The rhythm, line, and placement were all broken in an instant——
In this shot, Nadal's two-handed backhand once again showed his ability to break the balance of the confrontation at critical moments.
In previous rounds, Gao Wen has been trying to impact the ball through the deep baseline area and even limit Nadal's return, forcing Nadal to use top spin continuously.
Because in extreme situations, Nadal often uses topspin to alleviate the opponent's impact and buy himself defensive time. However, this year, Nadal's forehand topspin rotation and pressure are not enough, and the quality of the ball has been significantly improved. The decline can instead become an opportunity for Gawain to continue attacking.
At this point, some people may question that Nadal is also in poor form this year, so why can't Gao Wen do the same in Madrid?
First, Madrid was the first time in his career that Gao Wen faced Nadal in an official match, and he was indeed not adaptable in all aspects.
Second, the playing environments in Madrid and Roland Garros are different. Madrid's shots, overall, have lower bounce, faster speed, and less spin. As the king of clay, Nadal's weapon is not just spin. It is more about his understanding of clay soil. His tactical distribution and layout have also been adjusted to suit Madrid. He relies on different tactical combinations to establish advantages when there is insufficient rotation. Today is different.
Third, even at Roland Garros, Gao Wen was still learning and improving, and was still adjusting his tactical combination at the end of the second set.
It is no exaggeration to say that Madrid and Roland Garros are two completely different games, although the two players are still the same.
In the last game, Gao Wen's own service game sought a breakthrough from Nadal's forehand at a critical moment and achieved good results; in this game, he slightly changed his tactics, but in essence, he still tried to find loopholes from Nadal's forehand. However, Nadal immediately showed his golf intelligence——
Backhand with both hands, facing the pressure from the deep baseline area, relying on the lifting and whipping of the wrist and forearm, he hit a skateboard ball and directly opened the angle.
This is not only to mobilize Gawain, but also to change the rhythm of the round and the rotation routine with the backhand flat shot, destroying the balance of the confrontation.
This is typical tennis, and it is also the tennis of masters. Countless judgments, analyzes and choices need to be made in a flash of lightning. At the same time, it is necessary to transform the tactics in the mind into actions, and pay attention to the deviation between the actual hitting and the mental conception. Keep making adjustments.
From the last game to this one, which actually only lasted about fifteen minutes, the confrontation between Gawain and Nadal was always tumultuous and turbulent.
Then--
With this skateboard shot, all the advantages that Gao Wen had accumulated were destroyed, and he fell into passivity.
Although Gao Wen reacted quickly and moved quickly laterally, considering the eagerly eyeing Nadal and his subsequent layout, Gao Wen gave up the fighting strategy and instead used a long stride to complete the forehand cut, cutting a deep diagonal shot. The return ball was aimed at Nadal's backhand baseline triangle.
Unfortunately, the effect was slightly less than expected. The rotation of the forehand cutting was not enough, and the return ball failed to enter the bottom line triangle on Nadal's side.
Nadal has a keen sense of smell and cuts to the baseline immediately, entering a position one step away from the baseline. He launches an attack in the midfield and hammers a straight forehand.
Turn defense into offense!
Everything stemmed from that two-handed backhand just now, and then Nadal had the upper hand.
but!
Gawain accurately predicted.
It can be seen at this time that Gao Wen and Nadal have met three times. This is the fourth time. Both sides understand some of each other's routines, especially the hitting habits and route combinations for key scores. This also provides The preparation predictions of both players provide a database.
In this box, Nadal's forehand sideways shot was very powerful, but Gao Wen accurately predicted that he had already controlled the pace when he cut the forehand to save the ball in the previous shot, started the second time without stopping, and rushed to the horse immediately, and Use both hands to start a frontal confrontation with backhands and forcefully attack.
On the other side, Nadal also accurately predicted Gao Wen's diagonal deep area shot selection, so he did not rush to the net, but continuously adjusted his steps across the court. Facing Gao Wen's solid and powerful attack with both hands, he took a slight step. With a slight lag, the forehand completes the diagonal attack again.
As soon as he looked up, Nadal saw Gawain standing at the original position on the diagonal. He had not moved at all. He had been waiting there for a long time. His backhand was stretched like a bowstring into a full moon shape. Then Nadal's footsteps had stopped suddenly. A sudden start, crossing the court again and returning to the backhand position——
Backhand, straight line.
Gao Wen's famous stunts, especially when playing against Djokovic, whether it is breaking the deadlock, subverting the balance, or seizing opportunities, this shot and this line can be said to be fully displayed. There is no doubt that , this is Gao Wen’s best weapon to reach the top of the US Open.
A second ago, Nadal had just reversed the disadvantage, but before the audience had time to breathe, Gawain, who was burning with youth and vitality, had already given a strong counterattack. The balance of confrontation tilted slightly towards Nadal and then returned to the balance. The figures of the two players were running around the field at great speed.
One comes, one goes.
Needle point, wheat awn.
The entire rhythm and intensity rose to a higher level, so much so that the Stade Philippe-Chatier forgot to breathe.
Then, Gawain used his trump card, seized the opportunity, and tried to overturn the balance again, and the stormy waves tilted over like this.
Anticipation once again plays an important role.
In fact, Nadal kept running back and forth between the two ends of the baseline, and his pace could no longer keep up. He was once a "chasing boy" wearing pirate pants and a sleeveless shirt. Because of his age, injuries, and condition, he still couldn't regain his youthful and frivolous look. That arrogance and wantonness also showed flaws in his movements.
But relying on accurate prediction, Nadal blocked a shot with a backhand with both hands when his steps were not in place.
The so-called knock means that there is almost no swing, just a guillotine-like sinking movement of the wrist at the moment of contact with the ball, using the force to hit the ball.
In a fleeting moment, rely on the feel to complete the package, and control the return route as much as possible without friction or force.
Slash, moon ball.
Nadal's emergency block still succeeded in winning him some breathing space——
Although Gao Wen quickly crossed the court and returned to the forehand position from the backhand position as quickly as possible, in the gap between the baseline movement, Nadal quickly completed the adjustment of his steps, regained defensive space for himself, and even There is time to observe Gawain's batting action and complete the prediction.
Gao Wen soared into the air and used the inertia of his sprint to complete his power. He swept the diagonal attack with a forehand and once again aimed at Nadal's backhand baseline triangle.
This time, Gawain found it!
The ball hit the ball accurately and entered the big triangle area of the bottom line. It was heavy, deep, fast and turning, like a huge wave, hitting Nadal head and face.
Quick, everything happened too fast. It seemed that Gao Wen had not recovered yet. Gao Wen regained control of the offensive initiative, but Nadal was also ready to defend.
Suspense is still swinging from side to side on the tightrope.
(End of chapter)
