This time in Doha, Gao Wen competed as a high-ranking seed for the first time in his career, and the entire attention showed a completely different level of enthusiasm.
The top three seeds are Djokovic, Nadal and Berdych, while Gao Wen is the fourth seed.
The disadvantage is that it attracts everyone's attention.
All participating players are focused on the top four seeds, paying attention to the division they may enter and the largest seed guarding the division.
There is no doubt that no one wants to enter the division of Djokovic or Nadal. Berdych is not that strong but always strong; obviously, Gao Wen is a soft persimmon, and people want to pinch it.
Looking forward to an upset win and the opportunity to become famous overnight.
The target on Gawain's back is becoming more and more conspicuous.
The advantage is that you can see the mountains and small mountains at a glance.
Being a high-ranking seed means that Gao Wen does not need to go through the nightmare difficulty of the US Open again and face high-ranking players all the way; now, Gao Wen can avoid encountering the top ten players in the world in the first two rounds.
, have more time to adjust slowly.
From the perspective of the entire competition, Gao Wen can improve his status bit by bit, rise in a step-by-step manner, and then prepare for the fierce competition that follows. This is also the experience accumulated by top players over time. Gao Wen is now
Learn from scratch.
Especially the adjustments and training during this offseason are still a period of pain for Gao Wen——
From the previous life to this life, Gawain has never adjusted his technical movements and tactical layout.
Because I can't see it, and because it's not necessary.
In the past, he had always been active in the NCAA and had no chance to see the outside world or meet top professional players. Naturally, he had no way of knowing his own shortcomings.
But now, after playing against the top ten players in the world, Gao Wen knows that he still has room for improvement, and there is still room for improvement in his game.
Some adjustments, although painful, are absolutely necessary.
Ending the offseason and returning to the game also means a new beginning——
Literally.
Then, the significance of the draw is highlighted. Being able to avoid high-ranking seeded players in the first two rounds undoubtedly gave Gao Wen some breathing space.
In the singles match in Doha, Gauvin will face Djokovic and enter the first half; Berdych and Nadal will enter the second half. If they all advance successfully, they will face each other in the semifinals.
After the lottery came out, the media and fans became excited——
Because Gao Wen is in the same half zone as Djokovic again, does this mean that "Gao Wen VS Djokovic 4.0" may be staged in the Doha semi-finals?
Imagine, the semi-finals, "Gavin VS Djokovic"; the final, "Djokovic VS Nadal" or "Gavin VS Nadal", these scenes should be very beautiful.
However, if Gao Wen wants to win the chance to play against Djokovic, he needs to win three games first.
In the first round, Gao Wen faced a qualifying player, Thiemo-de-Bakker from the Netherlands.
This player, ranked 141st in the world, is 27 years old this year. His world ranking reached the highest level of 40th in July 2010. This also proves that he has the impact of being in the top 100 in the world.
It's a pity that the ranking has slipped due to injuries, but it still cannot be underestimated.
It can be seen from the actual progress of this game that Gawain really needs more training and polishing in the game——
Especially the serving session.
Obviously, due to the change in the serving action, the entire hitting point is still a little unstable, and there are also problems with the consistency of the power action.
Moreover, compared to doubles matches, singles matches have higher requirements for serving power, which also brings more challenges to Gao Wen.
Therefore, double faults have become an important role in the game that cannot be ignored.
Originally, Gao Wen was not a player who relied heavily on the power of his first serve. The insurance coefficient of his second serve was relatively higher, so he could always control double faults better.
But today, in the first set alone, Gao Wen made six double faults, tying the highest number of double faults in his career.
Every audience member present could clearly feel Gawain's struggle.
Moreover, because of the stumbling in the serving process, it directly led to the dilemma of the entire tactical layout. The offensive connection was obviously loose, and the game became more anxious and intense.
However, Gawain never gave up, and still carried out the tactics unswervingly, and became more dedicated and focused——
First of all, the techniques and tactics have been carefully polished throughout the offseason, and the training performance has been very good. It just takes a little time to adapt to the game.
Obviously, giving up is not an option, otherwise their entire offseason work would be in vain, which would be foolish.
Secondly, since you are not ready to give up and you should not go back to the old path, then honing your skills and adapting to the game have become the top priority than winning.
If you must lose, it is better to lose now than later, because if you lose now, there will be doubles matches and a week of training time in Melbourne that will be slowly adjusted; therefore, regardless of the outcome, there is still a game.
There are many tasks that need to be completed, and you still can't let down your guard.
In this regard, Gao Wen has always kept a clear head. This has been his advantage since the NCAA period, and it is also part of the temperament of the game.
In fact, after entering the second set, Gao Wen's performance became slightly more stable and he made some progress. On the one hand, his performance was outstanding, and on the other hand, he became more familiar with his opponent, so the game slowly came back.
Some.
finally--
"6:7(4)", "6:3", "6:2".
Gao Wen won the three-set match, from doubles to singles, kicking off the 2015 season with two wins, a good start!
After losing the first set in a tie-break, Gawain regained his familiar rhythm in the next two sets.
However, the number of double faults remained high. After another five double faults, the cumulative number of double faults in the entire game successfully reached double figures.
This is also an unprecedented first time in Gao Wen's career, but obviously, this is not a record worth showing off.
The whole match lasted two hours and three minutes, but after the match, Gao Wen went to the training ground to practice serving.
Fortunately, there are doubles matches to continue practicing.
Originally, according to the draw, the combination of Gauvin and Nadal was about to face the top seeds of the tournament, Alexander-Peya and Bruno-Soares, in the second round.
However, it is very regrettable that the combination of Peya and Suarez was accidentally injured when serving to win the first set of the first round match, and regretfully chose to withdraw from the match.
For Gao Wen, it is indeed a pity. It is interesting to challenge the top players in any competition at any time. He also thought that he challenged the Bryan Brothers in doubles last time, and this time he can challenge the tenth-ranked player in the world in doubles.
Pity.
But Gao Wen fully understands that after all, the Australian Open is less than two weeks away, and all players need to be careful. No one wants to miss the first Grand Slam of the year.
What's more, the opponent in the second round may not be a soft persimmon.