushed the tennis ball back hard, and he jumped up. Draw a straight line and drill into the bottom line triangle of Simon's backhand position.
A very unexpected line choice, but the return shot that did not hit the sweet spot created an unconventional effect. The flight of the entire tennis ball was fast and rushing. Although the landing point was not too tricky, there was still a lot of space from the sideline and the bottom line. However, the suddenness of the line still broke Simon's prediction.
Facing the match point, Gao Wen dared to take action from the moment he received the serve.
Simon turned awkwardly with his backhand with both hands, and his steps were obviously squeezed, but the strength of his wrists still miraculously wrapped the tennis ball and flew back. The flexibility of his body was fully demonstrated; and he controlled the arc very well, heading towards Gao Wen's midfield area flies past, and in a position that does not go forward or backward, neither up nor down, both offense and defense may create traps.
Gawain went online.
His steps were very determined, and he immediately entered the baseline after receiving the serve in the previous shot. Even without Simon's return ball dispatch, we can still see Gao Wen's tactical intention to break the deadlock and rush to the net. His timely footwork connection successfully caught Simon's return ball. line, and regained some initiative.
But Simon didn't seem to be surprised. He adjusted his steps continuously in small steps and already moved towards his forehand to cover the gap. He had already predicted that Gao Wen might choose this side to hit the ball, and in the blink of an eye, he was rushing into the midfield with his high-speed running steps. .
"Calculation VS calculation", both players can see flashes of spirituality in offense and defense, but only one can occupy the commanding heights.
So, who is it?
Gao Wen's backhand with both hands has been set up, ready to hit the ball. It can be seen from the triggering action that he is indeed preparing to push in a straight line, which also means that Simon's prediction is correct, and he is moving quickly towards this side. move.
but!
Just when Gawain was about to hit the ball, his backhand did not exert force with both hands. Instead, he pushed forward slightly, making a very gentle and careful shot.
Tap!
At such a critical moment, when his footsteps had already moved ahead to seize the opportunity, Gawain actually chose to hit lightly!
ah!
Qiao Wangsheng almost screamed, but when he opened his mouth, the sound was automatically silenced. He looked at the court in disbelief, and then he could see Gao Wen launching a shallow ball. Strictly speaking, it was not a small ball because the landing point was just right. Near the bottom line of the teeing area, this is a distance that Simon can completely catch up with.
For the iron wall on the other side of the court, the hitting quality of this racket is obviously not enough.
This is also true!
