Zverev is full of confidence and high morale, and anyone can see it.
The most important thing for this young player is that he has already won two games.
Although Gao Wen did not say it, the news media has repeatedly emphasized the "maximum consumption" and whipped the corpse over and over again, lest people would not remember it.
Generally speaking, shame may have two effects. One is motivation, reminding oneself of the tragic failure, and becoming the motivation to reverse the situation; the other is anger, which does not want to mention it at all, but just wants to completely forget and pretend
That memory doesn't exist, it never happened.
For a proud man like Zverev, it is the latter.
As a result, the media's bluffs stuck in his throat. Zverev tried hard to forget the incident, but looking around was forced to awaken his memory.
Burning with rage.
To a certain extent, this is also one of the underlying reasons why Zverev started more conservatively and cautiously, whether he realizes it or not.
Now, after holding serve for two consecutive games, he gained confidence and felt at ease. In the best-of-five-set match in the Grand Slam, Zverev did not think that he would lose 17 games in a row.
It means that the curse of "maximum consumption" can finally become history after tonight.
At the same time, he also used this time to gradually adapt to the feeling of night games at Arthur Ashe Stadium. It may not be enough, but he has made a start. In his opinion, Gawain's carelessness gave him enough time to breathe and adapt.
Time, now he has found his feet.
This can be regarded as killing several birds with one stone!
No wonder, during the break between games, you can clearly feel Zverev's happiness and excitement, that kind of excitement bursting out from the inside out.
Next, little Zverev was ready to launch an offensive in his familiar way.
Therefore, before the referee announced the end of the inter-game break, little Zverev could not wait to appear on the stage, his fighting spirit burning brightly.
On the other side, Gao Wen was still taking his time and step by step, completing rest adjustments according to his own rhythm, making full use of the rest time between games to organize his thoughts. It was not until the referee announced that the time was up that he stood up and stepped onto the court with his racket.
, ready to serve.
Professionals should be able to see that——
Little Zverev is acting according to his own plan, setting traps and preparing for battle.
Similarly, Gawain also entered the game according to his own ideas.
Both people are planning and playing games, but who is the hunter and who is the prey?
In the fourth game, Gao Wen served.
At this time, there were some subtle changes in the battle situation.
Zverev began to attack, and the number of offensive shots on both sides of the forehand and backhand gradually began to increase; but overall, the style of the game has not changed. Not only the layout is required, but the subconscious transition ball still exists, and the entire offensive is not
Smooth, two beats at most, no continuation.
For Gao Wen, unless it is an impactful and violent attack like Nadal or Wawrinka, it is not difficult to withstand a two-shot and three-shot attack. He just needs to defend well and stay focused. Zverev is not smooth and unstable.
The offensive will not be able to break the balance of confrontation.
After "30:30", Gao Wen scored two points in a row and successfully maintained his serve.
"2:2".
Simply speaking from this game, it was still lackluster. There was no particularly exciting round. Zverev's offensive was far from exciting. Gao Wen's defensive counterattack did not bring out anything that was at the bottom of the box, causing a small stir.
After that, everything calmed down and returned to normal in the blink of an eye.
But Gawain was different, he smelled the changes keenly.
From the score level, from the game progress level, from the confrontation situation level, etc., the four games have been going on for more than fifteen minutes. Zverev should think that he has adapted to the court and is in the state, so he is ready to launch
The attack was just a test of the waters.
So, how should Gawain adjust?
In the fifth game, launch an attack, launch a counterattack, and suppress the opponent?
No, this is not Gawain's style; moreover, Gawain's vision is longer-term, and he needs to make adjustments, but he will not change his layout.
Sometimes, adjustments don't necessarily mean a sharper forehand attack or a more adventurous shot route choice, the details can still tell the truth.
Especially in the first week of a Grand Slam event, improving your condition requires a slow climbing process to ensure that you can reach the peak of your condition in the second week. Then adjustments during the game can better demonstrate your profound skills and understanding of tennis.
.
This is the real master.
Gao Wen believes that this game - from the perspective of returning from injury to Zverev's playing style, is very suitable for him to make some new attempts.
While not changing his tactical layout in the first set and continuing to adapt his body to the game, Gao Wen made some choices based on Zverev.
In the fifth game, you can try it. Anyway, this is Zverev's serve game. It doesn't matter even if the attempt fails.
"Maximum consumption"?
This matter has never been Gawain's focus.
a district.
One shot.
Serving from the inside corner at a speed of 195 kilometers per hour, Zverev aimed at Gawain's backhand to apply pressure.
If it were in the past, players would often like to break through from Gao Wen's forehand. After all, Gao Wen's stability and strength of his backhand have become his signature weapons. Even if they are preparing to break through from his backhand, they still need to distract themselves by suppressing his forehand.
But judging from today's game, in the opening stage, Zverev suppressed Gao Wen's backhand serve and hit the ball significantly more. At a glance, it was clear that this was the coaching team's idea. They all watched the Rogers Cup game, and they also
I know that Gao Wen's backhand will be relatively unstable after he returns from injury.
In Zverev's third service game, the first point was no exception.
Gawain kicked off his legs, prepared in advance, and his conditioned reflexes were very fast. He hit him with a backhand with both hands. Following the direction of his body movement, he used his body weight and movement inertia to push forward——
Whoosh.
The tennis ball followed the direction of the backslash and crashed into Zverev's forehand quickly and flatly.
The collision of this baseball home run was so fast and rhythmic that before Zverev had time to recover after finishing his serve, he staggered and moved laterally to the right, barely catching a forehand.
shoot.
Immediately afterwards, it was discovered that Gawain's return ball landed quite deep, and Zverev did not have much room to swing the racket, so it was naturally difficult to control the parabola.
The tennis ball was raised.
But the speed was so fast that Gaowen did not have a chance to go to the net. Like a shooting star, he flew high over the net and quickly fell towards the deep area of the baseline.
Gao Wen continued to adjust in small steps, a series of dizzying steps to adjust the center of gravity, switching from the backhand position to the forehand position, and the forehand triggered the shot early, like a fort set up.
Little Zverev's heart contracted suddenly, he braked, stopped and turned, and his body was already running fast towards the left, and his speed increased to the extreme in an instant.
Despite his tall stature, little Zverev moves very fast, and in a flash, an afterimage can be seen crossing the entire field.
However!
Gawain's forehand was raised high, then lowered gently. Just when he was about to release his hand, he changed the way he held the racket——