Focus, immerse——
Gawain's attention was highly concentrated, and he caught an idea in a flash. He kicked his right leg on the ground and pounded his feet continuously, and his body rushed out.
Trust your gut.
Of course, it is not just a simple guess, but through the accumulation of experience in the entire game so far and the accurate observation of the moment just receiving the serve, thousands of details come together, collide and create sparks, and finally evolve into an intuition. Inspiration, the body is already activated.
Throughout today's game, Istomin's performance in the outer corner of the second zone was indeed outstanding. Not only was his placement and line excellent, he was always able to achieve the best results; The referee successfully relied on the outside corners of the second area to score a lot of points.
There are a lot of first serves and a lot of second serves.
At this time, although it was not a critical point, the atmosphere of the game was undergoing subtle changes, and Gao Wen could detect the subtle changes in Istomin's mentality:
From the fluke in the last game to the quick decision in this game, in essence, Istomin's belief has been shaken, fluctuated slightly, and he began to doubt himself. He needs to quickly gain a foothold and get through the current situation. threshold, and then be able to fall back into familiar routines.
It is conceivable that Istomin will choose some tactical combinations with a relatively high success rate, trying to copy and paste to score and end the game.
Of course, this is Istomin's serve, and Gawain has no choice. He can only use soldiers to cover up the water and earth, and adapt to changes. But this does not mean that Gawain needs to be beaten passively. As a server, his interpretation of the game is often You can also look for counterattack opportunities from clues.
For example, now.
Kick on the ground, step on, move——
Gao Wen caught an inspiration, followed the guidance of his intuition, moved laterally, started the backhand with both hands early, and completely threw his body.
Then, I guessed it!
Outside corner!
Large side spin angle.
Sure enough, Istomin chose to serve from the outside corner, trying to make full use of the horizontal space of the court by tearing up the angle, and mobilized Gao Wen out of the court; because this was the second serve, Istomin did not expect to form an ace. So he needs to create opportunities for his next offensive connection.
In other words, Istomin is looking forward to Gao Wen completing the return ball, but no matter what the return ball is, he is ready to continue attacking.
Outside corner, side spin, Gawain's position has left the singles sideline and quickly approached the doubles sideline, and his entire court has been cleared.
The only good thing is that Istomin sacrificed his speed in order to ensure that the angle was completely opened; and because of the insurance on the second serve, he did not pursue the ultimate placement, which left Gaowen breathing room.
Despite this, this serve with a speed of 169 kilometers per hour is still excellent. The entire court space has been utilized to the extreme, and it has bought time for Istomin to return to his position, step up, and stand on the baseline.
It is clear at a glance that Istomin is ready for a follow-up attack:
It is conceivable that any return shot by Gao Wen will usher in a fierce attack. The aggressive stance has entered the court, leaving no much space for Gao Wen to hit. All routes are included in Istomin's radar. scope.
However, Gawain was highly focused and had already made plans. He was not even prepared to observe Istomin's position and directly completed the hit——
Kick off, brake, stop.
Gawain did not choose to throw his body completely in the direction of movement. Instead, he kicked the ground hard with his left leg to brake, and followed the strong reaction force transmitted from the ground to complete the swing.
The left foot has already crossed the doubles sideline half a step, and the whole body is straddling the outermost sideline of the court. The space of the tennis court has reached its limit.
If it is the center court, the space on both sides of the court and the auditorium is very sufficient, which also means that players have more space to defend and save; but here is the No. 2 court, and the entire court area is obviously smaller.
As soon as Gawain left the doubles line, he could already feel the pressure from the stands and the audience, leaving little space for activities.
It feels like trying to do Tai Chi in a thin sky. It is obviously too cramped but you have to stretch your fists and feet, and you have to face the crisis of hitting the wall at all times.
Gawain, unmoved, his attention completely focused.
The speed and power all use the left leg as the support point, are uploaded along with the turning movement, and are finally released at the moment of swinging the racket.
Flowing like clouds and flowing water, all in one go——
When you use both hands to backhand and strike hard, you can clearly feel that the inertia of the run-up completely drives up the speed of the racket head, and the impact is completed instantly.
Swing, home run!
boom!
A crisp sound exploded on Court No. 2.
The tennis ball turned into a streak of light and shadow and disappeared into the golden sunlight that filled the sky. All the spectators opened their eyes wide and tried to find Gawain's return route, but their eyes were filled with green energy, so that the mustard light and shadow completely blended into it and could not be seen at all. , which also cut off the breath of the entire audience.
Istomin is no exception.
Eyes wide, focused, muscles tense, ready.
Before his brain had time to judge, his body reflexively rushed out following the trajectory of Gawain's swing captured by his pupils.
straight line.
Gawain chose a straight backhand.
In this game, due to poor ball feel, Gao Wen's trump card was not able to exert its power. At the end of the third set, he only had three backhand winners, but seven forehand winners, slightly more.
Of course, the very important reason is that Istomin took precautions. He knew Gawain's backhand ability, and his backhand holding ability was sufficient, so he contained Gawain's winning points on the backhand position.
Now, at the critical moment, Istomin chooses the routine he trusts, and Gawain does the same, but judging from the situation, Gawain has the upper hand——
Gao Wen accurately predicted the service route, but Istomin failed to predict Gao Wen's return route.
It wasn't until his body memory reflexively rushed out that Istomin realized that Gawain actually chose a straight backhand in an incredible position.
Fight!
In tennis, everyone fights, including the Big Four, but the difference between top players and ordinary players lies in the timing, the timing of the fight, and the purpose of the fight.
Some fights are not to score, but to shock; some fights are to break the balance, and scoring is secondary.
At this moment, in a subtle moment, Gawain suddenly and unexpectedly chose to fight, and he also chose the moment to receive the serve.
Istomin, was killed by surprise.
The steps have already rushed out, and the body's center of gravity is completely extended towards the forehand position, but because it is so hasty and sudden, the whole person staggers, staggers, and almost loses his balance.
In a blur of light and shadow, Istomin waited half a beat before finally seeing the trajectory of the tennis ball clearly. However, it was already too late:
Straight line, breakthrough, bottom line triangle, blind spot, hitting the bullseye.
"30:30"——
The referee has reported the score directly, firmly, confidently and without hesitation.
