From movement to hitting, from hitting to moving, this seemingly ordinary warm-up game has too many traps hidden, especially on clay.
On the hard court, the overall situation is relatively simple. Even if there are no tactics or tricks, it doesn't matter. It is enough to use all the strength——
Especially in difficult situations, swing hard, smash hard, and swing at full speed. The principle of "one force can defeat ten" is applicable here, just fight with all your strength.
Of course, this does not mean that fighting will definitely lead to victory, but it does mean that "strength can produce miracles" can work.
However, the same cannot be said for red clay.
The footwork does not move in place, so that the hitting point, hitting timing, and hitting space are deviated, and the result of using all the strength is to do a disservice.
If the tennis ball bounces irregularly and exerts force without hesitation, it will not only fail to increase speed and increase force, but will also speed up the pace of suicide and cause mistakes.
The most important thing is that the existence of clay itself destroys strength and speed. 100% of the strength is lost by more than 40% during the flight and bouncing process. If the player fights regardless, the most likely result is that he will be full of balls. Khan and the opponent were just strolling around, but in the end, he even lost.
Simply put, clay courts require patience, change, delicacy, diversity, and thinking——
As for special cases like Serena Williams and Sharapova, crushing them with absolute strength and rewriting the feat of "miracles come from great strength" is another matter.
At this moment, standing in front of Graf, Gawain was experiencing this deeply:
He, nineteen years old, had just won the "Sunshine Double".
Graf, forty-six years old, retired for 17 years.
As a result, in the first two rounds of the game, with thirteen rounds in the first round and ten rounds in the second round, Gawain was defeated, which was simply incredible.
Gawain raised his head and looked at Graf on the other side of the net, without hiding his surprise.
Graf looked relaxed and content, as if he didn't exert much effort at all, "What? You didn't expect that an old man like me could run two laps on the court?"
A joke made Gawain's smile rise, and he shook his head slightly, "No, it's not unexpected that the ball dropped. It's just that it all happened too fast. I thought I could last more rounds."
Indeed, Gao Wen was not surprised that he could not keep up with the pace in his first clay court training session. After all, among Graf's 22 Grand Slam championship trophies, there are six at the French Open, second only to Wen. With seven nets, the legendary player is the most successful all-court player of all time—
Among all men's and women's players, Graf is the only player to have won more than four Grand Slam titles. She is also the only player to have successfully defended all four Grand Slam titles. Its comprehensiveness and variety are second to none in its long history.
Now, they are standing on clay, and the requirements for strength and speed are slightly lower. In addition, this is a warm-up, and the endurance requirements are not that high, so Graf can show off his basic skills and diversity, using different techniques. The arrangement and combination are really eye-catching.
In front of this legend, Gawain was still an ignorant toddler.
Therefore, Gawain was not surprised that Graf could win two rounds of games in a row——
However, he was sincere. He thought he could last at least twenty to thirty rounds. After all, he had played forty rounds on hard courts.
did not think of……
Graf looked at Gawain in front of him, magnanimously and sincerely, with a cheerful smile on his lips, but the focus and devotion in his eyes were burning.
She likes Gao Wen who honestly faces his own shortcomings and shortcomings, and always burns high morale to train, improve and improve himself.
"In a warm-up game, losing to a female player who has retired for more than ten years in two consecutive rounds and performing worse each round is simply ravaged." Not all players can face it calmly and correct themselves. Be open-minded and ask for advice. This trait is more rare than imagined.
Graf did not rush to explain, but raised his chin slightly, "How is it? Are you ready for another round?"
Gao Wen did not answer directly, but asked directly, "You go first, or do I go first?"
Graf thought seriously for a moment, "I am an old man. You should be polite. Then, let me start first. You young man has good physical strength, so run two more times."
Gao Wen deliberately made a "Popeye" pose to show off his biceps, "This time, I will try my best to surpass the results of the previous two rounds."
The third round of the warm-up game started immediately.
On the sidelines, Sampras and Agassi were watching the training.
You can see the disgusted expression on Sampras's face at a glance, "God, this season of the year, I feel like I might be allergic at any time."
Sampras, one of the greatest men's singles players in history and winner of fourteen Grand Slam titles, has never hidden his rejection of clay courts.
First of all, the French Open is the only Grand Slam that Sampras has not been able to conquer.
Secondly, clay court is indeed not Sampras’ style. This master of serving and netting is a typical grass-court player. Not only at the French Open, but also in other clay court events, Sampras generally performed poorly. Throughout his career, In this way, I can't help but have a headache entering the clay court season.
Agassi didn't look sideways, ignored Sampras at all, and said calmly, "Psychological effect."
In one sentence, all of Sampras' complaints were blocked in his chest. He rolled his eyes and almost choked on his own saliva.
Sampras muttered and complained, "You are half-assed, there is no need to show off in front of me."
Agassi, the first Golden Slam winner in history, has reached the top of all four Grand Slams, but the French Open is also not his blessed place. The only time he reached the top was more or less a matter of luck; compared to As for clay, he still prefers hard courts, especially slow hard courts.
But Sampras was not prepared to get into trouble with Agassi. Without waiting for a response, he cleared his throat and then said, "Tell me, is one week too tight?"
There was only a week between the Miami Masters and the Monte Carlo Masters, but the venue change was obviously not that simple.
In fact, they have another choice. This week, there are two clay-court 250 events in Boston and Casablanca respectively. Gao Wen can choose one of them to participate in, use the competition to practice and adapt to the venue.
However, after deliberation, they rejected the idea.
On the one hand, because the "Sunshine Double Crown" is over, Gao Wen needs to rest and adjust to avoid fatigue.
On the other hand, it is because Gao Wen has not played on clay for more than a year, or even has formal clay court experience, so everything needs to be started from scratch.
Now it seems that one week of training is still too short.
Agassi's obvious expression said, "Isn't that a sure thing?"
Sampras: ...
Agassi didn't seem to feel Sampras's eyes at all. "We will train and adjust for a week, and then we will practice with matches. We don't need to be anxious and take it step by step. Anyway, we don't have any special expectations for clay courts. Isn’t it?”
(End of chapter)
