"... Good luck in the race. I'll be watching the race while warming up on the bike."
With a smile on his face, Nadal hugged and greeted Gawain and Dimitrov respectively. It could be seen that he was in a good mood and was ready.
Today, the last major event in Monte Carlo is the first half of the men's singles semi-finals. Djokovic and Nadal face off again.
Because of this, Nadal arrived at the venue early in the morning and started warming up step by step, preparing for the game step by step.
Before entering the two singles semi-finals, the men's doubles final took the lead, kicking off today's full-day schedule at the center court. Therefore, Gao Wen and Dimitrov arrived at the court earlier, completed all pre-match preparations, and left the gym. On the court, I met Nadal.
Nadal has a good relationship with the two young people in front of him. As soon as they met, he enthusiastically came over to say hello and sent his sincere blessings.
After bidding farewell to Nadal, Gao Wen and Dimitrov once again put on their equipment bags and headed towards the player tunnel.
Standing at the entrance and putting down their equipment bags, the two began to activate their muscles and do some simple stretching movements, waiting for the arrangements of the organizing committee.
Breathe in.
Exhale.
Dimitrov took two deep breaths in succession, trying to adjust his heartbeat. When he noticed Gawain's gaze, he showed a reserved smile and admitted frankly.
"A little nervous."
What Dimitrov didn't want to say was that he actually had a little trouble with Rashid yesterday.
Rashid believes that in the last two doubles matches, Dimitrov was not active or proactive enough, and did not have any initiative in tactical layout. Gawain basically made the decision. Maybe this is conducive to winning the game, but for Dimitrov Troloff's clay-court preparations did little good.
"Don't forget, doubles is entertainment and support, singles is the focus. Our ultimate goal is not the doubles championship, but a breakthrough in singles."
Dimitrov understood that Rashid was thinking of him wholeheartedly, but he didn't understand why he couldn't enjoy tennis?
He has not enjoyed the game for a long, long time. Every time he appears in the game, it seems to be a kind of pressure. The depression and embarrassment make him just want to escape from the game; but now he has finally found some happiness, and he is starting again. Enjoy the game, why can't things be simpler? ..
For this reason, Dimitrov and Rashid broke up on bad terms.
Inevitably, my attention was a little distracted today.
Of course, being nervous is also true——
Due to his poor overall form this year, Dimitrov has not won consecutively for a long time, let alone advanced to the finals.
The last time he advanced to the finals was in Stockholm last October. In other words, after half a year, he returned to the finals stage. Even in a doubles match, his mood was a bit subtle.
Gao Wen didn't know about Dimitrov and Rashid, but he knew that Dimitrov was really having a hard time in the first quarter of this year.
The corners of Gawain's mouth slightly raised.
"Nervousness is a good thing. It represents desire and motivation."
"Also, it's my first time to play in the Masters doubles final. I'm a little nervous. Should we start with the left foot or the right foot? Is there any difference in tossing a coin? Wait, we have now reached the Masters doubles final. The next step is Isn’t this the Grand Slam doubles final?”
"You think, will we become clay-court doubles experts? And open a new chapter in our careers?"
The words were rambled on, with a bit of ridicule and excitement. There was no need for special content, and the smile on Dimitrov's lips rose.
Even knowing that Gawain was talking nonsense, Dimitrov still laughed and nodded repeatedly, "That's right, the next stop is the French Open final."
My mood became relaxed again.
While he was talking, there was movement behind him, and with a glance from the corner of his eye, he could see a familiar figure——
Sok
.
Today, Gao Wen and Dimitrov's opponents in the Monte Carlo men's doubles final are Sock and Pospisil.
So, does this count as enemies on a narrow road?
But in fact, Dimitrov and Sok had a good relationship. As soon as they met, the two people smiled and hurried towards each other and hugged each other, so that Gawain and Pospisil, who were walking a little slower, just like this Being "left" behind, keeping some distance.
Jack Sock, who was born in 1992, is actually from the same group of players as Dimitrov. Because the surname "Sock" literally translates to short socks, he is affectionately called "Socks Classmate" by fans.
Sock, who became famous at a young age, won the US Open Junior Championship in 2010, becoming the first American male player after Roddick to accomplish such a feat. He is also hailed as the young hope of American men's tennis.
However, after switching to professional competitions in 2011, Sock was still unable to adapt to the rhythm of professional competitions. Occasionally, he had some outstanding performances but it was difficult to string them together. His performance in different competitions was also very unstable. Until 2014, The world ranking has just stabilized in the top 100.
The talented young man in the past failed to make a splash in the professional tennis world.
However, Sock's talent is indeed worthy of recognition.
First of all, he is a typical North American hard court player. He has a sharp and powerful forehand, which is very aggressive and very entertaining. He also has different hitting techniques and handling methods. This weapon alone is indeed the best in the world. Ten or even top five level.
Secondly, he is not so typical. He is a player with good golf skills. He is actually quite thoughtful in terms of batting line selection and tactical layout; he also dares to take action and make bold attempts in actual games. This also enriches his game.
Finally, he is a player who dares to change and is not one-dimensional. In fact, his forehand is one of the few players on the tour that has the ability to hit both flat and spin. When spin is needed, his The average forehand speed can reach 3,000 rpm, which is only slightly behind Nadal.
It can be seen for various reasons that Sock has excellent weapons and unlimited potential. The key point is how he should realize it.
After entering the professional competition, Sock himself was very confused and could not find the rhythm, so he chose doubles.
First of all, his playing style is indeed very suitable for the doubles arena. His rich tactics and changeable techniques also give him the ability to play against top doubles players.
Secondly, he is slightly different from other singles players in that he also hopes to improve his singles level through doubles. However, he does not simply play with tickets, but systematically uses competition as training, so his doubles competition is not casual. Just choose it, but arrange it as carefully as singles.
Obviously, Sock quickly proved the correctness of this choice——
Currently, Sock is ranked third in the world of doubles, just behind the Bryan brothers. This is the most intuitive proof.
