"...Viewers, welcome to ESPN, what we are broadcasting for you is..."
"...This is the first Asian showdown in the history of the Grand Slam men's singles quarter-finals. Regardless of the outcome of the game, the winner will make history and become the first Asian to reach the semi-finals of a Grand Slam.
The men’s players, today’s opponents are Gao Wen and Gao Wen from China…”
"...After this year's US Open draw was announced, no one could obviously predict such a quarter-final matchup. The presence of third seed Wawrinka and fifth seed Raonic made the two-quarters of the area known as death.
division, but the two big seeds both stopped in the top 16, causing a shocking upset..."
"...It can be said that the breakthrough of the two dark horses disrupted the two-quarter draw, which also gave an interesting tilt to the matchup in the first half, with 'Djokovic VS Murray' on one side.
A head-on conversation, while on the other side is the dark horse encounter of 'Gawain VS Kei Nishikori'..."
Rustling.
Rustling.
While the two players took to the court to warm up, the commentary booths of major TV stations began to give early introductions, bringing this history-making "Asian showdown" to the audience. From all aspects, this is the absolute focus that deserves the spotlight.
However, compared to the two major night games, the attendance rate at the opening stage of this game was average. After all, the "Wawrinka VS Raonic" duel did not come as scheduled. The meeting of two Asian dark horses against the local
The audience was still slightly less attractive; but the Asian faces in the audience quickly filled the gap.
Visible to the naked eye, the number of Asian spectators has increased significantly, and during the players' warm-up period, spectators continued to enter the stadium——
Since there is not much interest from local spectators, it means that it is not too late to buy tickets on-site temporarily. Naturally, you can see many Asian spectators who come to Flushing to watch the game on a temporary basis.
Such a scene is indeed a rare sight in a professional tennis stadium, and Arthur Ashe Stadium is lucky enough to witness history, which is undoubtedly even more special——
Arthur Ashe, the three-time Grand Slam champion, is a black man.
He is the first African-American player to represent the United States in the Davis Cup, and the first African-American world number one after the official introduction of the world ranking system; at the same time, he is also one of the main founders of the ATP organization, whose purpose is to protect players
interests and rights.
In order to honor and pay tribute to this legendary figure who changed the professional tennis world, the US Open tennis center named its center court after Arthur Ashe.
Today, Arthur Ashe Stadium will witness the first Asian showdown for the semi-finals in the history of the four Grand Slams, which is indeed of great significance.
"... Kei Nishikori, ranked eleventh in the world before the start of the US Open, is ranked tenth seed in this tournament."
"For this player born in 1989, his first breakthrough in a Grand Slam was at the 2012 Australian Open, when he reached the quarterfinals for the first time; and after that, his performance was slightly lower than expected."
"The Australian Open is his best Grand Slam performance. He successfully advanced to the fourth round last year and this year. In addition, he also had a fourth-round performance at the French Open and Wimbledon. Unfortunately, he has always been in the fourth round.
There is no shackles to break through the top 16; and last year's US Open and this year's Wimbledon were eliminated in the first round."
"This year, in Flushing, Kei Nishikori once again performed well and reached the quarterfinals for the first time. Not only did he create the best result in the US Open, but he also tied his best performance in a Grand Slam. Obviously he is looking forward to going further and continuing
Refresh your best performance and create a new history."
"This is indeed Kei Nishikori's best opportunity, because standing in front of him is the biggest dark horse of this tournament..."
Rustling.
Rustling.
The commentary introducing the background information of the two players in detail is spread to all corners of the world through radio signals. However, when it comes to the introduction of Gawain, you will find:
The content is really too little, less than the size of a palm-sized piece of tofu, and even if you want to analyze it in depth, it is very difficult.
However, it is precisely because of such a sharp contrast and huge gap that this historic Asian showdown is full of unknown fun.
From the analysis of paper strength, Gao Wen is naturally at a disadvantage, but the magic is here. Facing any player in the men's singles draw, Gao Wen is at a disadvantage, but Gao Wen has passed all the way and won the future.
Now that we have reached the quarter-final stage, how should we judge and analyze it?
Kei Nishikori is currently feeling hot, but Gawain is also in good form. Therefore, the outcome of the encounter between the two sides still needs to be compared and discussed before we can know.
The game started and Gao Wen served.
In the coin guessing session, Kei Nishikori guessed heads, but he chose the backlit side of the court, so naturally Gawain would serve first.
With one choice, two signals can be seen.
First, Kei Nishikori is still as usual. He often starts with a return of serve because his own serve is weak and because he is used to defensive counterattacks.
Secondly, Nishikori Kei considered the light problem.
Tennis matches try to avoid the impact of light and wind direction as much as possible, and the venue is changed every two games, which also reduces the environmental impact as much as possible; but it is undeniable that the dazzling sunlight will still have a direct impact.
At this time, at three o'clock in the afternoon local time in New York, the sun is just right. Nishikori Kei chooses the backlight side, while Gawain needs to serve facing the sun. Before he can enter the state in the opening stage, the environmental impact will be further
enlarge.
It can be seen that Kei Nishikori is ready to steal the show.
Throughout Kei Nishikori's career, he can adapt to different surfaces, but his best performance is on hard courts, because he grew up at the famous Bolletini Tennis Academy in the United States - the largest professional tennis academy in the world.
There is no other academy, this is a hard court tennis academy.
Therefore, in addition to the Australian Open, Kei Nishikori's best performance is actually the US Open. In 2008, he reached the fourth round for the first time. However, his performance in the past four years has been very unstable. He has been in the third round, first round, and third round.
Round, first round, why?
The Australian Open and the US Open are both hard courts. The main material of the Australian Open court is plastic, which is considered a slow hard court; the main material of the US Open court is concrete, which is considered a fast hard court. The main difference is the bounce height after landing——
Generally speaking, the U.S. Open return ball has a relatively lower rebound height after landing, and the forward speed after rebounding is faster; at the same time, it is more beneficial to players who serve well.
The court material of the US Open is also determined by the fact that there are more variables, it is more difficult to control, and the competition is more intense. In 2009, Del Potro, who was only 20 years old, defeated Nadal and Federer in succession on this court to win his first major.
Grand Slam championship trophy, while breaking the Grand Slam monopoly of the Big Four.
From a technical and tactical perspective, the U.S. Open venue is more suitable for Kei Nishikori’s style of grabbing rising points, but the premise is that Kei Nishikori needs to remain absolutely focused and run his brain all the time; once the thinking speed cannot keep up, the deviation in touch will be in Nishikori
Ori Kei's style has a very low error tolerance.
Therefore, Kei Nishikori’s best and worst Grand Slam results were all at the US Open.
This year is undoubtedly the best year for Kei Nishikori. You can feel the confidence coming from the opening choice. It is a kind of determination that is very focused and dedicated.
Before he even started hitting the ball, the alarm in Gawain's mind was already sounding.