Of course Gawain knew that he was no longer a secret weapon, he was completely exposed to everyone and became the coach's research object.
But similarly, Gawain will not sit still and wait for death. While others are studying him, he is also studying his opponents and is constantly improving himself.
Libbitis, one of the unbeatable top three players at the University of Tennessee, is naturally also within the scope of Coach Martin's research. After learning the matchup today, Gao Wen, with the help of Grant, further studied Libbitis' skills.
Characteristics and tactical styles.
To a certain extent, Libitis is similar to Gawain. His forehand is not very stable, but his backhand can be used both offensively and defensively.
But this is only relative. For any player, the forehand is the first step in learning tennis. Even if it is unstable, it should not be underestimated. If you start a confrontation rashly, you are likely to step into a trap -
—
The reason why we say unstable rather than terrible means that there are high moments and low moments. Therefore, we must not casually think that Libitis's forehand is the breakthrough.
This is the first confrontation between Gawain and Libitis. The previous investigations and research were all on paper. In the opening stage, both sides must test each other to see each other's playing style and today's status, and then make slow decisions based on pre-game preparations.
Slowly adjust your tactics to find the most suitable method.
Therefore, after the opening, Gao Wen was very targeted from the beginning of the serve, using the serve to suppress Libitis's forehand, testing to see how much Libitis's forehand ability was; at the last point, he broke the rules and tested the backhand.
, forming a winning score, the entire tactical combination is being tested.
It is very important to win your first serve, and it is equally important to determine the direction of your tactics for the entire game.
"1:0".
Immediately afterwards, Gawain made more attempts on Libitis's serve——
Because it was an encounter, the first task was not to break Libitis's serve, but to see Libitis's tactical routine in his own serve and the specific strength of each technical link.
For example, why is the forehand unstable? It suffers from spin? The power movement is unstable? The leverage is incomplete? The ball cannot be wrapped? The forehand leads too much? Or something else?
And so on and so on.
Moreover, in Gao Wen's first serve just now, Libitis took the initiative to make changes when he was lagging behind. This also shows that he is a player with a flexible mind. This also requires Gao Wen to pay attention to Libitis.
Only with a clearer understanding of technical and tactical characteristics can we be able to respond to different changes.
Every time he returns the ball, Gao Wen has a purpose.
After a brief struggle, Libitis also successfully won the first serve, and then Gao Wen played steadily in his own serve and ended with a hold.
"2:1".
Gao Wen, who was the first to serve, entered the first inter-inning break with the score lead. Judging from the first three games, the performance of both players was relatively stable. The entire game progressed very quickly, and the three games ended in just about eight minutes.
Bureau.
During the short rest period, Gawain's brain was running at high speed, and he was already ready when he was waiting to step onto the court again.
About three minutes later——
"0:40".
The referee's voice announcing the score echoed over the stadium.
Gawain clenched his fist and waved towards Libitis on the opposite side of the court. He did not celebrate wildly, but just used this action to express his firm belief.
On the other side of the court, Libitis was out of breath and swung an empty shot a little depressed. He was very dissatisfied with the trajectory of his forehand swing.
Returning to the court again, Gao Wen began to speed up, and the differences in details can be seen from the tactical layout.
From the first shot when he touched the ball, Gao Wen consciously returned the ball toward the middle and backhand position. It was not a forehand or a backhand, but the middle.
Returning the ball in the middle is not difficult for Libitis. He often uses his backhand to hit a shot and initiate an attack. However, because the landing point is in the middle, it is difficult to open the angle. If the angle is forced, it will be easy.
Will go out of bounds, which also limits Libitis' offense to some extent.
Habitually, Libitis prefers to hit diagonally, because the entire swing is smoother and more complete, almost a subconscious reaction.
Gawain, who had been waiting at the diagonal position early, would use his two-handed backhand to create a large diagonal angle - don't forget that his two-handed backhand is also Gawain's strength, and his straight backhand is even more famous.
Libitis can easily fall into a passive position, because he needs to beware of Gawain's straight backhand, and has to continuously cover Gawain's backhand diagonal. He cannot start rashly every time, and must wait for Gawain to take the shot.
Being able to return the ball, this little time difference affects the quality of his batting.
Then, Gawain's next attack will attack Libitis's forehand with all his strength, forcing Libitis to perform extreme lateral movements at both ends of the baseline——
Either Gawain directly scored the winning point; or Libitis made a forehand error.
In the blink of an eye, Gao Wen scored three points in a row, different scores, similar situation, and then Libitis faced three break points in his own service game.
To put it simply, Gao Wen adopted the strategy of pressing the backhand and hitting the forehand, which was completely reversed from his strategy in Libitis's first serve game. Not only did he not avoid Libitis' strengths, but he also went forward bravely.
When the ground came up, Libitis panicked during the powerful confrontation.
It can be seen from here that Gao Wen's skills are superior. Not only is he fully prepared before the game, but he also understands the situation through three simple games, formulates tactics on the spot, and successfully executes them. Then the situation is broken in an instant.
Things were going smoothly for three games, so why did things suddenly change?
Everything happened too fast. In the blink of an eye, he had already lost three points in a row, and his mind couldn't keep up.
Libitis, breathing heavily——
Change tactics?
It's not that he doesn't want to change, but that his best thing is his backhand. As a result, his backhand was suppressed in the frontal confrontation. Gawain's backhand was also very strong, which made Libitis a little confused.
Moreover, Libitis also has his own pride deep in his heart, and does not want to admit that his strongest skills are at a disadvantage. The stubbornness of the young man still hopes to open up the situation in the strong confrontation. If Gawain has taken the initiative to return the ball
It would be too embarrassing for him to avoid fighting even though he was being sent to his backhand.
But, what should we do now? It won’t work if we don’t change. We need to save three consecutive break points.
Thinking of this, Libitis gritted his teeth and secretly clenched his fists to cheer himself up. Maybe he should make some changes in his serve.
breathe.
Take a deep breath.
Libitis stood behind the baseline, preparing to serve. He glanced up at Gawain, and then completed the serving action.
One shot, inner corner.
In Libitis' second area, he aimed at Gawain's forehand and sent an inside angle. The angle was not too tricky. He mainly pursued a landing point to suppress Gawain's forehand.
This was already the second time in this game that Libitis served to suppress Gao Wen's forehand. Gao Wen was not surprised, everything was expected.
Tap tap tap.
He adjusted his steps continuously and his forehand was already swung out.