Gawain anticipated the difficulties of the game and was fully prepared to face all possible situations. However, if he has not experienced it, he has no experience. After all, there is still a deviation between the difficulties imagined by the brain and the actual situation. Sometimes, the deviation may still exist.
bigger.
It is precisely because of this that the opportunity to play in Winston-Salem is so important, and after missing it, now Gao Wen can only try and make mistakes through actual combat.
After being broken by Isner, Gao Wen quickly adjusted his mentality and threw himself into Isner's serve again.
However, Isner showed his maturity and sophistication, as well as his huge control over his serve. He had excellent service protection and did not leave any chance for the second serve. He held serve strongly and successfully fulfilled the break point.
advantage, and had the advantage of serving first to open up the score.
At the end of the set, although Gawain was always making different attempts to create opportunities, Isner's serve was impeccable. In the game of serving to win the set, Gawain's attempts failed, and all possibilities were blocked - in the high
After Wen successfully held serve, Isner also successfully held his serve.
This also directly verifies that sentence. Facing Isner, losing a serve may mean losing a set.
"6:3".
Isner won the second set and evened the score, and the two players returned to the same starting line.
In Hu Litao’s words,
"This is equivalent to a best-of-five-set system turning into a best-of-three-set system. Of course, physical exhaustion is another issue, but the next third set is the commanding heights of strategic deployment. The competition between the two sides should be very fierce.
Both players hope to be the first to surpass the score and lay the foundation for victory."
It can be seen from the first two games that Gao Wen does have the ability to compete with Isner. This is also a common phenomenon in men's tennis. The gap in hard power between the top 300 players is actually not that big.
obvious.
However, the key point is, can the game be played out? How much strength can be brought out? How long can it last? Can it remain stable at critical moments? How big is the gap between the peak and the trough? Can there be enough in a best-of-five-set game?
Weapons to fight to the end?
These details are the difference between players before and after a hundred players.
The best case is Zverev Jr.
Two months ago, little Zverev, who was still ranked outside the 800th place in the world, was able to perform well in the ATP Championship level event with 500 points, defeating four players in the top 50 in the world in a row - the highest ranking is
Youzhny, who was ranked 19th, made a brilliant debut with stunning skills.
Two months later, little Zverev, whose world ranking was approaching 150, arrived in New York with great ambitions to participate in the US Open qualifying tournament. However, he lost in the second round to a man ranked 144 in the world.
The unknown player, Turkey's Marsel-Llhan, missed the main match.
So, is Zverev not strong enough? Obviously not, but he has not been able to find a way to use his full strength and keep it consistent.
In fact, in 2021, young players still have not been able to break the Grand Slam dominance of the Big Four, and it is the same reason.
Young players have strongly competed for power in the ATP Masters. Almost all the nine Masters championships throughout the year have been captured by young players one after another. However, there is still no breakthrough in the Grand Slam tournament. It is definitely not due to lack of strength. It is psychological.
Level control and performance at critical moments are the key.
The same is true for the game in front of me at this moment.
At least judging from the situation in the first two sets, when facing Isner, Gao Wen's confrontation ability was not inferior at all, but when entering the third set, fourth set and even the final set, Gao Wen was still able to maintain
Is he in such a batting state? Entering the critical moment that determines the suspense of victory or defeat, can Gao Wen still keep his mind clear like he did in the first set tie-break?
After all, the person standing opposite was Isner, who had set a record of "70:68" in the final set.
Competitive sports have never been that simple. A "play on the spot" contains too many possibilities.
really!
The third set became the tactical commanding heights. Both Gawain and Isner realized that this was the match that would determine the trend of the game. Both sides showed their best performance without reservation.
Especially after two sets of exploration, both players have now adapted to each other's styles and abilities, which made the third set even more exciting.
"1:1".
"2:2".
"3:3".
…
The two players were in a stalemate all the way, and due to the decline in physical strength, there were fluctuations in their own service games, and break points appeared more frequently.
Before and after, Gawain created four break points and missed them all; Isner created seven break points and missed them all.
At critical moments, the serving side can always improve its condition in time, save the break point with a better performance, and keep the serve in one go, and then the two sides remain in a stalemate until the end of the set.
"6:6".
No one was able to get a set point, and the third set entered a tie-break again. In the tie-break, Gawain was still the first to serve.
However, this time was completely different from the first set. The two players still gritted their teeth and focused highly, and the stalemate continued to the end.
The small points were deadlocked from "1:1" to "6:6". The jagged score never widened the gap, and the tense atmosphere was suffocating.
Because neither side had a break of serve, at "5:5", Isner won his second serve point and took advantage of the situation to get the first set point of the third set. However, Gawain
Unmoved, he attacked with a beautiful serve and saved the set point neatly.
So, the score was tied again, "6:6".
Then, the two players will exchange venues for the second time in the tie-break, and then either team must win two points in a row to win.
"The set score is '1:1', the game score is '6:6', and the minor score is also '6:6'. Just like the entire third set, and just like the entire match, the situation is still very stalemate, very, very stalemate.
No one was able to widen the gap."
"Obviously, both players are in a state of high concentration, not giving in an inch, and fighting against each other. Now, every point is worth a thousand dollars."
"Any side, no matter who it is, can gain a psychological advantage as long as it can win this tiebreaker."
"Let's see now, who dares to take action at the critical moment."
"Teacher Hu, what do you think?"
In the studio, the bubbling air is almost suffocating. People watching the game are always more nervous and anxious than those on the court, and their hearts seem to burst at any time.
Facing Zhan Jun's questions, Hu Litao still maintained his professionalism and analyzed the game from an objective standpoint as much as possible, although the balance deep in his heart was tilting crazily towards Gao Wen.
"Actually, Isner is a bit soft now, especially on his forehand. Today, he was hit by Gawain several times. He was not aggressive enough at critical moments and missed at least two opportunities to kill the board in the tie-break."
"But Isner's own serve points are very fine, and the service state is always stable, leaving no flaws, so the balance is always maintained."