ATP and WTA once conducted a set of data comparisons between female players and male players to give fans a more intuitive view of the new generation's playing style.
The new generation of women's professional tennis has emerged with a group of players with "violent playing style". Their explosiveness and power are very good, and the penetration of the entire shot has also been improved to a higher level.
Among them, Madison-Keys, the 2017 US Open women's singles runner-up, is a typical representative.
After data testing, her forehand shot is even better than Djokovic and Murray in terms of instant head speed and hitting power.
In other words, if you stand still and hit the ball without moving, and use your full strength, then Keys will not lose at all in a forehand confrontation with Djokovic/Murray.
Of course, in official competitions, shots and rounds are much more complicated than just a competition of strength and speed, that is another matter.
But there is no doubt that individual batting training in daily life can indeed create confrontation.
At the same time, female players' selection and handling of shots are more or less different, which is why male players occasionally train with female players.
Ping! Pong!
Ping! Pong!
Batting training is actually very boring and tedious. Hundreds of shots are played back and forth, mechanically repeated, repeated, and repeated.
But in Gao Wen's opinion, the training content is very rich. After Zhang Shuai regained her confidence, her overall batting quality improved significantly, and the training became interesting.
Zhang Shuai slightly adapted to the training atmosphere, regained some of his usual personality, and came up with an interesting idea:
"...Why don't you try to use all your strength and compete purely with strength? I want to see how many beats I can hold on to."
After all, strength is becoming more and more important in the entire women's tennis world. Once the level of strength is suppressed, it will be very difficult to overcome strength with softness.
A-Radwanska's ball feel and touch are hard to come by, and even she has never been able to go one step further.
For ordinary female players, maybe they cannot be so strong on the offensive end, but at least they should form a stalemate on the defensive end and try their best to withstand the opponent's full attack. Not only can they continue the round ball, but they also need to defend.
Look for opportunities to counterattack.
The suppression of "strength VS power" is like this, either the steps are pressed back little by little, or the return of the ball becomes shallow little by little.
If you can press the defensive return as deep as possible without retreating, this is an excellent return, also known as "anti-hit" ability.
The squat style of hitting the wall to return the ball, which has become widely used among female professional players, is based on this principle. It relies on the center of gravity to squat back to return the ball with force.
German player Angelique Kerber was extremely proficient in the use of this trick at her peak in 2016. That year, she was not only the player with the most wins in the WTA, but also topped the Australian Open and US Open in the same year.
network, ranking first in the world at the end of the year.
For Zhang Shuai, this is also an important training event. Now facing Gao Wen, he is undoubtedly a very suitable sparring opponent.
Gawain did not refuse.
but……
Just two minutes later.
Zhang Shuai looked up to the sky and sighed, looking at the tennis ball flying into the sky. It flew high and fell straight down. There was no way to continue flying forward.
But Zhang Shuai was not too frustrated. He smiled helplessly, took two steps forward, used the tennis ball as a football, and fired a volley.
At this moment, we can see Zhang Shuai's usual personality, which is no longer taciturn and impetuous because of the "curse of the first round of a Grand Slam".
"Oh, it seems there is still a lot of difference."
"I can't stand it, I really can't stand it."
"I thought I could hold on for at least seven beats, but it turned out to be a flying monkey after only three beats."
As a result, the volley was not accurate. The gravity acceleration of the tennis ball was still beyond imagination, so the kicking time was slightly slower.
Across the net, you can hear Gao Wen's bright voice carrying a slight smile along with the breeze.
"It seems that the high-pressure ball in front of the net also needs to be practiced again."
High voltage in front of the Internet?
Zhang Shuai couldn't help but be stunned. He looked up at the sky and then at the tennis balls bouncing on the ground before he realized what Gawain meant.
He took a long breath and shook his head helplessly:
Is there more than just one or two things that need training? There are new projects and new assignments every day. Obviously, there is still a long journey ahead.
Otherwise, why would she still be unable to break through the first round of a Grand Slam?
Twelve times.
The next Australian Open is her thirteenth chance.
Every time, the news media said, "This is it." She told herself, "This is it." Other teammates and other players also said, "This is it."
It seems that the whole world believes that this time is the best opportunity; but the cruel reality is that they miss it every time and fail every time.
She tried again and again, but she almost couldn't hold on any longer, and she didn't know how long she could keep fighting and trying.
Thoughts were surging in my mind, and my mouth squirmed, wanting to say something, but I remembered that I was not familiar with Gao Wen. This was only the second meeting. It was already very, very rare that Gao Wen was willing to agree to the invitation to practice.
She really shouldn't push herself too far.
So, he finally swallowed the words that came to his mouth, just raised his head, smiled at Gawain, and replied politely.
"Yes, there is no end to practice."
Originally, Gao Wen was joking, but when Zhang Shuai responded like this, the atmosphere became serious and the joke could no longer continue.
Training has come to an end.
Zhang Shuai trotted to the front of the net and looked at Gao Wen in front of him. He was young and energetic, bathed in the golden sunshine, and his whole body was filled with vitality.
"Good luck. We all look forward to your success."
Zhang Shuai said sincerely, not because of gratitude, but because he believed from the bottom of his heart that maybe Gao Wen could achieve great results at Melbourne Park.
Gawain laughed heartily.
"It's not just me, each of us has our own battle. I hope you can continue to fight, complete your own battle, and usher in a breakthrough."
It was a simple sentence, but Zhang Shuai could deeply feel the sincerity in Gao Wen's eyes. It was neither polite nor pleasantries, but full of sincerity.
The words were so heavy on her chest that her heart surged involuntarily.
"Thank you for practicing with me." This sentence was already on the tip of my tongue, but it was completely different when I blurted it out.
"When you stepped onto Arthur Ashe Stadium, did you believe you could win?"
After going around in circles, Zhang Shuai still couldn't hold it back, and the thoughts deep in his heart came out, and finally asked the most curious question to his face.
As soon as he spoke, Zhang Shuai realized that he was very rude, just like a reporter who couldn't wink, his eyes were burning with gossip, and he apologized quickly without waiting for Gao Wen's answer.
"I'm sorry, I'm really rude. It doesn't matter if you don't have to answer..."