Countless eyes gathered towards the O2 Arena in London, looking forward to a grand event. In fact, the O2 Arena did indeed put on a good show, but... the wonderful moments were slightly different from the expected scenes.
First Federer, then Nadal, they made their voices heard.
After the two giants experienced a disappointing, bumpy and difficult long season, all the focus and topics were focused on the year-end world No. 1 battle between Djokovic and Gauvin, but Federer and Nadal are still fighting.
Their way back to the top quietly.
Federer, with two wins in two games, qualified early.
Nadal has won two games in two games. Although the game between Gao Wen and Murray cannot be determined yet, his initiative to qualify is also in his own hands.
Wow!
Admire, sigh, marvel——
No one can be an exception.
Actually, this is not easy.
Judging purely from the score, the game between Nadal and Wawrinka was a complete victory, "6:3", "6:2". For the second consecutive game, Nadal only lost five games and swept his opponent, and he still defeated two consecutive players.
Grand Slam champion.
But in fact, this game was very exciting. Wawrinka showed his fighting spirit and fought hard from the first point to the last point.
In the end, the whole match lasted 87 minutes, which was also the second longest match so far, second only to the match between Berdych and Ferrer. Wawrinka did not give up the victory. Nadal still relied on
With the performance of key points, the gap was widened, announcing the return of the God of War.
Following his comprehensive recovery against Murray in the first round, Nadal's performance in key points in the second round also improved to a higher level, taking his competitiveness to a higher level.
Applause, thunder——
This is the giant.
They will encounter difficulties, injuries, state fluctuations, difficult challenges, etc. They are also mortal bodies, and everyone has their own dilemmas and problems; but they can always draw energy from these difficulties, continue to progress, improve, and transform.
, become a better player.
Their dominance is not only reflected on the field, but also much more.
Murray, too.
Maybe it's because he was stimulated by seeing the outstanding performances of Federer and Nadal; maybe it's because Murray is very dissatisfied with his poor performance; maybe it's because Murray is also adjusting, trying, and making breakthroughs... But no matter what
, Murray also showed his giant style.
Facing Gawain——
In the opening stage, Murray showed a completely new attitude.
Speed up!
In this year's Asian season and European indoor hard court season, Murray suffered two consecutive defeats against Gauvin, and compared with the loss at Wimbledon, these two losses were one-sided defeats by a large margin.
This also caused the media to raise a question, is it because of the psychological shadow caused by the loss at Wimbledon that led to Murray's restraint?
Murray denied this. He believed that Gawain's growth and transformation were very amazing. He obviously underestimated Gawain's changes in the past few months. There were problems with his game strategy and he needed to re-examine these failures.
Change is inevitable.
This is on the one hand, and on the other hand it is because of Murray's own situation.
Murray also realized that there were problems with his game, not just against Gao Wen, but also against other players even if he won.
In the past, long rounds of multi-shot see-sawing were his favorite comfort zone, because he could win more thinking space, slowly move around, control the situation, and create opportunities; but now, the more thinking space he has, the easier it is to fall into the trap.
Encounter endless stereotypes and lose control.
Essentially, I still lack confidence in myself.
But the problem is that "confidence" is not that simple. It is not a fuel tank. If it consumes too much fuel, just add more. If one type of fuel is not working, just change it to another. The restoration, establishment, and reshaping of confidence require a
The process also needs to be shaped by different wins in different games.
At least, not in the short term.
Murray believes that the feasible solution at hand is to break out of his comfort zone.
then--
Murray chose to speed up.
This is a very one-dimensional approach. Since leaving room for thinking may cause more hesitation and hesitation, then simply compress the thinking space.
Murray is not an aggressive or aggressive player, but his control and adjustment of rhythm are undoubtedly the top players in the ATP. This is also the reason why he has repeatedly achieved good results on grass courts; now, Murray
Just change the game by increasing the rhythm.
Position is a change.
Murray slightly moved his habitual position half a step forward, and occasionally one step, to be more aggressive and offensive; at the same time, the connection of the entire shot was also closer. Although he did not repeatedly grab the rising point like Kei Nishikori, he still shot
The connection between shooting and shooting is indeed to advance the timing of taking action.
To put it simply, Murray plays on the indoor hard court of the O2 Arena as if it were the grass of the All England Club.
But is that all?
of course not.
If that's all, Murray is just repeating the Wimbledon showdown; as he himself said, Gawain has grown and transformed after Wimbledon, and he can no longer look at Gawain with the same eyes, otherwise it will just be
It's just repeating the same mistakes, it's not a change at all.
Murray's shots were more decisive and bolder. The entire layout focused more on the game and calculation of the first three shots, and his aggressiveness was also significantly improved.
This is the second change.
Then, the effect will be highlighted.
There is no time to think, which means there is no room for hesitation and hesitation. Many times, we often rely on instinct to react. In a critical situation, there is no game, no layout, no calculation. We rely entirely on intuition and conditioned reflexes to complete the shot. The test is
Tennis background——
On the contrary, it can improve the quality of returning the ball.
This kind of Murray is unfamiliar; at the same time, he is also focused and dedicated. The excellent performance of Federer and Nadal is the best motivation.
In the opening stage, Murray played vigorously amidst the cheers and cheers of the home fans, and his determination could be seen in the murderous look and courage in his eyes.
In the past, Djokovic and Godwin competed for the world number one at the end of the year. Later, Federer and Nadal both recovered. Murray was not willing to be outdone to make his voice heard. No matter whether people agreed or not, and no matter how they evaluated it, there was no difference.
There is no doubt that he has stayed at the top for many years.
No one should underestimate him, he is a dangerous opponent at any time.
In this game, Murray took the lead in serving.
Keeping serve and applying pressure all the way, the two players protected each other's serve and maintained balance in the collision and competition.
"3:2".
Then, entering the mid-set stage, in the sixth game, Murray took advantage of two missed opportunities by Gawain to launch an attack and achieved excellent results.
The break point appears!
Surprise, absolutely surprise.
No one expected that it would be Murray who was the first to force a break point. Just when people thought that Murray had withdrawn from the competition for the year-end finals, the Scotsman at home still found his own energy.