"Gregor..." The wind brought Gawain's call. From a long distance away, he could feel the bright sunshine jumping between the words, and his mood also soared.
Dimitrov's advancing steps paused, waved towards Gawain, and showed a smile in response, but did not move forward.
When Tobias saw this, he understood immediately and went straight forward. When he passed by Dimitrov, he said something.
"You should trust Gawain's judgment." Then, without stopping or waiting for a response, Tobias walked directly towards Gawain. It could be seen from his back that it was a pleasure to meet again after a long absence.
Dimitrov was still hesitant, and then Roger Rasheed also walked up.
"I think you should trust your own judgment." Rashid, Dimitrov's current coach.
The Australian has had a mediocre career as a professional tennis player, lacking talent and spending most of his time in the Challenger League.
However, as a professional coach, he has a unique insight and is good at training young players who thrive and guiding them to complete their transformation.
After the millennium, Rashid has trained three players: Hewitt, Monfils and Tsonga.
Among them, Monfils and Tsonga are very typical. Both players were young players who had just entered the top 100 in the world before hiring Rashid. Then they completed a complete transformation under Rashid and reached the level of their careers. reached the pinnacle and became one of the top ten players in the world.
In 2013, Dimitrov, who was just starting out, hired Rashid as coach, and also wrote the same development trajectory, ushering in a qualitative change.
.. Of course, no one is perfect, and everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. Rashid’s advantage lies in tapping the potential of young players, but he is not good at facing difficulties and breaking through bottlenecks to the next level.
Perhaps part of the reason is Rashid's own bottleneck. He has not been able to reach the top of the pyramid in his career, so he has no way to glimpse the mysteries of another realm.
This is true from Monfils to Tsonga. After they ranked among the top ten in the world, they faced the bottleneck of further breakthroughs. Rashid failed to give better advice and eventually parted ways.
Now Dimitrov and Rashid are facing the same situation again, everything seems familiar. Dimitrov turned to look at Rashid,
"I don't think I should be a burden to Gawain." Rashid shrugged.
"Then you shouldn't agree to the doubles. John is your agent, but he is not just your agent." Obviously, such a simple sentence means a lot.
It seems that there should be some differences of opinion between Tobias and Rashid. Dimitrov was silent and did not respond. For a moment, it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.
As he spoke, Gawain had already come up to him, smiling and raising his right hand, high-fiving him.
"Hey, Gregor, why didn't you tell me in advance that the wind direction here is so unpredictable? It's like playing at Saturn. Is it the same in Miami?"
"...No, that's not the case in Miami." Dimitrov's response was a little slower, a little distracted, but he quickly recovered.
"Miami is also very windy, but it only comes in bursts. As long as you wait patiently for the wind to pass, everything will return to normal. It is completely different from here."
"Wait a minute, I thought you lived in Los Angeles and should be more accustomed to it?" After a pause, Dimitrov also remembered this matter.
Gawain immediately nervously made a motion to sew up the zipper of his mouth, looked around, made a furtive expression, and lowered his voice.
"Shh, this is a secret. Don't tell anyone. Otherwise, if I perform too badly here, I will have to wear a mask next time I go back to school to practice." His face was mysterious, but his mouth was full of nonsense.
Dimitrov was immediately amused. Gawain's eyebrows also relaxed.
"You have been training here for a few days. How have you adapted to it? I heard that compared to last year, the ball speed seems to be slower?"
"I've heard about it too, but I think it's more of a psychological suggestion. Personally, I think the ball speed is about the same and there's no obvious change."
"I have heard for a long time that Indian Wells is different. I thought I was mentally prepared, but now it seems that I am still too young."
"Haha, you are indeed young. In the tour, among the top 100 in the world, you are one of the youngest, right?"
"Are you envious? If you are envious, you will lose. There is nothing you can do except reincarnate again."
"Haha. Hahaha!"
"Brother, to be honest, I really need some time in the doubles court to get a feel for the ball. How about it? What do you think about it?" You come and go, chatting and laughing, and the atmosphere relaxes as soon as we meet each other.
Unknowingly, Dimitrov's tight shoulders seemed to relax a little, and then Gawain brought up the topic very naturally and easily.
"Okay." Before he realized it, Dimitrov had already blurted out and agreed.
Rashid, who was standing behind, had a slightly stunned expression. It was so unexpected that he couldn't hide it for a moment, and he almost wanted to stop him.
Tobias noticed Rashid's expression from the corner of his eyes and interjected at the right moment,
"It seems that the female fans in California are in for a treat." Gawain turned to look at Tobias,
"So, is this what it feels like to be David Beckham?" He obviously has the ability on the court, but people always notice his appearance first, so that he spends his entire career trying to prove himself on the court.
In fact, the same goes for Dimitrov, who is regarded as
The "vase" feeling is not good. So, what about Gawain?
"Hmm..." Gawain gently raised his chin and tasted it carefully.
"It feels pretty good. From today on, I am David Beckham Jr." One second, two seconds - the whole room burst into laughter.
Everyone clapped their hands and laughed, probably with the exception of Rashid. The corners of his mouth twitched slightly and he forced a smile.
Dimitrov also noticed Rashid's expression and cast an apologetic look at him. He didn't know how he agreed.
Amid laughter, Gawain looked at Dimitrov again,
"Gregor, you don't think that I asked you to play doubles as a partner just to take care of you, do you?" After his inner thoughts were revealed, Dimitrov was a little embarrassed and muttered not knowing how to respond.
Gawain showed a smile again,
"I need to adapt to the venue. This is sincere. If you refuse, Milos asked me just now. I should turn around and find another partner."
"What's more, Grigor, friends are meant to be used when needed. Otherwise, it would be uneconomical for me to spend so much time and energy maintaining friendship and not be able to find a supporter at the critical moment." It's a fallacy, but Gawain seems to be very convincing when he says it.
Dimitrov was dumbfounded, but in the end he couldn't hold it back. He nodded slightly and agreed in a confused manner, but why did he feel like he was being dragged into a ditch?
