Winston-Salem, Gao Wen really didn’t expect that his fate with this event would last all the way.
In August, Winston-Salem canceled Gauvin's wild card at the last moment and temporarily awarded it to Isner. The other two wild cards belonged to Querrey who returned from injury and the fledgling Sock.
From an objective perspective, Winston-Salem made the right decision and there is nothing to fault.
But from Gawain's perspective, that was obviously a turning point this summer.
In New York, challenging Isner in the first round ignited Gawain's high fighting spirit and started a glorious fairy tale journey.
In Paris, facing Querrey in the second round, it felt like a familiar reincarnation of fate; moreover, this was the final battle for the year-end finals, and Gao Wen's combat effectiveness exploded.
Querrey, a very typical American hard court player, is famous for his cannon serves. Until 2021, he still maintains the record of ten consecutive aces; at the same time, he is also stable in the historical rankings of the number of aces. Ranked in the top five, similar to Isner's playing style.
But compared to Isner, Querrey's mobility is better, he has certain defensive ability, his forehand offensive ability is more decisive, and his ability to continuously attack with force is also better.
Therefore, Querrey's career ranking is not as stable as Isner; but when facing top players, he is often more explosive. Among the "Big Four", he has defeated Nadal and Djokovic respectively. Kovic and Murray.
Among them, in 2016, in the round of 16 at Wimbledon, facing Djokovic who had won the US Open, Australian Open, and French Open consecutively and was looking forward to completing the feat of winning four consecutive Grand Slams, Querrey made a shocking performance The upset win shocked countless people.
Subsequently, in 2017, in the Wimbledon quarter-finals, he defeated the then world number one Murray to reach the semi-finals, and became the first American player to reach the Grand Slam semi-finals after eight years, once again breaking countless expectations.
From a certain perspective, just like Soderling who was invincible at the French Open in 2009 and 2010, Querrey also played like crazy on grass in those two years.
However, 2014 was a very difficult year for Querrey, and like Janowitz, injuries were a stumbling block.
After returning from injury, he has yet to find his touch. Most of the time, he always plays in the qualifying rounds. Even if he goes to low-level competitions, his performance is very unstable.
Originally, indoor hard courts like the Paris Masters had a bonus effect on serving cannons. Both Querrey and Janowitz were more suitable for this venue, but the problem was that their serving status had not yet improved. Coming back, this means that Querrey has lost the cornerstone of the entire game.
It is indeed very difficult.
Against Querrey, Gao Wen was very knowledgeable.
To be precise, it should be against American-style hard-court cannon players. After all, Gao Wen's main opponent in the NCAA arena has this style. Even Thompson, the Bruins' top player, also has the same style.
First of all, this is the entire training system of professional tennis in the United States, headed by the Nick Bolletini Tennis School affiliated with IMG Academy.
Sampras, Agassi, Courier, Seles, Williams sisters, Sharapova, Kei Nishikori, etc., all come from Nick Bolletini Tennis School, and their students He has been trained since elementary school, and the NCAA and professional arenas are full of disciples who were born here.
Overall, the talent is different, but the style is similar.
Secondly, it is precisely because the style of the "Nick Bolletini Tennis School" spreads across the entire North American continent that coaches at NCAA schools are also more or less affected.
School teammates, competition opponents, and sparring partners all have this style. Naturally, this has become the most mainstream type in the NCAA arena.
As for Gawain, if he hadn't grown up wild and free-range at home; if he hadn't been reborn with the help of the system and maintained his own color, then he would have developed smoothly and slowly evolved into Querrey, Isner's style is at least close.
But now, facing players like Querrey, Gowan University's experience on the field plays a very important role, even if this is the first meeting between the two sides.
Opening.
Gawain played very proactively.
Last week in Valencia I got used to the feeling of hitting indoor hard courts. One of the great advantages of an indoor environment is that the differences in weather and environmental factors are minimized. This also means that the adaptation time to switching to different surfaces is shorter, especially The three-set fierce battle with Murray in the final really showed off his touch.
In the first game, Querrey served.
First point.
The game had just begun, and Querrey needed some time to get into the zone, so his first serve was a little unstable and he failed to score a single serve. It can be seen that because he has been losing this year, he lacks confidence.
Second serve, inside corner.
Gao Wen keenly sensed Querrey's uncertainty and instability, and immediately started to grab the serve on the second serve.
One step on the ground and the other forward.
The forward movement of the entire body is very obvious, because according to experience, players like Querrey often add some spin to the second serve in the opening stage, not side spin but top spin, mainly to ensure that the tennis ball is high after landing. The ground bounces up, making it more difficult for the opponent to return the ball.
Imagine if Gawain stood one step or even two steps away from the baseline, and then the tennis ball bounced high after landing. When it reached Gawain's position, it was the time when all the topspin was released, so Gawain To hit the ball near the shoulder, this is a position where power cannot be exerted, so it is naturally difficult to start an attack immediately.
Please note that this is an opening tactic, because in the opening stage, both sides have just finished warming up and more or less need some time to enter the game state. Therefore, this tactic can seize the gap where the opponent has not yet fully mobilized. Create some advantage for the serving side.
As the game progresses, the tactics will be adjusted accordingly.
Querrey, that's exactly it.
As a result, Gawain took advantage of him by taking a step forward. As soon as the tennis ball hit the ground and rebounded, he hit the ball first before the top spin was completely released.
boom!
The sound of hitting the ball is very clear.
Moreover, Gawain's two-handed backhand is very durable. Following the inertia of his body's forward movement, he uses his body as a shield and pushes forward with his whole body. He can complete the wall-hitting return without having to actively use his own strength.
boom!
The tennis ball flew in a backward slash, and the mustard yellow color disappeared directly on the blue court, fast and light, like lightning.
When waiting for it to appear again, it had already landed on the right sideline of Querrey, pressed the line, then rebounded and jumped out directly.
Querrey's serving action only had time to return to position, and he made no defensive moves at all. He watched the tennis ball rushing towards the advertising board on the bottom line, his eyes full of frustration and annoyance.
Return serve ace.
"0:15".
Gawain kicked off this game with such a positive and strong attitude.
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