"Strictly speaking, even my parents are not so sure sometimes."
The last sentence, a stroke of genius, was lightly ridiculed, with Gao Wen's habitual humor, so that Zhang Shuai was briefly distracted and chuckled.
But then, I regained my concentration and thought about it carefully:
A little wisdom, a big truth.
The words didn't sound complicated, and even a bit cliché, but after thinking about it deeply, I couldn't help but calm down.
In fact, it seems to be the case.
Although family members and coaches are the eternal backing of the players, and they must unswervingly believe that the players can win, they are still bystanders after all. They did not stand on the court and fight hard, nor did they experience the severe test of a fierce battle. When the game entered
Even if they are in a stalemate, they will inevitably waver.
The only exception is the players themselves.
Because at this moment, the only one standing on the court hitting the ball is himself, who knows his own state best and knows his potential best.
To be precise, the players themselves should be the most aware of the suspense of victory or defeat. In other words, if they don't believe that they can win, then why should they convince others to believe it?
Zhang Shuai couldn't help but think about a question:
When she stepped onto the Grand Slam main draw stage, did she really believe that she could win? Or did she have doubts deep down in her heart?
Thoughts, turbulent.
Involuntarily, Zhang Shuai began to question himself.
Gao Wen noticed Zhang Shuai's expression and stopped without going any further.
Because he knows that some things must be figured out by oneself, starting from the internal factors, and the help of others can only play a supporting role.
It is also because he knows that unblocking and relieving psychological pressure cannot be done in a hurry, it needs to be done step by step, and it may even take more time than imagined.
Before the breakthrough moment of "breaking out of a cocoon and becoming a butterfly" truly comes, we can only take one step at a time and make adjustments as we move forward. There are no shortcuts.
Today was only the second time they met. It was just an ordinary training session. They were not that familiar with each other. There was no need to talk too much. Give Zhang Shuai some time to settle and digest.
The quiet air was flowing slowly, and you could vaguely hear the bustling noise of the fans outside the training ground, mixed with the cries of cicadas. The whole world seemed to have pressed the pause button and watched quietly.
The traces of sunlight flowing on my fingertips make me miss the coolness of a bite of iced watermelon.
After two beats of delay, Zhang Shuai noticed that Gao Wen had not continued speaking. She quickly collected her emotions, came to her senses, and raised her head to look at Gao Wen.
Somewhat reserved.
She was full of ideas, but didn't know how to express them. After all, she was still a bit clumsy and not good at this. The unfamiliarity between them made the distance between them even greater. Her expression suddenly became awkward. She scratched her head awkwardly, and her hot sweat made her feel uncomfortable.
My scalp felt a little itchy, so I changed the subject randomly.
"I forgot. You must be under a lot of pressure at this Australian Open."
A very clumsy and abrupt change of topic, which made Zhang Shuai even more annoyed.
Unexpectedly, Gawain spread his hands, shrugged slightly, and put on a calm look. Then he raised his right hand and made a small width shape with his index finger and thumb.
"Not too much, not too much, just a little bit, just a little bit."
"So far, I'm coping, but if it goes any more, I might not be able to breathe, and I'm not sure if Melbourne Park is spacious enough for me to hide my tracks."
With a move or a joke, the atmosphere became cheerful again. Zhang Shuai couldn't hold back and laughed heartily——
Maybe, the Grand Slam is not that scary after all.
To be more precise, the Grand Slam should be aspirational, right? Every player who can reach the Grand Slam stage should enjoy the game.
Judging from Gawain's attitude, it seems that the layers of pressure do not exist at all. The summer sunshine in the southern hemisphere is filled with a sense of comfort and briskness on vacation, which makes people involuntarily think of the surfers on the coastline who are riding the wind and waves to embrace nature, with their arms wide open.
The arms wander between the blue sky and the sea.
People who don't know the reason think that the media reporters are just shouting on social networks and are not embarrassing Gao Wen.
However, looking at the press conference, it was a different story, one that was staggering and almost suffocating.
Bustling and bustling.
Full and full.
The mountains and seas of people are so dense that there is no water;
There's not even room to stay.
Yu Jia now finally understands what it feels like for sardines to be crowded into a can. Believe him, he would be happier if he didn't know this feeling.
He deeply felt that he might need an oxygen bottle, but the funny thing was that there was no room for an oxygen bottle indoors, and the ants were probably moving urgently.
Some people may say that they have never seen the big world, so what is there to make a fuss about? After Gao Wen won the US Open, there were still few scenes, big and small?
Yu Jia absolutely disagrees.
Before Gao Wen was born, and after Gao Wen's sudden rise, Yu Jia had experienced countless big scenes in professional sports in different periods. Moreover, he was a tough man who had experienced the baptism of the Chinese Spring Festival. How could he start just because of a small crowd?
Looking for oxygen bottles?
but--
First of all, Gao Wen just won the double championship in Doha last week, showing his good form, and took the lead to become the first batch of players to come into sight in the new season.
Secondly, this is the first Grand Slam tournament after the US Open.
Thirdly, the Australian Open is the only Grand Slam event in the Pan-Pacific region. In addition to the Chinese media, all media reporters from the entire Asia are here.
All kinds, all kinds.
So, a grand occasion occurred.
Obviously, the close contact between the Australian Open officials and China also played an important role. In the arrangement of the pre-match press conference, Gao Wen received the highest treatment:
Like Federer, Nadal, and Serena Williams, they used the No. 1 press conference room; while Djokovic and Murray were squeezed into the No. 2 press conference room.
Such treatment would make ordinary fans exclaim, "How is that possible!"
Leaving aside the three-time runner-up Murray for the time being, let’s just talk about the four-time champion and world No. 1 Djokovic. How could he be squeezed out of the No. 1 press conference room?
What kind of treatment is this?
But senior fans who are really familiar with the Australian Open are not surprised. This is not the first time they have treated top players like this, and it will not be the last time.
You know, this is the organizing committee that "arranged the games of local unseeded players to the center court and arranged Serena Williams on the second court."
At the same time, this is also the organizing committee that "uses doubles matches to crowd out singles seeded players matches so that local players can enter the center court."
Federer and Nadal, known as the "global home court", also occasionally encounter cold reception here - not much, but occasionally they have to take a back seat in front of the host players; not to mention Djokovic.
What about Murray?
The most important thing is that, as the only Grand Slam event in the Pan-Pacific, the Australian Open and China have always had a close relationship and cooperated in all aspects.