Although Gao Wen and Wawrinka have a good personal relationship, the moment they step on the court, they are competitors, and they are fighting for the first French Open final in their careers. The bayonets are red.
The head-on battle is about to break out, and tension is everywhere.
Gawain was ready, and so was Wawrinka.
This is the second meeting between Gao Wen and Wawrinka after last year's US Open. They are not unfamiliar, but they cannot be said to be familiar. What's more, in just half a year, both players have changed. This is a brand new game.
Everything must be started from scratch.
Wawrinka, a typical violent offensive player.
Including him, Soderling, Del Potro, Gonzalez, Tsonga, Safin, Tim and other players, they are all players with very outstanding characteristics, with powerful offense and violent hitting.
Build your own game based on it.
Of course, many Grand Slam champions have emerged among them, but there is no doubt that Wawrinka is special. He is the only one who can still defeat these four top players at the peak of the Big Four and win the Grand Slam more than once.
Champion player.
Maybe he was a late bloomer, but Wawrinka deservedly left his own glorious mark in the era of giants.
2014, 2015, and 2016 were Wawrinka's peak years.
Gawain, a lucky guy, happened to face Wawrinka for the second time during this period.
The encounter between Gao Wen and Wawrinka at the US Open last year was a little bit special.
On the one hand, Gawain emerges as a dark horse. Everyone is very unfamiliar with Gawain and lacks understanding. Gawain just relies on his momentum and courage to fight his way out. "Fresh" is undoubtedly the key word.
On the other hand, Wawrinka experienced the "Grand Slam Syndrome". Putting higher expectations on himself under huge pressure made it difficult to perform 100%. The three Grand Slams after the Australian Open all struggled more or less.
Back and forth, the two players fought hard for five sets, and finally Gao Wen got an upset and started his legendary journey of counterattack with full confidence.
At this year's French Open, Gawain has completed his transformation and became the second seed in the tournament; Wawrinka has also shed his burdens and rebounded strongly after experiencing a trough. The status, mentality, position, expectations, etc. of the two players have all changed, but there is no change.
There is no doubt that both players are climbing to the top. The fact that the two players can meet in the semi-finals is the best proof. This also indicates that the semi-finals will be a collision of brave men.
Everything is possible.
First game.
Gao Wen quickly entered the state at the beginning, seizing the gap where Wawrinka's offensive touch had not yet fully warmed up, and applied continuous pressure with a steady layout.
In Wawrinka's second service game, he broke serve first.
Dare to strike and break the game, Gawain played very courageously, even taking the lead before Wawrinka, without giving Wawrinka a chance.
Judging from the opening scene, Gawain's tactical formulation and execution were determined and precise enough to firmly control the situation.
Subsequently, Wawrinka slowly found his form, and after saving two break points to secure serve, he finally got out of his offensive form.
However, Gao Wen showed superior control and concentration in his own serve game, continuing his excellent service performance against Nadal in the previous game, without revealing too many flaws, and took the lead all the way.
The whole game came to an end calmly and smoothly. The first point was fulfilled smoothly without any twists and turns. It was smooth and smooth.
Wawrinka faced a total of four break points and saved three.
Gao Wen only faced one break point and successfully recovered it.
It took thirty-seven minutes, "6:4", Gao Wen took the first set.
In fact, this is only the second set Wawrinka has lost at Roland Garros this year.
Previously, in the second round against Serbian player Dusan-Lajovic, Wawrinka unexpectedly lost the third set with a score of "5:7"; but then, he faced Berdych in the round of 16
, all the quarterfinal matches against Federer were in straight sets, showing an unparalleled fiery touch.
In other words, at least in this year's Roland Garros, Wawrinka is not slow to get started. He gets into the state very quickly and can often take control of the situation from the beginning.
However, the semifinals were different after all.
This also shows Gao Wen's outstanding form this year. There is no doubt that he is fully prepared for this game and sprints towards victory.
But Wawrinka's confidence and focus have not wavered at all. He seems to be mentally prepared for the difficulties he may face. He is not surprised that he is lagging behind. Even if this is the first time this year at Roland Garros, he still remains
Have a calm mind.
Second game.
As soon as Wawrinka came up, he got into his own rhythm and delivered a "love-game" hold with four straight points. He continued the fiery touch in the second half of the first set, continued to improve his condition, and entered the game step by step. Early on
This indicates that the second set will be even closer.
As a typical offensive player, Wawrinka's playing style has not changed even on clay. Like Soderling, he attacks, attacks and then attacks. However, Wawrinka and Soderling's offensive styles are slightly different.
Soderling stands out for his heavy punches, Wawrinka stands out for his sharpness, but the common denominator is that he is strong and rough.
Both Wawrinka's forehand and backhand have the ability to suddenly exert force and attack in an all-round way. His best features lie in two points:
First, attack regardless of the point of impact.
Generally speaking, players need to make adjustments through their footsteps and swing movements, with the purpose of finding the most appropriate and comfortable hitting point to maximize the hitting effect, but Wawrinka, through the explosion of his own strength, was able to achieve the goal with one effort.
To attack, there is no need to adjust the hitting point——
Quite unreasonable.
Therefore, you can often see Wawrinka hitting some high-risk attacks, which have great performance effects:
At the lowest, you can lower your center of gravity to complete the attack near the knees, and at the highest, you can lean back and complete the attack near the shoulders; and both forehand and backhand have this ability, which is sudden and violent, covering the entire court.
Second, the concealment of the shot.
Generally speaking, the player's swing trajectory can determine the hitting line in advance. There is an objective difference between diagonal and straight swing styles.
Especially for straight lines, players need to grab the hitting point and the shot speed must be earlier and faster.
The only exception is the Williams sisters.
Their backhand is an open stance that has been eliminated by modern tennis. This is a technical move designed by their father, Richard-Williams, after watching the video of the game and teaching himself. Later, the two sisters were also used by countless
Professional tennis coaches disliked it and corrected their technical moves, but Richard Sr. always insisted that the sisters must adopt such techniques.
For ordinary people, an open stance means that they cannot grab the hitting point, and if the shooting movement is too slow, they may be squeezed and deformed, and in the end they can only hit the ball diagonally.
But the Williams sisters are different. They rely on their own strength and muscle talent to make up for it. Instead, they rely on open stances to hide their purpose of hitting the ball. They can do both diagonal and straight lines, making their opponents unpredictable. In the end, they dominate the tennis world.
an important weapon.
To a certain extent, the same is true for Wawrinka.