In fact, the difference in Nadal's hitting style and tactical layout can also be seen as the difference between clay and hard courts, which once again proves that Nadal's understanding of clay is indeed unique.
One, rotation.
Someone once said that if it were to meet Nadal for the first time in his career, the situation would be very difficult, very, very difficult. On the one hand, because Nadal is left-handed, and there are not many left-handed players on the tour; on the other hand, because
"Nano rotation", few people can adapt quickly.
Thanks to this, Nadal's performance in the first encounter in his career has always been the best. Official statistics also prove this. Among the four giants, Nadal has the highest winning rate in encounters and has obvious advantages.
Far ahead.
But this is not the first time that Gauvin has met Nadal. They have met twice, and at Melbourne Park, Gauvin defeated Nadal in straight sets.
Naturally, Gao Wen believed that he was fully mentally prepared for Nadal's super topspin.
This is not to underestimate the enemy or to be arrogant. In the final analysis, he lacks sufficient knowledge of red clay. He is too young and naive to truly understand the importance of red clay to spin, and he also fails to understand the truth behind Nadal being known as the "King of Red Clay".
change!
This is natural. Nadal's hitting has always been like this, especially the forehand. Super topspin has become a landscape in professional tennis.
It turns and weighs, sinks and rushes.
This can be deeply felt on hard ground, but when entering red soil, the whole feeling needs to be magnified three to five times——
Only on red soil can we truly understand what four thousand revolutions is.
Red soil has two characteristics:
One is friction, which increases the tail power of rotation; the other is weight, which virtually increases the weight of the hit.
On hard courts and grass, those spins are often "swallowed" by the court. Moreover, players can also rely on their own footsteps and strength to grab some hitting points and complete the hit before the spin is completely released.
; But on clay, all these powers will be unleashed.
In the previous two encounters, Nadal's shots were like a heavy punch hitting the racket surface, so the control of the racket needed to face a severe test.
In today's practice match, Nadal's shot was still a heavy punch, but this time it hit his chest directly. Not only the racket, but also the control of his upper body had problems, and it also affected his footsteps. The whole aftertaste and power can be sustained.
The ground dissipates and truly makes people feel the quality of the ball.
Moreover, it's not just once or twice, it's the same every time, one beat, two beats, three beats, and then the pressure accumulates little by little, and it accumulates heavily in the chest.
Especially when the steps are not in place, the impact of the return effect is very direct, and the pressure brought by Nadal's super topspin will be further highlighted.
It is conceivable that the longer the rounds are, the more balanced the situation will be in Nadal's direction.
Of course, Gawain is not without opportunities. Every hit may become a gap to reverse the situation, but the key is that he needs to take more risks and accumulate more energy. In addition, there is the difficulty of hell that cannot be ignored, and
Compared with hard ground, it is one to two levels higher.
Second, attack.
On clay courts, Nadal's defensive ability and super topspin can be used to the extreme. The longer the rounds, the more beneficial it is to him.
Of course, if you want to break the deadlock, you must use defense as the basis and attack as the entry point to look for opportunities and shorten the number of rounds.
Even if he has a strong bottom line fighting ability like Djokovic, he dared to fight with Nadal for six hours in Melbourne and had the last laugh, but he did not dare to grind the bottom line with Nadal on clay.
From Djokovic to Thiem, they were able to defeat Nadal many times on clay. Attack was the key, and their inspiration came from the same person:
Soderling.
In 2009, Soderling gave Nadal the first defeat of his career at the French Open at Roland Garros, relying on his tough style of playing high and high.
That year, with the help of God, Soderling was able to execute his eloquent and smooth attack throughout the best-of-five-set match, from the first point to the last point, perfectly continuing his hot touch.
The true interpretation of "fighting like crazy" is to rely on offensive power to win.
Of course, no one could replicate Soderling's feat, including Soderling himself. In the French Open final the following year, he faced Nadal again and surrendered in three sets——
After all, it is almost impossible to maintain a high-frequency state for three hours in a best-of-five-set match and face Nadal.
However, Soderling gave all players a warning:
Attack, this is the key.
Gawain deeply agreed with this.
From killing Djokovic three times to defeating Murray and Federer in succession, to defeating Nadal at the Australian Open, Gao Wen firmly grasped a core idea:
Dare to take action.
As a challenger and an attacker, if you are constrained and do not have the belief to win, then you really have no chance in front of the Big Four.
but!
On clay courts, attacking Nadal is never easy.
First, the weakening of strength and speed directly leads to a decrease in offensive effectiveness. Tactics that apply pressure through ball quality often run into obstacles.
What's more, Gao Wen is not a strong offensive player by nature. The power of pure hitting is inherently limited, so it is more necessary to complete the layout through rotation, line, placement, and tactics. Naturally, the threat of attack, efficiency, etc.
etc. will be affected, and compressing rounds is not easy.
Secondly, the speed of the ball on the clay court is relatively slow, which will also affect the rhythm of the round. Speeding up, changing speed, and hitting the ball will all be greatly reduced.
Therefore, Federer's variation style of play needs to be adjusted on clay, often requiring more patience and relying on defense to win opportunities for offense.
In other words, when facing Nadal, they need to use offense to compress rounds, create opportunities, and prevent Nadal from establishing an advantage; but because of Nadal's top defensive ability and the weakening of offensive power on clay courts, they must pass
The defense moves patiently to find opportunities.
Thus, an infinite loop was born.
To sum it up in one sentence, if Gao Wen is going to face Nadal with the same tactics as the Australian Open, there will be no chance on clay, not at all.
You can tell from the score——
"1:5".
Gawain is in front, Nadal is behind.
Gawain hasn't been in such a sorry state for a long, long time.
In fact, the score is not a problem. Next is Gao Wen's serve. The score difference is not as exaggerated as the numbers show. What really makes Gao Wen care about is:
No chance.
Really no chance at all.
He couldn't remember the specific number, but in Nadal's serve game, he seemed to have scored two or three points, and the entire confrontation was in a stalemate.
Such a situation will not make Gawain doubt life, because he knows that the "King of Clay" is by no means a wasted reputation, but it will make Gawain start to think:
What did I do wrong? After switching venues, the gap is so obvious, it must mean that there is something wrong with my tactics.