Although Wawrinka's one-handed backhand is one of the most violent and perfect weapons on the ATP Tour, any player who is familiar with Wawrinka knows that the "Four Eggs" most powerful and domineering weapon is still his forehand, which is slightly inferior to
Del Potro and Gonzalez can still stand among the strong.
It is precisely because of this that whether Federer or Nadal, when playing against Wawrinka, they are often accustomed to breaking through Wawrinka's backhand.
Including Gawain, this is still the case today.
But to be honest, at this French Open, Wawrinka's one-handed backhand is indeed superb. He can attack and defend, carry and hit, pump and cut. From Berdych to Federer to today's Gao Wen, they are all in the same position.
Wawrinka's backhand breakthrough was relatively limited, but he encountered a lot of backlash.
Perhaps, the more important the moment, the more necessary it is to break the routine.
Therefore, Gawain chose the outside corner and attacked the forehand.
Wawrinka missed his prediction, especially on the last serve. Gao Wen’s trap layout made Wawrinka suffer a small loss. When it came to this serve, his prediction was obviously half a beat slower, but relatively
Generally speaking, the conditioned reflex nerves still kept up with the rhythm.
One step, one step——
This is Wawrinka's signature move, especially on clay. There is no small step adjustment, but a long stride to complete one step. Even if the hitting point is slightly uncomfortable, he relies on his own strength and feel to make up for it.
He can hit the ball forcefully, but he can't.
Forehand, sweep, use force to hit.
Although his footwork was a little lacking, Wawrinka still relied on his arm-swinging action, superimposed his body weight, and hit the ball with a powerful skateboard.
A flick, a rush.
slash.
Crash!
The tennis ball hit Gawain's forehand solidly and powerfully. This time, Wawrinka attacked. Although he lacked some independent force, the return ball still had both speed and power, dragging the rocket with great force.
The tail rushed over hard, causing dust to fly for a while.
Here, Gawain's reaction was a little slower——
He is guarding against Wawrinka's straight forehand. Although it is difficult, Wawrinka does have the ability to attack in a straight line with his forehand very suddenly. Therefore, he must remain on high alert after serving until Wawrinka takes the shot.
In an instant, the center of gravity quickly moved to the right.
Step, step, and adjust in small steps twice in a row.
With one push, the body has been pushed out.
As soon as the steps were in place, the right leg had already stepped on the ground to brake, and the adjustment was completed accurately and quickly. Following the inertia of the forward movement, the forehand shot was already released.
Whipped!
Crash!
Everything is just right, the timing and position of the hitting point, the speed and power of the shot, and you can even clearly hear the full sound of the string hitting the tennis ball.
boom!
It exploded like this——
Diagonal line, continue to aim for the forehand.
Wawrinka was a little surprised. Obviously, his footsteps had moved towards the backhand position, because the space on the entire left side of the court had been fully opened; but it turned out that Gao Wen once again chose the forehand, and Gao Wen's shot was connected very quickly.
It's not a backhand shot, but a strong forehand collision.
Violent, strong.
Accident, very, very unexpected, this kind of situation is not common in today's competition.
However, Wawrinka likes——
Emergency stop, emergency turn.
With one push and one step, his body had already completed the turn. With another big step, Wawrinka was already in place quickly. Then with a lateral cross-step push, his body had already rushed out, and his forehand was like a straight forward without hesitation.
When whipping, it is usually a head-on collision, exerting full force.
Well.
Ahhhh!
With a groan, Wawrinka exerted all his strength, hit the forehand with full force, and rushed straight out.
"Forehand VS Forehand".
With diagonal lines, shallow landing points, and split angles, Wawrinka completely upgraded his forehand return, making it heavier and more skewed, crossing the entire court as if it were a critical mass.
The whole audience, hold their breath, you can see it in your sight——
Gawain's light and agile steps were as gentle as a ballet. He relied entirely on small steps to adjust, cutting into the baseline along the diagonal line at a 45-degree angle, entering the doubles line, and taking a big step. He relied on his body and the help of his run-up.
Press forward with strength and prepare to grab the ascending point.
Wawrinka tried to suppress Gawain with a forehand attack. However, Gawain not only did not retreat or compromise, but also became more aggressive.
In front of the TV, Djokovic's heart suddenly shrank and his pupils narrowed. He was very familiar with this shot.
--really!
Gao Wen grabbed a shot and struck out with his forehand. He did not exert any force on his own and relied entirely on borrowed force. His forehand swept the tennis ball out.
Flat strike, ejection.
It can be clearly seen that Gao Wen uses his body as a driving force, from footsteps to turns to swinging, all in one go, further tearing the angle apart.
slash!
Another slash again!
Moreover, the angles became more and more different every time. This time Gao Wen's return was almost close to the small triangle area of the bottom line of the service area, and the side spin exploded.
The tennis ball turned into a streak of light and shadow, leaving only a blurry mustard-yellow shadow, unable to capture the trajectory at all.
A blink of an eye.
The next second, all he could see was Wawrinka stepping sideways to his right and swinging the racket, but his forehand was missed. He watched helplessly as the tennis ball broke through his own blockade, got into the gap, and then he could hear
The muffled sound of a tennis ball hitting a billboard exploded in my ears, and my steps staggered.
The entire audience was silent and dumbfounded——
"Forehand VS Forehand".
Strong collisions, frontal assaults, but never expected that it would be Gawain who had the last laugh, stronger, more meticulous, more confident, and more determined.
In the end, Wawrinka was caught off guard.
In this moment, Gawain showed not only courage, but also domineering and vitality.
Seize the upper hand.
"AD:40".
After saving the match point, Gawain got the game point again.
Admire! Sigh! Amaze!
A strange smile appeared on the corner of Djokovic's mouth, feeling helpless but also admiring. Then he took the lead in applauding Gawain.
Murray finally came to his senses and turned to look at Djokovic, "I think we may need to wait."
Djokovic's smile was a little playful, "Maybe. But don't forget, Stan doesn't give up that easily."
At the Stade Philippe-Chatier, it took him two beats to come to his senses and burst into thunderous applause.
However.
As the person involved, Gawain did not scream or celebrate. He just stared at Wawrinka with firm eyes. Without words, you can deeply feel the firmness in those eyes, which is not only the fighting spirit, but also victory.
The desire is like a blazing fire.
Spread wantonly.
The tight and anxious air also burned together.
However, this game is still not over. Although Gawain has obtained the game point, as Djokovic said, Wawrinka is not a vegetarian.
As expected, on the next point, Wawrinka attacked and once again showed his incredible hitting touch.
When receiving the serve, despite the pressure on the body, when hitting the forehand, a slight flick of the wrist actually caused irregular rotation, and the deep landing point near the baseline was squeezed layer by layer.
Gawain had almost no rebound power after landing, so Gawain had to complete the ball near his knees, without any chance to attack——