Snapped. Snapped. Snapped.
Djokovic was hitting the ball. Once, and then, the long and endless sound of hitting the ball echoed in the court. No other sounds could be detected, so the sound of hitting the ball hit the heart hard and was suffocating. .
Snapped. Snapped. Snapped.
Djokovic remained unmoved and concentrated on shooting the ball. It seemed that all his energy had been immersed in shooting the ball.
It can be seen from this small detail that Djokovic's hands are a little tight. It is precisely because of nervousness that the number of shots he takes has increased significantly.
The score board displayed, "6:5", "40:40".
That is equal parts.
But the problem was that this was Djokovic's serve. At "40:15", he got two consecutive match points, but Gowenru's amazing performance led to a tie.
As a result, the situation has become intense. Will the next point be a match point or a break point?
As expected, the second set was a close game.
The first one to serve was Gawain.
In the first service game, Djokovic showed his attitude of chasing after the victory, launched aggressive and continuous attacks, and successfully forced a break point again.
At the critical moment, Gao Wen used a close to squeeze the forehand serve to force Djokovic's forehand return to the net, and saved the break point by scoring directly with the serve.
Djokovic was very dissatisfied with his performance. Although it was indeed difficult to serve from close range, Djokovic was not unable to hit the ball over the net. The main reason was that Gao Wen's serve was weakened, which directly caused Djokovic to Kovic failed to borrow strength when he was unable to exert force——
This led to the shutdown.
Djokovic once again roared and vented at his players' box. So many opportunities were wasted in this game, which was definitely not the situation he expected.
This point successfully boosted Gao Wen's morale and proved that his calculation and layout were correct. Next, he won two points in a row, overturning the disadvantage to secure serve and gain a firm foothold.
Gao Wen protects his hair.
Djokovic holds serve.
Gao Wen protects his hair.
Djokovic holds serve.
The situation was back-and-forth and never gave way, but the gap was never widened. The stalemate and entanglement in the second set took on a different look.
On the one hand, it was the increase in Gao Wen's concentration; on the other hand, it was the decrease in Djokovic's concentration. During the transition, the competition for key points seemed to have regained balance. Both players got break points, but Missed them all, Djokovic missed six and Gauvin missed two.
"5:5", it was a stalemate all the way to the end of the set, and then the break finally came.
In Gawain's serve game, Djokovic hit two incredible magic balls in a row and used strong pressure to cause Gawain to make a mistake. In the end, Djokovic seized the third of the second set. Eight break points, the first to break serve, and enter the service-winning game with a high head.
And then, right now.
Is there any difference between the second set and the first set?
In fact, from a tactical perspective, there has been no earth-shaking change. Djokovic is still trying to suppress Gao Wen's backhand, while Gao Wen is always trying to break through Djokovic's forehand. The advantage transition between gaming and suppression runs through. Always.
But the difference in details exists objectively. In the final analysis, it is subtle changes in physical fitness and mental will. It is just a difference in the handling of a few key points. In the end, the score remained stalemate, and the two players struggled all the way to the end of the game.
In addition, Gawain also discovered a detail that, to be precise, should confirm one of Sampras's inferences:
Gao Wen has participated for two consecutive weeks and has reached back-to-back finals in Valencia and Paris. The intensity of the entire confrontation and the degree of adaptability to the game have reached optimal; however, this is not the case for Djokovic.
An objective fact that every professional player must face is: the game requires finding the state.
Including your own condition, batting feel, game atmosphere, etc., the most important thing is the tightness of the game, the pressure that cannot be felt through daily training——
That is the intensity of the game.
Even top players like the Big Four still need time to adapt.
After Djokovic arrived in Paris, he played a total of four games without any challenge, except for one against Monfils. Except for the tiebreaker, all other games were won easily.
Didn't lose a set.
From a positive perspective, Djokovic is indeed hot and unstoppable.
From a negative perspective, Djokovic has not withstood the test of hard battle. After a long period of sparse battles, it is difficult to mobilize his ultimate state at critical moments.
To put it simply, it is the difference in battle intensity.
The more top players are, the more severe challenges they need to go through before they can step by step force their strongest performance. Otherwise, facing ordinary opponents, they may be able to win easily with five or seven successes. This is also a great achievement. One of the reasons why a championship becomes more exciting as it enters the second half.
Sampras clearly knows how strong Djokovic's personal ability is, and after the upset loss at the US Open, he is even more prepared this time. The game is bound to be very, very difficult.
Therefore, the strategy developed by Sampras for Gao Wen is to increase the difficulty of the game as much as possible and extend the game rounds as much as possible.
As time goes by, Djokovic, who has not faced a fierce battle this week, will inevitably have fluctuations in his hitting ability. There should be no problem on the defensive end, but his offensive power will inevitably decline. As long as he can withstand Djokovic's strong If there is a strong attack, then Gawain will be able to find opportunities to launch a counterattack.
From the first set to the second set, it can be seen that Djokovic's ability to grasp key points has indeed slowly declined, and the quality of the entire shot has also fluctuated.
This also proved Sampras's guess, and to some extent also proved the correctness of the entire tactical strategy.
However, the reason why Djokovic is Djokovic is because of his strong control. Even when he is standing on the edge of a cliff, he still has a tenacity, like a roly-poly, who is about to fall, but It can always return to its original position, unless it encounters a destructive force.
In the eleventh game, Gao Wen's own serve was a little impatient, but Djokovic caught the opportunity and completed a fatal break.
Then, match points appeared, two in a row.
But the advantage of Gao Wen is that he is calm enough, tough enough, and strong enough. When facing match points, he remains calm. Instead, he puts the pressure on Djokovic, so that the world's number one shot is slightly conservative. , Gao Wen immediately seized the opportunity and completed incredible hits for two consecutive points to tie the score.
Djokovic is also made of flesh and blood. He also has his own emotions. He will be irritable, nervous and make mistakes. Now, the game has come to a critical moment.
Snapped. Snapped. Snapped.
Fourteen times.
Djokovic shot the ball fourteen times, then raised his head, glanced at Gao Wen, and finally prepared to serve.
Area 1, inner corner.
boom!
Gawain kicked his legs, and he rushed out. His conditioned reflex was very fast, but when the racket faced the tennis ball, he immediately realized that something was wrong:
Reduce the force.
At the critical moment, Djokovic copied Gao Wen's serve at the break point in the first service game of the second set and broke the balance by reducing force.
