——Low bounce, fast speed, and less friction. The three major elements collide together and finally form the characteristics of grass, bringing a new tennis experience.
I have mentioned serve-and-net players before, and Sampras is the pinnacle representative. They are completely players born for grass.
In fact, the principle is very simple. Make full use of the low bounce characteristics of the grass, look for opportunities to go online as soon as possible, and further compress the rhythm of the round.
Originally, the low bounce does not leave much time and space for players to react. If the opponent goes online to press, on the one hand it will be a physical squeeze, on the other hand it will be an improvement in rhythm, and the back and forth rhythm will become more and more intense. The faster you go, the balance will be completely broken in the end and the winner will be decided.
Of course, this is not all -
The direct impact of low bounce is still the hitting point.
For baseline players, footwork and center of gravity will play an important role.
First, the footwork must be lighter and more detailed.
Low bounce is part of the reason, and part of the reason is the lack of grip on the grass, so that when taking long strides, it is easy to lose balance in the center of gravity and cause slipping.
People always think that red soil is easy to slip, but this is a wrong perception. Thanks to the strong friction, red soil can grip the ground; grass is not. There is almost no grip space between the sole and the ground, and the friction is also very limited. , and he fell to his knees if he wasn't paying attention.
Therefore, the moving habits of red clay must be completely changed on grass.
Secondly, the center of gravity.
The principle is very simple. Because the refraction angle is low, the hitting point is often below the waist, and players must lower their center of gravity to find the best hitting position.
Moreover, the connection of the overall rhythm is very important. A slight disconnect may give the opponent an opportunity to attack and completely break the rhythm balance.
For various reasons, offensive players and cannon-type players are often able to achieve good results on grass.
Serving cannons such as Isner, Raonic, Ivanisevic, etc. all have their shining moments on grass, and young players such as Dimitrov, Kyrgios, Aliasim, etc. who are good at attacking It is often at Wimbledon that the first breakthrough comes, and the two legends Sampras and Federer wrote their brilliance at Wimbledon.
At this point, someone may ask:
What about Djokovic? He is neither a cannon in serving nor an expert in attack. However, as of 2022, Djokovic has won seven championship trophies at Wimbledon, second only to Federer's eight, ranking second in history.
And what about Murray? His playing style is basically the same as Djokovic, but in 2012 and 2016, Murray also completed the feat of reaching the top twice. This was also the best Grand Slam performance in his career, except for the local games. Beyond the advantages, there are certainly other positives. .
First, offensive players and cannon-type players can indeed gain advantages on grass and perform well——
The German player Saine-Lisiki, known as the "Elf of the Grass", is the best proof. Her biggest highlight in the tennis world is the "French Open Championship Killer". Maybe she does not perform well in other parts of the tour every year. But he can shine as soon as he enters the grass court season.
With a powerful serve comparable to the Williams sisters and a unique and excellent forehand, Lisicki indeed wrote a series of miracles at Wimbledon:
In 2009, she defeated Svena Kusova, who had just won the French Open, in the third round.
In 2011, she defeated Li Na, who reached the French Open for the first time in her career, in the second round.
In 2012, she defeated Sharapova in the fourth round, who had completed her career Grand Slam at Roland Garros last month.
In the past four years, the only ones who have escaped the curse are the 2010 French Open champion Italian veteran Francesca Schiavone (Frananha-Sosur), the 2012 Wimbledon runner-up A-Radwanska, etc. The players advanced to the finals strongly.
However, in the final, Lisicki was trapped by his nervousness, his hands and feet were shaking, and he even broke down in tears at one point, unable to perform at all.
However, due to his strength, he was swept and defeated by the French player Bartoli, achieving the glory of the only Grand Slam in the latter's career.
Second, Djokovic and Murray are special cases, but they are also the embodiment of a trend in modern tennis.
Thanks to the advancement of modern technology such as rackets, strings, sneakers, etc., players' power conversion rate and speed conversion rate have been raised to a new level, just like sharkskin swimsuits, which also makes players' playing styles on different venues Styles are gradually becoming more homogeneous, and they can still stand out by relying on the same tactics and types.
Of course, the premise is that your own abilities have reached a certain level.
This is the case with Djokovic and Murray. Their abilities have reached an absolute level. Even if they are not offensive players, they can still penetrate the grass.
So, the same is true for Gawain.
Although I have never played on clay or grass, after special training and slight changes based on my own understanding, I can still be competitive.
What's more, Gawain also has special weapons——
Sampras.
There is no need to hire a coach specifically for grass. Gauvin’s coaching team has one of the best grass-court players in the world. There is no problem even removing one of them. Just like Nadal is to clay, Sampras is to grass. Understanding has also reached a whole new level.
After leaving Paris, Gawain and his party arrived at Eastbourne, a small British town, and started preparing for the battle on the grass in this sunny and scenic town.
Slightly different from clay, from the beginning, Sampras returned to the most basic and primitive techniques of tennis to start training——
Hit the ball.
Forehand, backhand.
Then--
Forehand, backhand.
That's all, without any new ideas or tricks. It's simple and boring, so boring that it makes you sleepy. It just keeps repeating.
If someone saw Gao Wen training at this time, it would be hard to believe that this is the world's second-ranked player training. Are you sure he is not a beginner who has just picked up a racket and entered the basic class?
