The rhythm, line, and placement were broken in an instant——
In this shot, Nadal's two-handed backhand once again showed his ability to break the balance of the confrontation at critical moments.
In previous rounds, Gao Wen had been trying to impact the ball from the deep baseline area and even limit Nadal's return, forcing Nadal to use top spin continuously.
Because in extreme difficulties, Nadal often uses topspin to alleviate the opponent's impact and buy himself defensive time. However, this year, Nadal's forehand topspin rotation and pressure are not enough, and the quality of the ball has been significantly improved.
The decline can actually become an opportunity for Gawain to continue attacking.
At this point, some people may question: Nadal is also in poor form this year, so why can't Gao Wen do the same in Madrid?
First, Madrid was the first time in his career that Gao Wen faced Nadal in an official match, and he was really not used to it in all aspects.
Second, the competition environments in Madrid and Roland Garros are different. Madrid's shots, as a whole, have lower bounce, faster speed and less spin. As the king of clay, Nadal's weapon is not just spin.
It's more about his understanding of clay soil. His tactical distribution and layout have also been adjusted to adapt to Madrid. He relies on different tactical combinations to build advantages when there is insufficient rotation. Today is different.
Third, even at Roland Garros, Gao Wen was still learning and improving, and was still adjusting his tactical combination at the end of the second set.
It is no exaggeration to say that Madrid and Roland Garros are two completely different games, although the two players are still the same.
In the last game, Gao Wen's own serve game sought a breakthrough from Nadal's forehand at a critical moment and achieved good results; in this game, he slightly changed his tactics, but in essence, he still tried to find loopholes from Nadal's forehand.
However, Nadal immediately showed his golf intelligence——
Backhand with both hands, facing the pressure from the deep baseline area, rely on the lifting and whipping of the wrist and forearm to hit a skateboard ball, directly tearing the angle.
Gao Wen soared into the air, used the inertia of his sprint to complete his power, swept the diagonal attack with a forehand, and once again aimed at Nadal's backhand baseline triangle.
But relying on accurate prediction, Nadal blocked a shot with a backhand with both hands when his steps were not in place.
With this skateboard shot, all the advantages that Gao Wen had accumulated were destroyed, and he fell into passivity.
Nadal's emergency block still succeeded in winning him some breathing space——
Nadal has a keen sense of smell and immediately cuts to the baseline, entering a position one step away from the baseline. He launches an attack in the midfield and hits a straight forehand hammer.
From the last game to this one, which actually only lasted about fifteen minutes, the confrontation between Gawain and Nadal was always tense and turbulent.
In fact, Nadal continuously ran back and forth between the two ends of the baseline, and his pace could no longer keep up. He was once a "chasing boy" wearing pirate pants and a sleeveless shirt. Because of his age, injuries, and condition, he still couldn't regain his youthful and frivolous self.
That arrogance and wantonness also showed flaws in his movements.
It can be seen at this time that Gao Wen and Nadal have met three times. This is the fourth time. Both sides understand some of each other's routines, especially the hitting habits and route combinations for key scores. This also provides a good basis for their success.
The preparation predictions of both players provide a database.
but!
Unfortunately, the effect was slightly less than expected. The rotation of the forehand cutting was not enough, and the return ball failed to enter the bottom line triangle on Nadal's side.
The entire rhythm and intensity increased to a higher level, so much so that the Stade Philippe-Chatier forgot to breathe.
One second ago, Nadal had just reversed his disadvantage, but before the audience had time to breathe, Gao Wen, who was burning with youth and vitality, had already given a strong counterattack. The balance of confrontation tilted slightly towards Nadal and then returned to the balance.
The figures of the two players were running across the field at great speed.
Then, Gawain used his trump card, seized the opportunity, and tried to overturn the balance again, and the stormy waves tilted over like this.
Although Gao Wen reacted quickly and moved quickly laterally, taking into account the eagerly eyeing Nadal and his subsequent layout, Gao Wen gave up the fighting strategy and instead used a long stride to complete the forehand cutting, cutting a deep diagonal shot.
Return the ball, aiming for Nadal's backhand baseline triangle.
This is not only to mobilize Gawain, but also to change the rhythm of the round and the rotation routine with the backhand flat shot, destroying the balance of the confrontation.
Gao Wen's famous stunts, especially when playing against Djokovic, whether it is breaking the deadlock, subverting the balance, or seizing opportunities, this shot and this line can be said to be fully displayed. There is no doubt that
, this is Gao Wen’s best weapon to reach the top of the US Open.
Then--
In a fleeting moment, rely on the feel of the hand to complete the package, and control the return route as much as possible without friction or force.
Turn defense into offense!
This is typical tennis, and it is also a master's tennis. Countless judgments, analyzes and choices need to be made in a flash of lightning. At the same time, it is necessary to transform the tactics in the mind into actions, and pay attention to the deviation between the actual hitting and the mental conception.
Continue to make adjustments.
Although Gao Wen quickly crossed the court and returned to the forehand position from the backhand position as quickly as possible, in the gap between the baseline movement, Nadal quickly completed the step adjustment, regained defensive space for himself, and even
There is time to observe Gawain's batting action and complete the prediction.
On the other side, Nadal also accurately predicted Gawain's diagonal deep shot selection, so he did not rush to the net, but continuously adjusted his steps across the court. Facing Gawain's solid and powerful attack with both hands, he took a slight step.
After a slight lag, the forehand completes the diagonal attack again.
As soon as he looked up, Nadal saw Gawain standing at the original position on the diagonal. He had not moved at all. He had been waiting there for a long time. His backhand was stretched like a bowstring like a full moon. Then Nadal's footsteps had stopped suddenly.
A sudden start, crossing the court again and returning to the backhand position——
Needle point, wheat awn.
Slash, moon ball.
Backhand, straight line.
Here, Nadal's forehand sideways shot was very powerful, but Gao Wen accurately predicted that he had already controlled the pace when he cut the forehand to save the ball in the previous shot, started the second time without stopping, and rushed to the horse as soon as possible, and
Use both hands to start a frontal confrontation with backhands and forcefully attack.
The so-called block means that there is almost no swing, just the moment when the ball is touched, the wrist makes a guillotine-like sinking movement to use the force to hit the ball.
One comes, one goes.
Gawain accurately predicted.
Everything stemmed from that two-handed backhand just now, and then Nadal had the upper hand.
Anticipation once again plays an important role.
This time, Gawain found it!
The ball hit the ball accurately and entered the big triangle area of the baseline. It was heavy, deep, fast and turning, like a huge wave, hitting Nadal head-on and face-to-face.
Quick, everything happened too fast. It seemed that Gao Wen had not recovered yet. Gawain took the offensive initiative again, but Nadal was also ready to defend.
Suspense, still swinging from side to side on the tightrope.