Not only the offense, but also the passive defense has repeatedly shown good batting quality, just like this point:
Gawain unexpectedly chose to get closer to serve, and Wawrinka's footwork adjustment was not delicate and timely enough. He was obviously squeezed, so that he had to twist his body and make a half-chop, half-slice hitting posture with his forehand.
He couldn't even complete his swing.
However, the landing point of the return ball is deep enough, and it is only one step away from the baseline; at the same time, the return ball spins irregularly, erratically, and with strong backspin, and does not have much rebound power after landing.
Coupled with the characteristics of clay, which devours the power of the ball and increases the spin of the return ball, when it finally came to Gawain's position, it was actually a bit tricky.
Gawain had to complete the ball at the position of his knees. Although he attached a strong top spin and pushed the return ball as deep as possible to use the spin to create an impact, Wawrinka on the other side of the net was ready and did not panic.
One-handed backhand, slash attack——
The speed and power of the tennis ball immediately increased, and it hit Gawain's backhand position.
Although Gao Wen calmly formed a response, the serving advantage had been destroyed, and the strategy of serving and attacking was also disrupted, returning to balance.
In the previous two points, Gao Wen suppressed Wawrinka through changes in his serving strategy. The subsequent attacks continued continuously and the battle ended within three rounds.
But at this point, the two sides had returned to a stalemate, and Gao Wen's tactical intention of trying to replace defense with offense had been broken.
This is the epitome of Wawrinka's form at Roland Garros this year.
However, the battle lasted for nearly three hours, and similar situations did not happen once or twice. Gawain always remained focused and did not lose focus——
The left leg brakes and supports the body, turning to complete the transmission of power from the bottom up, and the backhand with both hands hits the front without hesitation.
boom!
With the crisp and solid sound of hitting the ball, the tennis ball returned to Wawrinka's backhand position along the diagonal line, and this time the landing point continued to press deeper.
After the "forehand VS forehand" in the last round, is it now "backhand VS backhand"?
Bingo, correct answer——
Wawrinka's one-handed backhand was like a roc spreading its wings, and he hit the diagonal line again. He hit the tennis ball back with a full and full shot, and returned to Gawain's backhand, but the landing point was shallower and more biased.
See, that's the difference.
Gao Wen uses a two-handed backhand, mainly pushing deep and pushing hard.
Wawrinka's backhand is a one-handed backhand, and the angle is more stretched and smooth.
Wawrinka only needed to flip his wrist and the diagonal angle could completely tear him apart. The tennis ball that landed near the bottom line of the service area bounced directly towards the outside of the doubles area, easily pulling Gawain out of the court.
Gawain continued to adjust in small steps, but this time he did not step up to grab the ascending point, because he had noticed Wawrinka's movement towards the forehand position to cover the defense, and obviously had guarded against Gawain's surprise forehand shot, so
Gawain simply took advantage of the situation and continued to hold on to the diagonal suppression.
Kick on the ground, push, swing——
Backhand, slash.
Continue to press deeper and continue to impact.
The tennis ball is continuously under tremendous pressure, and the racket and hitting the ball seem to be able to explode the tennis ball. The compressed tennis ball completely increases the speed and power to the extreme, turning into a stream of light and flying away to attack.
However... I was fooled!
The moment Gao Wen hit the ball, he realized that something was wrong, because Wawrinka even stopped and turned half a beat ahead of schedule, and then returned to the backhand position.
Fake action.
The footwork movement to cover the forehand position is a premeditated feint.
Obviously, Wawrinka caught Gawain's mental state for two consecutive rounds and did not change the rhythm, but always pursued the improvement of strength and speed——
Just like Tim.
In fact, this is a player's instinct. When adrenaline is detonated, it is like a high-speed train without brakes. It can only get faster and faster until the car crashes and everyone is killed. In the tense situation of overheating the head, slowing down is actually
Something more difficult.
After standing on the edge of the cliff and saving the match point, Gao Wen's performance became more and more powerful and determined. Therefore, when dealing with similar shots, he often moved towards the extreme of speed and power, but it was not easy to change the shot.
Ball routine.
On the previous point, keep applying pressure on your forehand.
At this point, continue to apply pressure on the backhand.
It's all for the same reason. It's easy to get stuck in the hitting line and keep hitting the same route.
At this time, we can see Wawrinka's tennis wisdom, which is both rough and subtle. He seduced the opponent with a fake move that looked like the real thing, and then he seized the opportunity.
Wawrinka, come prepared——
A big step, a sudden brake, and a one-handed backhand shot as fast as a whip. The power released in an instant was like a thunderous explosion.
straight line.
Swipe.
Wawrinka, just kill him.
The whole audience was stunned.
Djokovic and Murray subconsciously exchanged glances, but before they had time to carefully capture the meaning in each other's eyes, they both looked at the screen again, their hearts stopped beating in an instant, and there was a roar in their ears.
In the super god state, with the long sword unsheathed, Wawrinka once again showed an unstoppable attitude.
But this time, Gawain said "no".
One second he realized that he had stepped into a trap, and the next second he launched a second horizontal attack.
It can be seen from the trap created by Wawrinka that he deliberately moved Gawain outside the doubles line, forcing Gawain's entire forehand gap to open up. Wawrinka only needed to hit the return ball into the boundary on the next shot.
You can completely take advantage.
But Wawrinka is not Nadal or Djokovic. He is not satisfied with hitting the tennis ball into the forehand gap. He must aim to hit the big triangle area of the forehand baseline to compress Gawain's defensive space as much as possible.
So Gawain didn't hesitate at all, he kicked off and sprinted, running at full speed.
Tap tap tap!
Tap tap tap!
In the midst of panic, Gawain didn't panic at all, his steps were extremely firm, his speed exploded, and he arrived at lightning speed.
Accurate prediction, it is indeed a straight line!
but……
Out of bounds?
Thousands of eyes were all fixed on Wawrinka's backhand straight shot, including Wawrinka himself, because he aimed at the blind spot.
Tennis ball, falling, landing——
The whole place was completely silent, even the sound of heartbeats had disappeared.
Is that a pressure line?
Ambiguous.
From some angles, it is actually out of bounds; from some angles, it is barely visible; from other angles, it is simply not clear.
Wawrinka's hitting was too risky and too aggressive. He clearly had an absolute advantage, but his offense was still aggressive.
Even Djokovic and Murray in front of the TV were stunned.
Perhaps the only exception is Gawain.
He believed in Wawrinka's touch. This was not the first time or the second time today that a similar ball was thrown out of bounds. On the surface, it might look like it was out of bounds, but in fact it just touched the edge, showing an unparalleled touch.
At this time, Gawain couldn't take risks. He didn't have the capital to risk Wawrinka's return ball going out of bounds. Now that it had started, he had to chase it to the end.
Can't admit defeat! Can't surrender! Can't give up! Can't take chances! Can't surrender!