Obviously, Gawain's serve is not his strongest weapon. There is no such person in the top 20 in the ACE count list, and he is even worse than other serving cannons who have only played two or three games. It can be called shabby. At the US Open
For fast and hard courts, the advantage of serving can indeed be further amplified.
However, there are unexpected gains when looking at the ACE number list. Raonic and Cilic rank in the top two respectively, Kyrgios ranks third, Wawrinka ranks fourth, Federer ranks fifth, and Djokovic ranks third.
tenth.
In addition, Isner, who was upset after playing only one game, fired 26 ACEs, which complemented Karlovic, who was eliminated in the second round, and fired 55 ACEs. He is the king of efficiency, with an average number of ACEs per game.
Lead the pack.
A small set of data can reveal an interesting fact:
Isner, Kyrgios, Wawrinka, and Djokovic all lost to the same opponent.
Then look at another list of technical statistics. In first-serve return scoring rate, Federer, Murray, and Gawain rank in the top three of all male players; in second-serve return scoring rate, Gawain, Nishikori Kei, and Siri
Qi ranks among the top three at this year's US Open.
A cross-comparison of the two data can reveal that Gao Wen is not afraid of facing the big serving cannon.
So, the opening is a bit interesting.
Gao Wen, who is not good at serving, chose to serve first, and then held serve for four straight points; Gao Wen, who is good at receiving serve, was about to face Cilic, one of the best serving players at this year's US Open, but he didn't know Cilic's serve.
What is your status and are you ready?
The two sides exchanged court, and Cilic was quickly ready to serve.
Cilic's overall playing rhythm is relatively fast. Like the cannons who serve well, the entire preparation process is relatively simple, but he still has his own routine:
Move your toes, look up at your opponent, slap the tennis ball twice, move your toes again, glance at your opponent, and then toss the ball.
The whole process progresses very quickly, but all the details must be repeated every time before it can start. It is as regular as his hitting style return routine; moreover, Cilic's serving speed is not that explosive.
It prefers a smooth and even speed, and the serving speed can keep fluctuating around 135 miles (200 kilometers) throughout the game, not too fast but not falling.
Stable, solid, yet sharp.
Therefore, watching Cilic's games often lacks a little passion and excitement, but he can indeed ensure competitiveness, winning two out of three sets and three out of five sets. Until the final stage, there are rarely big ups and downs.
boom!
In the first point, Gao Wen grabbed the ball very hard. He raised his forehand and made a diagonal shot, aiming at the deep area of the baseline and hitting it. Unfortunately, his control force was not adjusted well. The return ball went out of the baseline and out of bounds, and was sent to Cilic.
A straight serve.
In the second point, Gao Wen once again grabbed a return serve. Facing Cilic's first serve, he used a backhand with both hands to hit the baseline. However, this time he did not complete the swing, so he directly missed it and sent it out again.
one cent.
"30:0".
really!
The suspicions of professionals and senior fans have been confirmed. This is a Grand Slam final and an encounter between the two sides. The slow start and testing in the opening stage are inevitable. Gao Wen's "love-game" guarantee is because of Cilic.
Still looking for rhythm, Gao Wen's touch was also adjusting in Cilic's serve game, so the whole game progressed very quickly.
It was a little messy because it was so fast.
But this is normal. Newcomers in Grand Slam finals need to go through this process. It is precisely because of this that neutral fans do not like such dark horse matchups, and the excitement is indeed greatly reduced.
In the third point, Cilic missed his first serve and hit a close forehand with his second serve. As a result, Gao Wen hit the backhand with a backhand shot and hit a small diagonal forehand, which directly penetrated Cilic's defense and returned the serve to an ACE.
Winning this point was more or less a matter of luck, because in fact, Gawain's shot did not hit the sweet spot, but instead created an unexpected small slash effect to form the score.
pretty.
However, interest at Arthur Ashe Stadium was not high.
In tennis, like table tennis and badminton, serving and receiving serve are indeed very important confrontation links, the first step for both sides to compete for the initiative. However, if the game is always anxious here and the round-ball confrontation cannot form a stalemate at all, it will be too boring.
.
No audience likes to watch two players practicing serving and receiving back and forth. The caddy may have more time to grab the attention. Only when the two sides' offense and defense confront each other and the offense and defense transitions collide, the game will be exciting.
Therefore, even if Gao Wen returned the serve with an ACE, the audience was not too excited; however, the audience still applauded and whistled, cheering for the two players and looking forward to them getting into the game as soon as possible.
Only Cilic raised his head and glanced at Gao Wen. He could detect that Gao Wen's receiving position had changed slightly in the three serves so far——
Generally speaking, the further back you stand, the more defensive your posture will be, and while the success rate of receiving the serve will increase, your aggressiveness will decrease.
Violent fluctuations.
Watching Serena Williams play, she often goes to the baseline to receive the second serve, and then kills her with one shot.
Facing Cilic's powerful serve, Gao Wen's position was about one step away from the baseline, neither too far back nor too close. Then he made fine adjustments three times, not considering Cilic's serving tactics.
Instead, he adjusted his offensive strategy with himself as the center, and his strategies for returning the ball were different three times.
Cilic can feel the pressure.
In the first game, Gao Wen simply kept serve without giving Cilic any chance, not only the chance to attack or defend, but also the chance to adapt to the atmosphere and venue of the game.
Compared with Gao Wen, this is only Cilic's second time entering Arthur Ashe Stadium. The light refraction brought by the sunset at 5 o'clock in the afternoon is completely different from other stadiums. Coupled with the warm and tense atmosphere of the final, Cilic
Qi was indeed a little confused and disoriented.
Then the first game ended in a daze, and then the second game started. Cilic felt that he needed a little time to collect his thoughts.
But obviously Gao Wen's return service did not give him time and space, it was as if... it was as if Gao Wen had been improving the rhythm of the game.
But the problem is that among the two of them, Cilic has always played at a faster pace, while Gao Wen prefers to slow down the game. Why does Gao Wen seem to be more impatient and urgent than Cilic now?
Confusing thoughts were rushing through my mind.
The only good thing is that Gao Wen currently makes a lot of mistakes and the pressure does not result in scoring. Cilic still takes the initiative of the score in his own hands, so the pressure has not broken the balance.
What if Gawain continues to attack?
call……
Cilic realized that he needed a first serve. Although Gao Wen grabbed both the first and second serves, it was still more difficult for Gao Wen to succeed because of the great threat of the first serve. Therefore, he needed one serve to protect himself and at the same time return the favor.
Quality needs to be ensured.
One shot. Quality. One shot. Quality.
Taking a deep breath, Cilic adjusted his thoughts and then got ready to serve.
