Although the inner balance is tilting crazily towards Gao Wen, Hu Litao must still maintain an objective and professional stance and provide explanations to the audience.
Isner's side is still playing power ball, and serving is still the core of the entire tactical system.
So, what about Gawain?
"Gawain is always thinking of ways. It can be seen that his mentality is very good: I am here to attack you and challenge you. It doesn't matter even if the risk fails, I must dare to take action."
"It is precisely because of this that Gao Wen missed some opportunities, and some choices were still too risky, and the proportion is questionable. But I think Gao Wen's ideas are correct and he should implement them."
"Faced with a player like Isner who has an obvious serving advantage, if you don't dare to take risks or try, then in the tie-break, the pressure will increase along with the score. But now, we still need to watch the performance on the spot.
Let’s see if Gawain can really fight his way out.”
Hu Litao's views were echoed by Zhan Jun.
"Let's see now, between Gawain's adventurous impact and Isner's persistent advantage, who can bring enough pressure to the other side, and who may make the first mistake."
In the tie-break, after the score reaches "6:6", this also means that after every point there is an inventory, either Gawain's inventory or Isner's inventory, just like a high-altitude rope, every moment
There is always the danger of falling into the abyss. No matter what, there is a player who needs to face the inventory. The pressure cannot be expressed in words.
In the previous point, Gao Wen saved a set point with his excellent serve and attack, and he grew up under the pressure.
After the exchange of venues, the two players stood on the baseline again.
At this point, Isner launched a powerful attack and was very aggressive from the moment he returned the serve.
It can be seen that Isner is also trying to break the deadlock and take the tie-break into his own hands. However, as Hu Litao said, entering the third set, the forehand, which was under continuous strong attack, was still somewhat weak.
, the offensive power was slightly lacking, and Gao Wen blocked all three consecutive attacks with his beautiful defense.
Moreover, the quality of defensive returns is very high, putting more pressure on Isner's offense.
Then, when hitting the ball with the fourth shot, the offensive opportunity was actually not good, but Isner still forced his way, and the return ball went directly into the net.
"oh!"
The entire audience held their heads and exclaimed.
Zhan Jun clenched his fists and cheered.
"pretty!"
"Gawain's defense was so beautiful. His tenacious running and high-quality returns made Isner very uncomfortable. His swing in the last shot was obviously squeezed, and he forced an attack but got a backspin ball.
, return the ball and hit the net.”
"After Gao Wen saved his two service points, Gao Wen now got the first set point of the third set."
"The next thing is Isner's serve."
The entire Arthur Ashe Stadium was completely silent, because the third set was so anxious and tense that it caused some symptoms of hypoxia, but the game was so exciting and beautiful that I couldn't take my eyes away.
Just staring at the stadium intently, my heart almost burst.
Isner is picking the ball.
It can be seen that Isner consciously controls the rhythm of the game.
On the one hand, the four consecutive attacks he just made were very energy-consuming; on the other hand, the stalemate in the tie-break has never been broken, which also means that he needs to think more carefully about every serving point.
This is also experience. Use the time of picking the ball to adjust your breathing and organize your thoughts.
And what about Gawain?
He had been standing on the opposite side of the court early, ready, watching Isner quietly, as if he didn't have any thoughts, but in fact he was thinking in his mind:
This is zone two, how will Isner serve?
Isner's serve not only has speed and power, but also changes. In addition to rotation changes at critical moments, the combination of landing points is also very rich.
In the second area, Gao Wen's forehand is from the inside corner and his backhand is from the outside corner. In the three games so far, Isner has served from different positions, but what about the critical moment?
Gawain's mind was running at high speed, and Isner's adjustment time was also his thinking time, so he was not in a hurry at all.
Isner turned around and prepared to serve.
Gawain noticed that Isner checked his position. Could it be that... he was preparing to send a backhand?
Although Gawain's two-handed backhand is stable enough, it is still difficult to make changes when facing Isner's powerful serve because the quality of the ball is really too heavy. As long as he can catch the serve, he is lucky; and
, suppressing the backhand from the outside corner of the second area. This is a classic routine that all players know. Use the serve to pull the receiving party out of the sideline. The entire court is open, and you can do whatever you want with the next shot.
Wait, are you talking about serving from close range?
Generally speaking, players who like baseline rounds tend to combine more close shots, as is the case with Nadal, Djokovic, etc.; but players who like crisp, straight-forward shots are more likely to prefer pull-ups.
With an angled serve, Isner obviously belongs to the latter.
In his game, there are certainly close shots, but the proportion is not high.
In a flash of lightning, thoughts surged through my mind.
Pah. Pah.
Isner was shooting the ball, while Gawain bent his knees, bowed and swayed, watching Isner's serving action through the cream-colored sunlight——
Outside corner!
tread!
Gawain made a prediction and started his steps in advance. The more critical the moment, the more courageous it is to be decisive. Even if the judgment is wrong, at most it will be an equal score for both sides.
tread!
Gawain took a big step, but immediately realized that his inventory was wrong:
Press backhand from close range!
Isner rarely chose to serve the ball close to the ball, which was flat and fast, pushing Gawain into a narrow hole in an instant.
Oops!
As you are rushing forward, the tennis ball has already flown over and is about to hit your body. This is commonly known as "overrunning".
what to do?
In an instant, his steps suddenly stopped, and his upper body made a backward movement. His flexible waist made him look like a roly-poly and he was dodging backwards. He was comparable to the male protagonist in "The Matrix" who leaned back to avoid bullets. At this time,
There was no room to swing, so I could only stand the racket upright and block it for a while.
boom!
The tennis ball hits the racket like this. There is no swing movement or wrist control. It is the simplest and most basic first gear. Even a child who has just learned tennis can complete the action, but it looks simple, but in fact, it is a high waist.
The strength of the abdomen, arms and thighs are all tense to the extreme.
One hit and one bounce.
The entire powerful force charged forward and was about to "destroy" the racket, but Gao Wen successfully controlled the racket and the surface of the racket.
Hold your breath for a moment, and the brain's control of the body reaches its limit.
boom!
The tennis ball was like hitting a wall, and bounced back directly. It basically went straight forward, with no control at all. But at least the control of the racket surface still ensured the flight path of the return ball. It did not leave the court, but was still controlled in two directions.