Nervousness spreads in the silence. The more excited it is, the calmer it becomes. The more excited it is, the stiffer it becomes. The boiling heat wave in the whole place is almost solidified, but still no one moves rashly. They just stare with bated breath——
Ready to move.
Until, bang! There was a crisp explosion, tearing apart the tension of the scene.
Nadal, serve.
Zone two, backhand.
But it's not an outside angle, it's about pressing the backhand close to the body, with strong internal rotation. After landing, it spins sideways to the right. It's not the left side that turns out but the right side that rolls in.
The calculations and games are evident.
Gawain was calculating whether Nadal would choose the outside corner, and his body weight tilted slightly to the left; Nadal was also calculating whether Gawain would take the outside corner, and the outside corner was indeed the outside corner, but he rolled back after landing.
When serving, there are also two levels of attack. The first level is the route of the serve, and the second level is the flight route after landing and rebounding.
Gawain was highly focused and had just started to move. He immediately noticed the strong rotation of the tennis ball. He already made a conditioned reflex while moving. He continued to move forward and leaned back to make room for his upper body.
A push to block, a flick of the wrist——
This is Federer's style of receiving the serve. The purpose of the wrist wrap is to relieve the force. Even occasionally, when receiving the serve, he will directly choose to cut the ball.
There is no way for Gao Wen to release the ball when receiving the serve in this shot, because Nadal's serve spins too strongly, and rashly releasing the ball may cause it to fall into the net.
However, Gawain still successfully relieved his force and pushed the tennis ball back lightly.
straight line.
Return the ball and enter Nadal's right court.
The speed was not fast, even a little slow, giving Nadal enough time to adjust. But this time, Nadal was not prepared to go online. After his steps were smoothly in place, he backhanded with both hands and waited for a while, and he saw through Gawain's intention.
Shallow area, unloading force, backspin, that is to say, the rebound height after landing is limited, which does not give Nadal enough space to hit the ball with force. Of course, Nadal can still choose to force the ball, but in the backhand position, like this
Dealing with it, Nadal often chooses slashes.
This is Gawain's purpose.
Nadal glanced at Gawain, and sure enough, his steps were already moving towards the forehand gap on the right, but Nadal did the opposite, giving up his effort, and instead cut a straight line with his backhand with both hands, forming a containment
.
On the opposite side of the net, Gawain had to stop and turn quickly and then pull his body back, taking two consecutive steps to reach the position. He had already set up his backhand with both hands, but paused before taking action, and the air was obviously stagnant for a moment.
Game——
Two players are playing a game.
It is clear that neither player returns the ball very quickly, and even consciously lowers their strength and speed, but every time they take a shot, you can feel the tension of calculation and layout, and the connection between diagonal lines and straight lines is obviously a trap.
A sense of urgency, with dark clouds over the city, gradually spread.
Nadal is plotting against Gawain, and Gawain is plotting against Nadal.
Nadal had to guard against his forehand gap before he started to move. Gawain immediately pushed the ball straight and pulled Nadal back to the backhand position again.
Going straight, controlling the backhand position, each hitting technique is different, and the rhythm of the entire round gradually overflows with an invisible tension.
Then, at this moment——
Without warning, Nadal picked up the speed, and his steps moving to the right obviously accelerated. It was no longer a cross-step adjustment, but a sprint on Hot Wheels.
alarm!
Gawain immediately sounded the alarm and immediately became fully alert when he saw Nadal's movement. From any angle, this was a sideways move.
Making a quick decision, Gao Wen kicked off his left leg and rushed to the right, even faster than Nadal's shot.
boom!
Nadal was not affected at all, his shot was resolute, decisive and strong enough, and he made a sideways move through small steps without hesitation.
Sideways forehand, diagonal line, "inside-out", the tennis ball burrowed towards the edge of Gao Wen's forehand side like a meteor, pulling out a tail in a mighty manner, accompanied by Nadal's roar and the exclamation of the whole audience.
Exploded.
Boom, thunder.
Despite Gauvin's accurate prediction and despite Gauvin's early start, the power of Nadal's sideways forehand was still fully demonstrated, forcing Gauvin to speed up, speed up, and speed up again, showing a full sprint state.
The wind is howling.
near!
near!
Approaching!
However, Gao Wen did not slow down at all, maintaining a high speed and continuing to sprint, just like this, heading towards Nadal's attack in a mighty manner.
The inertia generated by speed and the centrifugal force associated with power evolve into the acceleration of turning and swinging during the sprint, and the forehand has already been released.
A crash, an impact, an explosion.
Because Gawain knows the power of Nadal's sideways forehand, and also because Gawain knows the power of Nadal's strong topspin...
If he just resists back in an orderly manner, whether it is cutting or pushing, everything is within Nadal's calculations, and Nadal will not miss the opportunity to connect with the next attack.
Originally, Gao Wen considered cutting a straight line, but his steps were pulled out of the doubles line and it was difficult to return to his position in a short time. This meant that the entire court behind him was empty, and the straight backspin ball that was cut back was opposite.
Nadal's forehand is like a tiger's mouth, basically there is no threat.
Some shots, some lines, and some tactics are ineffective against Nadal.
Such a situation may be a desperate situation for other players; but for Gao Wen, it is a challenge. Not only does he not back down, but he also becomes heroic.
Since we are in a desperate situation and we have no choice anyway, why not throw everything into a desperate situation and give it a try?
Gawain chooses to confront him head-on.
Not only to use force to fight, but also to launch a counterattack.
So, there was this scene——
Full power during high-speed running.
"Sideways forehand VS forehand".
Judging from the details, it was still difficult for Gawain to compete head-on with Nadal's rotation and power, so he used speed to form a counterweight and relied on his wrist to increase the speed of the racket head to a new level. Only then did he complete a diagonal head-on collision while moving at high speed.
line, knocking back Nadal's attack.
slash.
No matter how bold and crazy Gawain was, he did not have the confidence to face Nadal's full forehand and complete the line change, so he chose the diagonal line.
The route is the same, but the speed and strength are increased to a higher level, and you rush back like a wall.
"Hit the wall", literally.
Gawain's chest felt tight, and he could feel the powerful tail force surging in his chest. The centrifugal force had already pulled his body and continued to rush out of the doubles line.
Brake, control, in the midst of a turbulent wave, Gawain barely controlled his pace, but had no time to adjust, kicked off his right leg and started the second time.
The figure had just been pulled back, past the obstruction of the referee's chair, and the court space came into sight again, and then Nadal's unmoved figure in embarrassment was seen, standing still in the strong wind and rain.
Obviously, Nadal's prediction was equally accurate.
Originally, Nadal had already moved to the forehand. In his opinion, it was very likely that Gao Wen would choose to cut a straight line. After all, this was not the first time in the year-end finals. However, he did not expect that Gao Wen showed incredible courage.
The head-on collision came back, which also disrupted Nadal's plan.
But Nadal did not panic, stopped and turned suddenly, adjusted his steps immediately, and was back to the backhand position in the blink of an eye.
Waves of air rolled in, as if witnessing a tornado forming and growing in front of one's eyes.