Zhang Shuai, born in 1989, is a professional female tennis player from China.
In fact, Zhang Shuai became famous very early. In 2008, when he was only 19 years old, he passed three rounds of qualifying tests at the US Open and made his debut on the Grand Slam stage.
In 2009, Zhang Shuai upset the then world No. 1 Dinara-Safina in the second round amid the cheers of home fans at the Imperial Tennis Open.
Moreover, Zhang Shuai also performed well in the doubles arena. In 2011, he partnered with Date Kimiko to win the Osaka Open doubles championship, and has continued to have excellent records since then.
By 2011, Zhang Shuai was able to directly enter the Grand Slam main draw list based on his world ranking, without passing the qualifying test.
As of this year, Zhang Shuai has been in the professional tennis world for six years in the blink of an eye, and the slim girl has grown into a 25-year-old girl.
For a long, long time, Zhang Shuai was considered to be the most promising prospect among the younger generation after the golden generation gradually took a backseat.
However, the reality is cruel. These expectations and pressures have become shackles that bind Zhang Shuai. The younger Wang Qiang and other rookies have begun to emerge one after another, but Zhang Shuai has not been able to make a breakthrough in the professional arena.
, has been struggling hard.
For tennis fans, Zhang Shuai is best known for his shameful record:
Since he passed the qualifying test and entered the main draw of the US Open for the first time in 2008, until the French Open in 2015, Zhang Shuai stopped in the first round of all fourteen Grand Slam tournaments.
She also set a record of being unbeaten in the first round of the WTA Grand Slam main event. It was so tragic that it seemed to have become a tight curse later on, just like Tang Monk restrained Sun Wukong. Every time a Grand Slam event comes,
Every time, it would buzz in her head.
and!
Not only did she lose, she often lost with scores of "6:0" and "6:1". One was an egg and the other was a fried dough stick. It was such a terrible defeat that netizens who hated iron could not become steel started to cheer for her.
A shameful nickname, "Meal Mom" - it's all about breakfast scores, which has also become Zhang Shuai's dark history.
There is no way of knowing whether the curse exists objectively, but what is certain is that pressure definitely exists.
When losing becomes a habit, every time you stand on the court, you will start to question yourself, especially the threshold of the "Grand Slam first round", which you cannot cross time and time again, until you can no longer pass it.
If you continue to believe that you can win in the first round, the game will become more difficult.
In the end, I simply didn’t know how to hit the ball.
At this moment, it is no longer a competitive issue, but a psychological issue.
In fact, this year is Zhang Shuai’s seventh time participating in the Australian Open, and it is also the fifth consecutive year she has entered the main draw of the Australian Open. So, does she really know nothing about the subtle differences in game balls?
In Gawain's opinion, it should be half and half.
Half of it was because he didn't have the energy to pay attention. All Zhang Shuai's attention was focused on hitting the ball: power, power, and power again.
On the one hand, it is to form a confrontation with Gawain; on the other hand, it is so eager to strengthen its attack power to prove itself that it ignores the control of details.
She didn't notice at all that Gao Wen's hitting wasn't even as strong as Zhang Shuai's, because the ball used in the Australian Open was really not suitable for full power.
Half of it was because of too much pressure. Zhang Shuai always doubted whether he could score on offense——
In addition to the bad score, part of the reason for the nickname "Dinner Mom" is because Zhang Shuai rarely attacks in the game, and spends most of the time defensively, frequently playing ball defense on the bottom line, as if "
"Rainbow Cake".
Compared with the US Open, the ball used in the Australian Open is slightly heavier, which also means that the ball is struck more solidly and the force on the tennis ball is fuller and more sufficient, so the offensive effect is immediate.
It's like hitting a sandbag. You get excited as you hit it, and you can't help but push harder and harder, so much so that you forget that this is not a sandbag. The harder you hit, the greater the reaction force, and the flight trajectory of the tennis ball will be longer.
Difficult to control.
Perhaps, Zhang Shuai knew that the balls used in the Australian Open were different, but subconsciously ignored this.
Similarly, Gao Wen's reminder is not a real pointer, let alone the so-called popular science, but a way to attract Zhang Shuai's attention and let Zhang Shuai regain his concentration——
Does Zhang Shuai have the ability to be among the top ten in the world?
This point remains to be discussed.
Does Zhang Shuai have the ability to break through the first round of a Grand Slam?
There is no doubt about it.
At the 2016 Australian Open, Zhang Shuai passed the qualification test and entered the main draw. He faced second seed Halep in the first round. As a result, Zhang Shuai won in straight sets, causing the biggest upset since the start of the tournament. Not only did he eliminate Halep, he also
And ended his 14th Grand Slam first-round winless streak.
Not only that, after completing his breakthrough, Zhang Shuai was like a rebirth from nirvana, reaching the quarterfinals at the same Australian Open.
After that, Zhang Shuai advanced to the fourth round once at the French Open, the quarterfinals once at Wimbledon, the third round twice at the US Open, and the third round three times at the Australian Open.
Therefore, what Zhang Shuai needs is just an opportunity to break the psychological pressure.
The day before yesterday, Gao Wen met Zhang Shuai, Wang Qiang and the others at the training ground. Quite unexpectedly and out of the blue, Zhang Shuai invited them to train together.
Gawain agreed without hesitation.
Just like when Tim agreed to Gawain's invitation, there was nothing special about it. It was just daily life among colleagues.
Moreover, if he can bring a little help to Zhang Shuai's training and hope to see Zhang Shuai break through his inner demons as soon as possible, Gao Wen would be very happy.
really!
Gao Wen's reminder seems to have given Zhang Shuai an "excuse"——
It turns out that I didn't notice the subtle difference in the weight of the tennis ball, so my shots often went out of bounds, and my offensive quality was always hampered by mistakes and could not be improved.
She could stop blaming herself, find an outlet for her stress, focus entirely on ball control, and recalibrate her feel.
Slowly, the confidence and focus came back, and the quality of the shot improved accordingly. Not only was it able to maintain depth and line, but it was also able to create impact.
Correspondingly, the entire training quality also improves.
At this point, you can see the advantage of training with female players. Gao Wen can feel the impact of hitting the ball without losing his center of gravity. This allows Gao Wen to maintain high pressure and high confrontation at all times.
Adjust your batting style below:
Sometimes it is pure force, sometimes it is used to hit the ball, sometimes it is controlled, sometimes it is a transitional shot...
Never underestimate professional players, even female players. When they stand firm and start hitting the ball, the instantaneous explosion of power and speed is very powerful.
In the confrontation between forehand and forehand, Gao Wen became familiar with his new hitting method and power generation method over and over again, and slowly adjusted his feel.