Gao Wen's body has been extended to the extreme and will touch the ball. This is a return ball without any guarantee. Even Gao Wen himself is not sure whether he can return to the field.
This also means that Gawain has completely lost all his advantages.
but!
Gawain did not give up. To be precise, Gawain was still fighting.
Emergency stop and turn.
The strength of his calf exploded completely, his body stepped on the spring, and in the blink of an eye he was back on the court, regaining his defensive position, keeping his eyes on little Zverev.
Obviously, little Zverev was a little surprised. He did not expect that such an extreme serve would be returned by Gawain inexplicably.
But Zverev did not lose his mind. He remained focused, paused for a moment, and then entered the baseline and headed for the midfield.
Although it was a little slower, because the service advantage was so obvious, the impact of this pause was negligible, and Zverev was still in place smoothly.
As mentioned before, Zverev's baseline skills are solid and his two-handed backhand is top-notch.
From a purely technical point of view, Zverev's baseline skills and two-handed backhand are the successors of Djokovic, and after he truly matures, he can even suppress Djokovic. This is also
The reason why Zverev was able to defeat the Big Four on the Masters stage.
Zverev's backhand is not only solid, but also sharp. He can defend and attack, can withstand force and spin, and has both strength and speed.
After Djokovic, Zverev Jr. and Medvedev are known as the world's strongest two-handed backhands, with Zverev Jr. even slightly better.
Therefore, Zverev has an advantage when moving, because he can hit all shots with forehand and backhand, which also means that he does not need to adjust his steps to switch to forehand to complete the shot, which not only saves time
and physical strength, and can also seize the opportunity in terms of tactical layout.
Just like now.
After serving, Zverev followed his own serving trend and stepped forward in a straight line. He could see Gawain's return ball coming towards him——
Fall on the backhand position.
Little Zverev was not afraid at all and did not need to avoid. He faced forward head-on. Because his footsteps continued to advance, Gawain's return ball was slightly squeezed into the swing space, and his position was only about half a step away.
The most direct impact of space is that the swing cannot be completed completely.
At the same time, the impact point is also very low. Although it is not a ball that bounces off the sole of the foot, it is not far off.
However, little Zverev doesn't care.
With a height of 198 centimeters, when handling backspin and rebound balls, he doesn’t look bulky at all——
Bend your knees, lower your center of gravity, quickly roll up the backhand with both hands, complete the ball near your knees, lift it gently, and move it outward.
boom!
The tennis ball, like a shooting star, was fast and urgent, rushing in a diagonal direction behind Gawain.
Return the ball with repeated landing points.
Premium ball!
It has to be said that Zverev's handling of this ball was very advanced and excellent. In the narrow swing space, the speed of the backhand racket head was completely increased. Originally, Gawain's return of the ball was slow, but in the end, he shot it
Just increase your speed and strength again and attack continuously.
Gawain was very embarrassed, very, very embarrassed.
Just two seconds ago, he stopped and turned around suddenly to regain his defensive position.
Immediately afterwards, he needed to make a second sudden stop and turn, start a second time, and sprint towards the backhand position again.
Tap tap tap!
Tap tap tap!
The connection between long strides and small steps, the pace is dizzying, the speed and rhythm have been increased to the extreme, but——
Too late.
Still too late.
Zverev's two-handed backhand was so good that he completely resolved Gawain's strong backspin and turned into a flat attack, completely unleashing his power and speed.
Gawain's speed has been increased to the extreme, but his steps are still too late.
what to do?
Give up?
impossible!
One kick, one slide, and one sideways flight.
With the slight shift of Lingbo, Gao Wen turned his back to the court, stretched out his arms like a roc spreading its wings, used a one-handed backhand for the second time in a row, extended his body to the extreme, and tried to touch the ball.
Squeak!
The friction between the soles of his feet and the court produced sparks, but Gawain's body could be seen completely sliding out, and then——
Touched.
Near the shoulder, the one-handed backhand successfully appeared on the flight path of the tennis ball.
Lightly, softly, delicately, gently... Wrap your wrist lightly, just like throwing candy into icing sugar, carefully wrapping every corner.
"ah!"
At this time, Gao Wen no longer had time to observe his return line. He supported the ground with his racket and completed the braking action. Then he turned ninety degrees, fully released the power of his calf, and his body sprinted out again, like an arrow leaving the string.
.
Three starts!
Kick the ground!
freed!
Dash!
Gawain ran at full speed, and it was as if he could clearly feel the sparks burning on the ground with the soles of his feet. The fierce wind swept all the colors of the venue into it.
A ball of light spread out in a mighty way.
Now, Gao Wen finally had time to turn his head and look at the court, looking for the trajectory of his return——
found it!
The return ball was slow and floating, and it landed near the bottom line of Zverev's right service area. It had no depth or angle, and it was a standard midfield ball.
Zverev has enough time to adjust his steps, find the hitting point, find the hitting line, and then complete the attack.
It's just a leisurely stroll.
Gawain is completely passive, so how will little Zverev choose to attack?
A straight back shot? Or a diagonal diagonal shot?
In sharp contrast to Zverev's strong and stable backhand, his forehand is incoherent and unstable, and he often makes inexplicable mistakes.
Of course, Zverev's forehand also has power and speed, and there is no problem with his offense at all. However, the more critical the moment and the more pressure he faces, the more likely he is to make mistakes with his forehand.
Naturally, the more critical the score, the easier it is for Zverev to be conservative with his forehand. This is a vicious cycle.
Gawain's steps did not stop.
If he had to bet on one side, he guessed that Zverev would choose a diagonal shot, because the risk of hitting the ball is low, and because Zverev has enough advantages in this round, a diagonal line is enough.
Kick, kick, kick!
Gawain ran at full speed, like a blue wind, crossing the entire field.
In the flash of lightning, little Zverev did not observe Gawain's position because he chose to connect quickly and use the speed of the bat to compress the rhythm of the round and win quickly——
UI.
As long as little Zverev returns the ball fast enough, no matter how fast Gawain is, he can't catch up with the flying speed of the tennis ball. It's that simple.
Therefore, Zverev quickly adjusted his steps. With his steps slightly back and his center of gravity relatively unstable, he struck out with a forehand and a quick swing.
boom!
strength!
speed!
Rhythm!
Zverev's entire connection has been completely improved, and it can be easily judged from the moment he takes the shot that he is going for the winning point.
After finishing the shot, little Zverev raised his eyes along the tennis ball and looked over. Then, his heart suddenly contracted——