The entire court was completely silent; but the heart in the chest was still beating wildly. The ACE that returned the serve just now easily ignited the frenzy on Court No. 1, and I couldn't help but begin to look forward to more exciting collisions.
Phew. Phew.
Dimitrov simply shot the ball twice and looked up at Gawain to confirm that his opponent was ready and to confirm his opponent's position.
Then, serve——
interior angle.
Continue to suppress Gao Wen's forehand.
Somewhat unexpected.
He had just encountered Gawain's hammer attack on the forehand position, but Dimitrov was completely unmoved and went against the grain, breaking the routine and continuing to suppress the forehand.
Dimitrov's sophistication can be seen from serving to tactical level.
"Uh-huh!"
Gawain's prediction was not accurate, so his pace was slightly slower.
The only good thing is that for this serve, Dimitrov did not hit it with all his strength, but controlled it slightly, and finally found a landing point——
Very close to the T point.
Gawain arrived with continuous cross steps, but there was no room to swing the racket. The tennis ball was basically in front of him. If he didn't hit the ball, it would be too late.
In a hurry, he simply gave up the lead with his forehand, picked up the tennis ball with one push, wrapped it with his wrist, and tried his best to ensure that the return ball was in bounds.
There is almost no strategy in receiving the serve defensively, and the initiative is completely given to the opponent.
But Gao Wen had no choice. When his opponent's serve remained hot, the receiving party was extremely passive and could only push the tennis ball back, hoping that this round would still have a chance to continue.
Drifting and swaying.
The tennis ball drew a parabola, but after all it had no depth or spin. It flew to the midfield position of the opposite court and seemed to have no power.
Dimitrov stayed focused, quickly followed up, entered the baseline, stood half a step inside the baseline, and struck directly with his forehand——
Although Dimitrov takes full initiative and everything goes according to his plan, he also needs to remain vigilant, because Gawain's return ball is unstable and has no power. If he is a little eager, he may not be able to find the hitting point and hit it directly.
Fei, his offense still needs to be meticulous.
slash!
From top to bottom, Dimitrov hit a small diagonal shot, completely using the rapid swing of the racket head to complete the shot.
Whoosh!
The tennis ball turned into a ray of light and shadow, fast and urgent, like an arrow, shooting out of the air.
Online? Or not?
Before hitting the ball, you need to think clearly about the connection of the next shot, especially when hitting the net. If you think about whether to hit the net after hitting the ball, it will inevitably be a little slower. This slight difference may make the difference in front of the net.
is amplified, making it more difficult to handle the return of the ball later.
Dimitrov knew this.
Therefore, before hitting the ball, he glanced at the court out of the corner of his eyes and noticed Gao Wen's agile and light figure moving quickly towards his forehand, which also meant that Gao Wen had already predicted his offensive routine.
Dimitrov did not hesitate or change his batting line on the spot, and continued to hit the diagonal to suppress, but correspondingly, he did not rush to the net with his steps.
After making continuous adjustments in small steps, Dimitrov returned to the baseline, and his body's center of gravity moved toward the left backhand position.
At this time, from the opposite side of the court, you can see Gao Wen's right leg kicking the ground hard to brake, and his forehand shot followed the turning movement. The shot was released very fast, and he had completed the shot with a flick of the whip.
The whole connection is light, tight and agile.
slash!
Forehand!
Dimitrov was a little surprised. Apparently Gawain targeted a high proportion of his backhand shots, and this time he chose to attack from the forehand, which was a bit unusual.
But Dimitrov showed no signs of panic.
Because his forehand diagonal attack creates a suppressive impact, it is reasonable for Gao Wen to choose a diagonal line to reduce the difficulty of returning the ball when the hitting space is limited.
His steps were not disrupted.
Pause, brake.
One push and start.
In the blink of an eye, Dimitrov had already rushed towards the forehand position again, and the ball was coming, his pupils dilated——
Not quite the same.
In today's match so far, Gao Wen's hitting is mainly based on speed and power, and the entire rhythm is connected quickly, giving full play to the characteristics of the grass; while Dimitrov's response is very calm, frequently breaking the rhythm through cutting, and passing through
The return ball suppressed in the deep zone destroys the rhythm.
Overall, there was back and forth, and there was no giving in. The confrontation between the two players continued, and no one was left behind.
But this time, Gawain did not exert any force. Although the rhythm was still closely connected, his strength was mediocre and he felt light. He relied on the swing of the racket head to push the tennis ball over. For Dimitrov, it was in place and returned the ball.
, is not difficult; however, the details are different and the impact point is very deep.
In other words, Gawain did not choose the impact of strength or speed, but completed the squeeze with a deep impact——
Dimitrov's footsteps, standing on the baseline, were completely squeezed.
Even though the steps were in place smoothly, he couldn't stretch his forehand at all, so he was forced to hit a rebound ball, and the forehand curled up and pushed the tennis ball back.
Oops!
Dimitrov sounded the alarm and immediately realized that something was wrong.
The parabola of his return is too high, and the landing point control is obviously not deep enough. There is no impact or squeeze, which also means that Gao Wen can attack.
With one beat, whip and placement, Gawain has turned the situation around.
Kick off the ground, start, and defend the backhand.
A series of movements were completed in one go. Dimitrov was fully focused and his reaction was very fast. But he had just started his steps and took a step laterally, and then he realized:
Forehand.
Not a backhand, but a forehand.
Gao Wen targeted Dimitrov's forehand attack for the second consecutive shot.
Emergency stop and turn.
One brake, two starts, and a lateral step.
Before he even had time to blink, Dimitrov was back in position, and then he felt a surge of thunder coming towards him.
Fast and flat.
Gao Wen, when he exerts force, it is not pure power, but the speed of the racket head is completely driven at the moment of shooting, and the speed of the final return of the ball will also rise to a higher level.
The tennis ball rushed towards Dimitrov like a shooting star; moreover, the impact point continued to press deeper, approaching the baseline, and the impact hit his face.
Ah!
Dimitrov let out a low roar, and connected quickly with his forehand swing. He kicked off the ground, turned around, and hit the opponent head-on with his right hand swing.
Fight fast with fast speed.
As free and easy as a long sword being unsheathed, a flash of light cut through the sky, and the tennis ball followed the same route and returned to Gawain's side again.
Fast. One word, fast.
From the previous shot to this one, both Gawain and Dimitrov increased their speed, and the intensity of the entire confrontation increased so sharply that the entire Court No. 1 held their breath.
Switch from defense to offense, from offense to defense, and fight hard against the offense.
The two young players can feel the game and confrontation in every batting process. Strong sparks filled the entire field, and neither of them gave in.
At this time, you can see the tennis ball dragging a long light and shadow across the entire court, and the head-on duel of "forehand vs. forehand" takes place without warning.
There is no doubt that Dimitrov performed very well, launching continuous counterattacks and putting the pressure on Gawain again.
Seeing Gawain fall into crisis, however, Gawain secretly woke up: