Murray's tactical intention is very clear. He is not going to choose forehand or backhand, because he believes that Gawain's mobility should be able to cover both; instead, he chooses the midpoint to create an imbalance situation where Gawain overruns or is too late to reach the position, thereby damaging the situation.
Gawain's chance to bat.
Even if Gao Wen can barely complete the ball touch, it will be difficult to speak of quality when his position is squeezed or even collided.
Of course, the most likely possibility is that Gawain cannot touch the ball at all.
Shooting in front of the net, Murray has completely taken the initiative.
boom!
Boom boom boom!
Before I had time to adjust my breathing, the tennis ball was already thrown at me.
Gawain's footsteps had just passed the midpoint, and he was about to overshoot, but Murray's hit was heavy, fast, and deep at the same time, leaving no time for Gawain to stop and turn and start again. In a hurry,
Everything is instinctive. The brain has completely given up thinking and relies entirely on the smell of tennis balls.
As soon as he stopped, his right hand subconsciously reached back, his body tilted back unsteadily, and he reflexively stretched out the racket to block the ball.
Bang!
The sound of hitting the ball was unclear, but unbelievably, it actually touched the ball.
A flick of the wrist, all based on inspiration.
There was no control at all, the tennis ball had already flown back——
The whole audience exclaimed.
This shot almost perfectly replicated the game point situation in the twelfth game.
Of course, the difference is obvious. In that point, Gao Wen hit the rebound ball and then hit the net. In this point, Murray smashed the ball in the net and forced Gao Wen to reach out to intercept the ball while losing his center of gravity, but in the end he also hit the rebound ball.
Effect.
It seems familiar, but completely different.
The tennis ball flew back staggeringly, but in fact, the speed was faster than expected.
Because Gawain just pushes and blocks, using the force to hit, without any rotation at all. How fierce the force of Murray's dunk is, and how fast the tennis ball rebounds and flies at this time.
Murray, before he even had time to blink, had to react.
Taking a step forward, Murray tried to get close to the net to complete the block in advance, but then he realized that the flight path of the tennis ball was actually at an angle.
This also means that if Murray, who is standing in the center of the net, continues to step forward, he will lose his volley space. He must retreat and move laterally.
After retreating, Murray stared at the tennis ball and ran along the diagonal line on the left side behind him at a 45-degree angle. He raised his backhand with both hands early, ready to cut and complete the volley at any time.
On that side, Gawain didn't expect that his conditioned reflex shot was so effective, and he immediately went online -
Seize the opportunity.
Tap tap tap, Gawain is surfing the Internet.
Tap tap tap, Murray is retreating.
In the blink of an eye, the situation of offensive and defensive confrontation quietly changed.
Murray is taking steps, one step, two steps, three steps...
Then, Murray discovered that Gao Wen's random shot of the ball suddenly came to his mind and flew out in a parabola, perfectly crossing the blocked space in front of his net, over his shoulder, and finally landed behind him.
Embarrassed, very, very embarrassed.
Murray, who originally took the absolute initiative, stumbled repeatedly. He tried his best but could not keep up with the flying speed of the tennis ball. He watched helplessly as the tennis ball fell one step behind him. His backhand position could not be extended at all to complete the ball.
It's already an impossible task.
Da, da, da da da da…
The tennis ball, like a naughty rabbit, jumped up and down on the green grass. In the blink of an eye, it had gone into the rabbit hole and disappeared into a mass of green.
Two jumps, score!
"4:3"——
After losing a service point, Gao Wen tenaciously held on to the second service point and continued to maintain the lead in the tie-break.
Unbelievable!
So amazing!
Amazing skills!
Maybe Gao Wen's understanding of the grass is still not comparable to Murray's, but his amazing touch and bold hitting still succeeded in stunning the audience.
Wow!
Wow!
Exclaims and admiration surged in the center court, and thunderous applause surged for a long time. The audience showed incredible expressions and exchanged glances with each other. They doubted everything they had just seen, so much so that they needed confirmation from strangers around them.
Only then can we find a sense of reality.
On the court.
Gawain was so focused that he didn't relax until the tennis ball jumped twice. However, even he couldn't believe it——
Pure luck.
Of course, touch plays an important role; but from Gao Wen's own point of view, if it were to happen again, he would not be able to replicate it, and luck would still play a major role.
Then, Gao Wen could see Murray standing there with his hands on his hips and a somewhat dazed expression. He subconsciously looked towards his player box, with a clear look in his eyes:
How did he do that?
But Murray couldn't get the answer. He turned his head and looked across the court. At this time, he saw the surprise on Gao Wen's face. Then Gao Wen also raised his hands to indicate that the goal just now was pure luck, indicating that
A simple apology, a sense of absurdity invaded him, and Murray couldn't help but laugh.
Ridiculous and funny.
Murray himself chuckled, and looked at the players' box again, "Damn tennis."
This time, Gawain could clearly hear Murray's foul language, and a smile appeared on the corners of his mouth and eyebrows. Then he turned and walked to the baseline, throwing the tennis ball in his pocket to the ball boy on the opposite side of the court——
In the tie-break, the ball boys were very busy because the right to serve needs to be exchanged every two points, so they also need to move all the tennis balls every two points to ensure that the side that is going to serve next has enough balls to slowly select.
.
These two points were all from Murray's serve.
The tie-break has entered the middle, but it is still impossible to see the outcome of this set. Murray needs to focus on these two service points.
First.
One shot, out of bounds.
And it's a bit outrageous. Murray himself took a look at the landing point, which was almost a big step beyond the bottom line of the teeing area. This is a typical hitting point that is too late to press the ball and not press it, causing the parabola to completely derail.
It can be seen at this time that the point just copied the template of the twelfth game point, which more or less had some impact on Murray.
But this is normal. "Luck", this invisible and intangible thing, can actually influence the trend of the game, which really makes people feel helpless.
Murray took a deep breath and focused his attention back.
Second serve.
Like Gao Wen's second serve, Murray's second serve is also an opportunity for Gao Wen. At this time, the game between the two players becomes more intense in the serving and receiving links, and both players are constantly adjusting their serving tactics.
In the previous point, Gawain's second serve was caught by Murray, and he almost lost the point.
At this point, Murray will definitely think carefully about his second serve.
Tap tap, tap tap——
Gawain continued to hit the beat with his feet, looking for the rhythm of the ball, and stared at Murray intently.
Then, Murray served.
Get close and press the backhand.
At this point, Gawain did not move in advance because he knew that they were all playing games with each other, so he did the opposite and excluded all distracting thoughts, entered the focus mode of receiving the serve, and immersed himself in the game with the same attitude towards the first serve.
Here, the body and brain respond very promptly.
With just a small step misalignment, the upper body has already tilted back to the right. Using this movement to make room, the backhand shot with both hands has already been launched.