In the second game of the deciding set, Murray's serve.
"AD:40".
"40:40".
"40:AD".
"40:40".
——Stalemate, the whole situation is very stalemate, you and I are completely entangled, every point is a bayonet, every point is a hand-to-hand encounter, whether it is Gao Wen or Murray, if you want to win a
To divide, they all have to game, plan, and fight, which is definitely not easy.
Seeing this scene, some people may say that it is true that boxing is afraid of young people. Gao Wen is nine years younger than Murray, and his physical advantage is reflected at this time.
Of course, this is indeed part of the reason that cannot be ignored; but tennis matches, or competitive sports confrontations, are far from that simple.
In fact, what Gao Wen and Murray are fighting for is this service game, which is also a "power".
At the end of the last set, Murray already felt the crisis.
He knew that once Gao Wen could win the fourth set, then at the beginning of the decisive set, Gao Wen, who was full of momentum, would definitely launch an all-out attack, firmly seize the opportunity of his peak condition to break serve and open up the score, and make full use of his own ability in the decisive set.
The advantage of serving first keeps the pressure on.
In fact, it is indeed the case.
For now, Gao Wen is at a small peak, and Murray is at a small trough - two consecutive saves and misses formed a dislocation, and the miraculous eighth and ninth points of the tie-break made full use of a little bit of luck.
Create a gap and break the balance of confrontation.
As a result, Gawain entered a stage of overwhelming momentum.
Although the impact of physical fitness exists objectively, the feelings brought about by fluctuations in mentality and changes in the situation cannot be ignored.
But Murray is experienced enough and sophisticated enough. He knows that this situation is only relative. "Peak" and "trough" are just an illusion. In fact, the gap between them is not big. You come and I pull.
The balance has still not been broken, and the outcome of the final set is yet to be determined.
"Do it all at once, second time tired, third time exhausted".
Murray believed that as long as he could withstand Gawain's offensive, survive this dangerous situation, and persevere, he would be able to turn things around.
Logically speaking, Murray should have launched an attack in Gauvin's first serve, creating interference in the opponent's position and curbing Gauvin's momentum; however, fluctuations in physical fitness did exist objectively, and Gauvin continued in the fourth set.
Excellent serving feel at the end, leaving not many opportunities.
After thinking about it for a moment, Murray did not force it, but conserved his physical strength and prepared to resist Gawain's impact in his serve game——
Because of this, Gao Wen lost four straight points in the first service game, which was very easy.
It is precisely because of this that even though Gao Wen is now in full swing and in good condition, they still cling to the situation in Murray's serve game.
On the other hand, Gawain was preparing to widen the gap with all his strength.
On the other side, Murray showed a tenacious and unyielding attitude.
In fact, from the perspective of a bystander, some changes in this serve can be seen, and Xu Yang saw through this.
"In this game, Murray's posture is different. Obviously, he puts more energy into the defensive end."
Note, this does not mean that Murray will not attack.
Murray knows that Gao Wen is in excellent form now, with top level performance on both offense and defense, and his continuous attacks are even more impressive in lawn tennis.
Therefore, based on Murray's character, he believes that instead of taking the risk of attacking and taking the risk of making mistakes, it is better to hand over the offense to Gawain, while he himself enters the defensive counterattack mode, focusing more on defense and resisting Gawain's attack.
After the impact, look for opportunities to counterattack.
This is also the technique and tactics that Murray is famous for. In other words, putting himself in a passive defensive position makes Murray more comfortable.
Moreover, offense consumes more physical energy than defense, and defense can wait for opportunities.
Gao Wen is being aggressive, but Murray has not given up the game - to be precise, it is not "not giving up", but looking for a solution to break the game in Murray's way. Murray and Gao Wen are also eager to win, but the two players are in the same position.
The layout and unfolding of the final set are just different.
As a result, the situation became tense again.
In this match, Gao Wen had three break points but missed them all.
On that side, Murray also had two game points, but also missed them.
Back and forth, this game is still entangled.
--"ah!"
Murray roared in frustration, but it was still not enough to relieve his anger.
"ah!"
He roared again, complained and muttered, and finally couldn't hold it back and yelled at his players' box.
"What the hell is going on with this hitting spot?"
In this shot, Murray's defensive counterattack has successfully found an opportunity for himself. The last shot to reverse the situation and pursue the winning point with a forehand slash was about to find an opening to cash in on the game point. As a result, the hitting point was slightly late.
A little too high, causing the parabola to be too high and the ball to hit the ball out of bounds.
Murray missed the third game point by making a mistake.
It can be seen that Murray is very, very dissatisfied with himself. Such a mistake should not have happened. He looked dejected because he knew how important this point was.
Everything seems familiar, dreaming back to Melbourne Park——
Are we going to make the same mistake again?
Murray refused.
Taking advantage of the opportunity to wipe his sweat, Murray regained his composure. Although his mouth was still cursing, his brain had already begun to work for the next distribution.
The sixth time the game was tied, the duration of this game officially exceeded eight minutes, and it was still going on, with the two players returning to the first zone.
Taking a deep breath, Murray served.
District 1, chasing the body.
The tennis ball, with a strong side spin after landing, went towards Gawain's body. Although the ball speed was not fast, the landing point and rotation were very precise.
You can tell at a glance that this is Murray's plan.
Gawain was squeezed, so he reluctantly got out of the way and hit the shot with his forehand, but this time he didn't completely get out of the way. He couldn't swing the shot or turn around. It was just a rough push to block it, and he was even still there.
After catching the ball, he stumbled back twice and could hardly stand still.
It has to be said that Murray's serve was very, very good. Even though his physical strength was reduced and he lacked the ability to hit the ball hard, the Scotsman still found a way to create a threat through his serve.
Chance!
Murray immediately followed up, cut to the bottom line, and continued to move forward——
This time, it was not Murray's initiative to go to the net, but Gawain's return shot that was shallow. The opportunity was right in front of him, so Murray took advantage of the opportunity to go to the net and rush forward.
With his steps two steps inside the baseline, near the midfield, Murray shows no mercy, sweeping his forehand with a sweeping forehand, and quickly following up with the attack; and after finishing the ball, he continues to move forward without any pause.
Move closer to the front of the web and cover it like Spider-Man.
On the opposite side of the net, Gawain's prediction was correct. He stayed in the forehand position and waited for Murray's thousand and first forehand diagonal hit; but the position, angle, hitting point and
The timing of the shot was very passive. Murray's offensive connection separated the angle and directly pushed Gao Wen into a passive defensive position.
Moreover, the messy steps did not have time to adjust his center of gravity, leaving little room for Gawain to process.
He has no choice.
Forehand, pull-up, swing around the head, strong topspin, the entire friction and rotation are fully attached, and the parabola of the tennis ball is completely pulled up——