The linesman's gesture was very firm, indicating that Dimitrov's backhand went straight out of bounds, losing the point and the entire second set.
Dimitrov couldn't believe his eyes. He held his head in annoyance, squatted down suddenly, and stood up again:
The opportunity has arisen.
Gao Wen's fake move in front of the net has already created an opportunity for him. The Spanish combination of Verdasco and Ferrer on the other side of the net have already made a mistake in judgment, completely exposing the gap in the entire straight half court.
but!
He missed it!
Actually!
incredible!
Dimitrov looked at the referee with a face full of astonishment and surprise, almost crying, and raised his voice to ask.
"are you sure?"
The referee nodded in affirmation, pinched his thumb and index finger, and gestured:
Go out of bounds just a little bit, really just a little bit.
Dimitrov was still a little unwilling. Anyway, he still lost the second set. It would be a waste if Hawkeye challenged him, so he signaled the challenge.
"Dmitrov/High, Hawkeye challenged the left sideline, on-the-spot decision: out of bounds."
The referee's voice came, and the audience began to clap their hands, applauding uniformly in anticipation of the verdict of Hawkeye's challenge.
Gao Wen turned around, trotted all the way back to the baseline from the net, raised his right hand, and gave Dimitrov a high-five.
Dimitrov's face was full of apologies, he showed a helpless smile, and his slumped shoulders revealed a sense of frustration——
Confidence and discouragement are the same. Once they occur, they can gradually accumulate and form a force. Therefore, victories can easily accumulate into a winning streak, and failures can easily accumulate into a losing streak. To break this cycle, a stronger force is often needed.
It takes external force to break free.
Obviously, Dimitrov is surrounded by frustration.
Think about it.
Although Gawain knows that the game is still not over, this is definitely not the best time to talk, but from another perspective, maybe now is the best time, precisely because when the game is ongoing, they can break through the shackles and break through the inner demons through actual combat.
, what competitive sports needs is this kind of courage.
Gawain quickly looked back at the big screen. The results of the Hawkeye challenge had not yet been played. Gawain made a quick decision and spoke quickly.
"Gregor, actually, sometimes there is really no need to be so perfect."
"It's not that we don't need to pursue perfection, but we need to understand that we don't need to hit the ball perfectly every time to win a point; and then, we also need to accept the fact that no one is perfect, and we can't win every time.
Hitting the ball is perfect, and timing is also an ability.”
Dimitrov is indeed very similar to the young Federer in every aspect.
When Federer was just starting out, he was also extremely talented and attracted much attention. The whole world had high hopes for him. However, he was unable to make a breakthrough in his career. He often lost control of his emotions on the court, throwing his racket, roaring, and thinking casually.
Against referees and spectators, you name it.
reason?
The root cause is pressure. It is precisely because the outside world is full of expectations for him, so he also has higher requirements for his own performance; and he is a perfectionist, hoping to achieve perfection every time he hits the ball, including pace, swing and power.
, landing point, everything needs to be pursued to the extreme.
The more stressed you are, the more you desire perfection and prove yourself; but the more you desire it, the less you can do it.
Then, a vicious cycle forms.
For young people, they are often unable to handle such an emotional cycle, and in the end they can only be irritable, angry, and out of control.
The same goes for Dimitrov.
On the one hand, there are expectations and pressure; on the other hand, there is the pursuit of perfection.
Watching Dimitrov's game, just like Federer at the beginning of his career, he moves smoothly and freely, and every move is like an elegant swordsman. It is really pleasing to the eye. Every time he hits the ball, he pursues the ultimate and perfection, not only aiming at every corner.
Hitting, and there are also strict requirements on the hitting effect.
However, in a tennis match, this is obviously an impossible task.
Therefore, many times, they pursue perfection too much, which leads to batting errors, very low-level and very simple mistakes.
In the end, their games were like embroidered pillows that looked useless, the highlights of the games were too gorgeous, and the results were often disappointing.
Later, Federer finally realized this, got rid of his shackles, and his career ushered in a transformation——
Of course, he is still a perfectionist, but before he was a "hopeless perfectionist", it would be different without the prefix; on the contrary, it is Federer's wife Milka, she is still a hopeless perfectionist
A perfectionist, Federer has strict requirements on training and competition.
Dimitrov is still young and has not given up this obsession yet. He not only wants to win, but also wants to win smoothly, neatly and beautifully.
When hitting the ball, it is inevitable to pursue perfection.
However, Dimitrov has been in poor condition recently, and his hand and ball feel have fluctuated significantly. When he continues to hit and lay out the way he did in his peak period, the effect may be a mess, and he will eventually fall into a vicious cycle:
We pursue perfection because of pressure, but because of the pursuit of perfection, we make more mistakes, and because of the increase in mistakes, we accumulate stress.
In last year's Asian season, Gao Wen also faced a similar dilemma, so how did he get out of the trough?
It's very simple. Accept that you are not perfect, accept that your condition is not good, and accept that you must change the way you play before you can return to your original way of playing.
This does not mean compromising, giving up, surrendering, but finding a way to reconcile with yourself so that you can tap into your full potential.
Dimitrov also needs to realize this. He needs to learn to forgive himself. This is the first step.
That's it for this moment.
In fact, both Ferrer and Verdasco had made misjudgments, and the gap had been completely exposed. Dimitrov only needed to send the net into a straight line, and the winning point would be in his pocket.
However, Dimitrov longed for a perfect winning point.
Scoring is not enough. We also need to be elegant, exciting and perfect. Therefore, the backhand is aimed straight at the dead corner of the baseline. However, the speed of the racket head is a little slow and the closing speed is not enough. The falling parabola of the tennis ball is also lacking, and it is not able to turn into the baseline.
Lead to out of bounds.
From scoring to losing points, it is just a matter of one thought.
Of course, Gawain also knows that this is not easy.
"Perfectionism" is a character, a quality, and a way of life. Some people cannot change it in their lifetime, and it is even more impossible to change it in just a few words.
Taking advantage of the opportunity of Eagle Eye's challenge, Gawain just made a mark, planted a seed, and looked forward to the day when it would take root and sprout.
at the same time.
Gawain added another sentence.
"What's more, you should learn to trust your partner. Otherwise, it would look too pitiful for me to stand in front of the net, ready to go, but with no room to play."
In just a few words, Gawain succeeded in making Dimitrov laugh. Although he didn't think so in his heart, he vaguely felt that Gawain was right.
Looking at Gawain, Dimitrov's tense heartstrings relaxed again. Unknowingly.