The racket is like a blade. It cuts sideways and makes a thin incision. The force of the one-handed backhand is uneven, but it is only rubbed lightly.
In the past, Federer repeatedly showed his exquisite touch, but now it is Gawain's turn——
The tennis ball spun quickly, stuck to the net, and flew quickly along an almost parallel track. The strong side spin completely suppressed the arc, and actually tore a small crack in Federer's airtight coverage.
Follow the diagonal direction and aim at the position behind Federer.
In the previous point, Gao Wen successfully scored with this shot and saved the set point.
Federer had been prepared for this point and obviously would not make the same mistake again.
If he made a mistake in his steps and continued to retreat, he would see that the tennis ball would fall behind him if it continued to fly, and he would not be able to complete the swing with his backhand.
So Federer simply lowered his center of gravity, intercepted the tennis ball halfway before it hit the ground, flicked it with one-handed backhand, flicked it, and quickly released the shot.
Huh!
The whole audience was shocked.
Because of the back-and-forth duel between the two players, because of Gawain’s defense that stopped and turned several times, and even more because of Federer’s incredible offense.
A low-level volley with a one-handed backhand is definitely a flash of advanced technology. However, Federer showed his unparalleled control. It all relied on his wrist and feel. With a slight pick, he pushed the tennis ball along a straight line.
Towards the deep area of Gawain’s forehand——
Long ball, long ball, short ball, long ball.
Combining long and short, left and right, Federer used the entire court space to the extreme, once again showing his dominance and control in front of the net.
Dazzled.
Cover the whole place.
It’s beautiful, it’s really beautiful. Even if you don’t know anything about tennis, it won’t affect your appreciation of this round at all. The transition between offense and defense is contained in every shot, and the back-and-forth competition always maintains intensity.
Here, Federer's skills shocked everyone.
In that compartment, Gawain fought bloody battle to the end——
Run, sprint, and return.
Gao Wen was completely led by the nose and was exhausted. He tried to counterattack several times but was knocked back by Federer's perfect handling, and then fell into passivity again.
However, he did not give up and refused to give up.
Push on the ground, exert force, run.
From the baseline to the net and back to the baseline again.
Gawain's center of gravity was jolting as if he had been thrown into the drum of a washing machine. He had no time to adjust in a hurry, so he could only slide out again.
Passive, extremely passive.
His right leg had slipped out, and his upper body was once again parallel to the ground. He was fixated on the tennis ball. Gawain soon realized the awkward position.
Even if the sliding step shortens the movement time, Federer's push is directly pushed to the baseline, and the bounce is not high. Gao Wen tried his best but still couldn't get it in place, and the hitting point was equivalent to behind him.
Embarrassing.
However, there was no time to hesitate between the matches. The upper body had already been extended, the steps were completely split into a split, and before the tennis ball left its coverage, he used his wrist to make a soft and delicate hook.
At this time, Gawain had completely turned his back to the court and could not see Federer's position at all. He had no time to consider this. He only had the tennis ball in front of him and the three-dimensional position of the court in his mind.
Wrist, one hook, one wrap.
Then, the tennis ball flew back——
Whoosh!
On the opposite side of the net, Federer's body center of gravity quickly returns to the midfield after hitting the ball. As long as he stays in the midfield position, he can respond to the next return ball randomly. This is the basic common sense of tactics in front of the net.
However, he did not expect that this series of movements gradually became instinctive for Federer's body, and instead pulled Federer out of his defensive position.
Because Gawain drew a straight line.
It's actually a straight line.
Split, behind the ball, deep zone, under such difficult conditions, Gao Wen did not choose a diagonal line but a straight shot, and the audience was shocked again.
Huh!
A second exclamation could be clearly heard from center court.
Federer paused, then came back, started a second time, and once again moved towards the backhand position to cover.
"ah!"
The racket had just been extended, and the next second I realized that my center of gravity had not kept up.
Moreover, Gao Wen's straight return was not intended to bring out side spin due to the awkward hitting action. In fact, the straight line was not straight enough, and it was not pulled back completely inward, but still had a slight outside spin.
This accident caused the return route to escape Federer's control.
sudden.
Tennis actually broke through the shackles before Federer's racket was in place.
Falling to the ground and exploding——
ah!
The whole audience was shocked.
Surprise, surprise, panic, panic, joy, all kinds of emotions surged up.
Even if I saw it with my own eyes, I still couldn't believe what was happening in front of me. Federer took the initiative throughout the whole process. Gawain was passive throughout the process but worked tirelessly to find a breakthrough to turn defense into offense. Federer blocked them all and continued to take the initiative.
Until the last two shots.
Gao Wen's two returns under extreme conditions incredibly turned the situation around.
How did all this happen?
My scalp is numb!
Wait, did all that just happen really happen?
Center court was completely silent.
No one could believe their eyes. One or two opened their mouths with astonishment on their faces. Even the Queen leaned forward slightly and stared at the court.
Gao Wen didn't realize this. After landing the split, he quickly stood up with his racket and left hand, and was about to continue defending with the next shot. Only then did he notice the shock on the scene, and he stopped when he saw that Federer had stopped hitting the ball.
When I came down, my eyes were filled with questions:
What's going on? Did it go out of bounds? Did the ball you just returned go out of bounds? But why didn't you hear the referee's call?
Subconsciously, Gao Wen looked towards his player box, trying to seek confirmation from Sampras and Agassi, and then he saw them all standing up, holding their heads or covering their mouths, their expressions full of confusion.
Not daring to make any noise easily, they all stared at the court.
Gao Wen turned around and saw the other side of the court. Following Federer's line of sight, the linesman put his hands together and made an inbounds gesture.
so what?
Federer didn't believe it, because Gawain's return shot just now was obviously outside, turned an arc, and broke through Federer's blockade at the last moment. It was suspected of going out of bounds.
Federer looked back at the referee, but the referee was helpless——
Because the impact point was far away from the sideline on the side of the referee, his position was not clear enough, and his line of sight was also disturbed by Federer's figure, so he was unable to make a decision and had to trust the linesman's judgment.
Federer raised his right hand without hesitation and chose to challenge.
"Mr. Federer chooses Hawkeye to challenge, right sideline of the court."
Whirring whirring……
The whole audience held their breath, because of the accident and the impact, tremors jumped from the soles of the feet to the head, one wave after another, and they couldn't stop.
Even Mount Murray is no exception.
More than 40,000 spectators gathered inside and outside the All England Club, looking at the big screen with burning eyes and beating hearts.
The air was truly stagnant.
One second, two seconds——
Hawkeye replayed it and appeared on the big screen.
The tennis ball falls, hits the ground, presses the sideline, and bounces out.
The lens zoomed in and zoomed in again, only to see less than one-fifth of the ball, but the shadow was real.