oh!
The whole audience exclaimed——
The distance of a hair, the volley in front of Gaowen's net just now, after the Eagle Eye replay showed that it was still out of bounds after all, but it had to be calculated in millimeters. Even the Eagle Eye system had to zoom in and then zoom in before you could see that one in front of you. The hairline gap confirms the bottom line referee's decision.
It’s hard to believe, but out of bounds is out of bounds.
"40:40".
In the players box.
Sampras covered his cheeks in disbelief, looked up to the sky and let out a silent cry, closed his eyes tightly, and had no courage to continue looking.
Agassi folded his hands on his chest with a restrained face, and sat in place with all his muscles stiff, trying his best to control himself and continue to stare at the field.
They all know that this match is ten times more dangerous than the Australian Open final. The superposition of various subjective and objective reasons has added countless difficulties to the showdown in front of them. The worst and most dangerous part is that Gawain is still The correct way to open the grass court has not been found. m.
But what else can they do?
Experience, this is the mountain that stands in front of Gawain now. There are no shortcuts and no tricks. Fight and fight game by game, accumulate experience of victory and failure down-to-earth, and finally transform it into your own wisdom and wealth. This That's the only way.
Especially the transition from the clay court season to the grass court season is a severe test at any time, even for top players.
In 2005, Nadal won the championship at Roland Garros for the first time in his career, but then he came to Wimbledon and was upset in the second round. It was that simple. All players, including the Big Four, Everyone must go through this process.
Take a deep breath!
Agassi reminded himself, turned his head and glanced——
Gao Hongli stared at the court solemnly without saying a word. Although he tried his best to control it, his brows were still slightly raised, showing a hint of nervousness.
Jiang Yanyun leaned forward and stared at the arena, with his hands clasped together on his thighs. The muscles on the back of his hands and forearms were tense due to excessive exertion.
Both of them had solemn expressions, but no one shifted their gaze because they clearly knew that at this moment Gawain needed the support of spiritual strength. They needed to make Gawain realize that he was not fighting alone. They were the backing and motivation. Accompany Gawain to fight side by side.
"...Pete!"
Agassi called out in a low voice.
Sampras did not respond, but he took a deep breath, then opened his eyes, expressionless, and looked at the court intently.
Maybe it didn't last long, but they accompanied Gao Wen through countless storms and waves. Although they couldn't predict the outcome of today's game, they could confidently assert that Gao Wen would not surrender until the last ball and two goals. The end of the game cannot be announced until the jump.
"Seed grave"?
Then let them see who is stronger, the curse or Gawain's spirit.
——The next second.
"Ah! Ahhh!"
Istomin roared angrily, spread his arms, looked up to the sky and screamed, releasing all his emotions passionately. Through his sports glasses, you could feel the high fighting spirit shining in his eyes, releasing them completely without reservation.
Match point appears!
Istomin dared to take action and hit a magic ball in a passive situation. He used a two-handed backhand to return the ball in a straight line, suppressing the blind corner and forcefully nailing Gawain's return steps to the spot.
With the winning point, Istomin got the break point and match point, the first match point of the match, which really pushed Gawain to the cliff corner.
From the lead of "40:0" to the passivity of "40:AD", it was just a blink of an eye. Then, the game situation was pushed to an unexpected position.
The air is burning——
It must be admitted that Istomin is not as easy to deal with as imagined.
So, who is Istomin? Doesn’t it mean that Gao Wen will not face severe challenges in the first three rounds if he is lucky enough to advance to the top 16 easily? Didn’t it mean that the organizing committee thought that this Asian civil war lacked suspense and therefore arranged it to the second court?
Istomin, a player from Uzbekistan, was born in 1986. He turned to professional tennis in 2004. In 2009, he was promoted to Asia’s number one brother after consecutive breakthroughs in the spring hard court season, and stayed in this position for five years. Kei Nishikori completely rewrote history.
Before the emergence of Kei Nishikori and Gawain, Istomin represented the highest level of men's singles in Asia. His best results in the three Grand Slams outside the French Open were all reaching the fourth round, and he reached the highest world ranking in 2012. Coming to No. 33, there is no doubt that this is a difficult player.
Later, when people mentioned Istomin, it was often not his performance in winning the Asian Games men’s singles championship in 2018, but his upset victory over Djokovic in the second round of the 2017 Australian Open in five sets. Contest--
Putting aside the youthful period, Djokovic's record in Australia has been excellent since he completed his transformation in 2007. His worst performances were the two fourth rounds in 2007 and 2018, and he was at least 100 points in all other times. Entering the quarter-finals, and once entering the semi-finals, they will definitely win the championship. There is no doubt that they are the king of Melbourne.
However, the only exception was in 2017, when Djokovic was upset in the second round, causing a shock. The one who defeated Djokovic was Istomin.
Maybe Istomin is not a top player, but he must not be underestimated.
Istomin's game has many similarities with Djokovic to some extent. He has a balanced forehand and backhand and excellent return of serve. Although his serve is not strong, he has rich placement control and tactical routines, among which he is the strongest. The biggest weapon is undoubtedly the backhand.
My eyes return to the present of 2015.
This year, Istomin's career fell into a trough due to injuries. The beginning of the year was not smooth. He started with three consecutive losses and was eliminated in the first round of the Australian Open.
Then came the spring season, which got a little better, but the performance was still unsustainable. He couldn't even win two games in a row. He was either eliminated in the first round or the second round in all competitions. He struggled all the way. After being eliminated in the first round of the French Open, he created Worst start to career.
Judging from all signs, Istomin's season is not picking up, and his world ranking has dropped to 77th, and the grass court season is no exception.
In the warm-up match before Wimbledon, Istomin participated fully in the first two weeks, and the result was only one win and two losses. So he had to go to Nottingham to compete in the week before Wimbledon, hoping to regain some touch, but he didn't want to Nottingham experienced an unexpected harvest and a strong comeback——
He won six games in a row, defeated four players ranked in the top 50 in the world, and finally defeated Querrey in the final, winning the first tour championship of his career.
The twists and turns of the story are indeed jaw-dropping. No one expected that Istomin would have a breakthrough at this point in time.
Then, Istomin stood on the opposite side of the net, ready to challenge Gawain and give this super rookie who had swept the world in the past year the unforgettable experience of being "out of the first round of a Grand Slam" for the first time in his career. There is still one point left for this goal.
Some people died, but not completely...
