It was a plain sentence, but it was as if one could feel the spread of blood between the lines, and a murderous aura quietly approaching the back of the neck.
Kogkinakis was shocked. He did not expect Gawain's response at all. Gawain, who was always chatting and laughing in front of the media, was like a devil.
The understatement concealed the lawlessness in his heart. In an instant, the presumptuousness and publicity of his friend Kyrgios became insignificant.
How does that saying come about: There are people outside the world, and there are mountains outside the mountains?
Because he was so surprised, he involuntarily stepped back, distanced himself, and looked at Gawain blankly. He took one step, then another. His staggering steps seemed a little weak, and he was almost unable to stand, and then he panicked.
He diverted his attention, but couldn't control himself. He kept looking at Gawain secretly from the corner of his eye.
The heart is beating wildly.
Kogkinakis knew that he was very embarrassed and useless now, but he was really frightened by Gawain just now.
On the contrary, Gawain remained unmoved and went through simple warm-ups step by step to prepare for the upcoming competition.
The third game is over.
In the end, Tomic defeated his opponent in four sets and advanced to the next round. He walked lazily and staggered to the players' tunnel, carrying a tennis bag lazily.
Boom boom boom!
The Hisense Stadium was filled with people, and the heat wave was coming like this.
As expected by the tournament organizing committee, today's Hisense Stadium was almost exclusively for Australia, and Tomic made a good start for the local players, which ignited the passion. The afternoon sun was ignited amidst the roaring cheers, and the sky was full of fire.
Come on.
Tomic appeared with a wave of heat, but his face was expressionless, and his whole body was filled with a kind of nonchalant casualness, just like a terminator.
Tomic glanced at Gawain and didn't say anything. He just walked straight to Kogkinakis, patted his friend on the shoulder, and said something in a loud voice.
"Win the game!"
He didn't hide his voice, and it was clear that he wasn't just talking to Kogkinakis.
In competitive sports, there is no grudge or grudge that cannot be resolved on the field. There is no problem that cannot be resolved in one game. All it takes is one victory to resolve all conflicts, all grudges, and all anger——
At least, that's the case for the winner.
Kogkinakis raised his head and saw Gawain raising his right hand again and raising his little finger. There was no threatening movement, he just said with a smile on his face.
"Promise!"
The sun was shining brightly, but Kogkinakis seemed to be able to feel the smell of blood permeating the air.
Tomic noticed something was wrong in Kogkinakis's eyes, turned his head and looked over, and then saw Gawain's movements.
Tomic didn't know why. He thought Gawain was provoking Kogkinakis, so he turned around and patted Kogkinakis's cheek.
"wide awake!"
"Stay awake! This is our territory, we have the final say here, you can do it, believe in yourself, you can do it!"
Kogkinakis regained his composure a little.
The last time we were in the Imperial City, it was an away game, but Kogkinakis did not back down, trying to provoke Gawain, and destroying his opponent's prestige at Gawain's home court. That was the real pleasure.
Unfortunately, it didn't happen in the end, and I lost to Fey Lopez in the first round. After going round and round, the opportunity came again.
Moreover, this time it is in Melbourne, Kogkinakis’ home court. Is there anything more perfect than this opportunity for revenge?
Thinking of this, Kogkinakis regained his concentration and courage, clenched his fists, and looked at Gawain without giving an inch, his blood couldn't help but boil.
He has been waiting for this day for too long, too long. It used to be for Kyrgios, but now it is for himself, to wash away his shame, and for his own revenge!
"Come on! Tannethy, come on!"
Tomic: "Come on!"
Kogkinakis: "Come on!"
The two of them said together, "Come on, come on, come on, hey hey hey! Hey!"
Good friends are good friends, and after making strange cheers together, Kogkinakis finally regained his youthful vigor.
Perhaps, as long as Gawain can be defeated, the shame can be washed away.
Perhaps, as long as Gawain can be defeated, the misunderstanding can be resolved.
Perhaps, as long as Gawain can be defeated, the friendship can be restored.
Everything can be achieved as long as Gawain is defeated. Thinking of this, confidence and belief returned to the body. Kogkinakis continued to jump on the spot, clenching his fists and shouting, cheering for himself, without the need for words.
, you can deeply feel the boiling blood.
He can do it! He can!
However……
Kogkinakis' confidence lasted less than twenty-five minutes.
To be precise, excluding the pre-game ceremony, coin toss, formal warm-up, etc., one hundred and ninety-three seconds after the game officially started, his confidence suffered a heavy blow like a head-on collision. Stars appeared in his eyes and he was dizzy.
.
"0:40".
As soon as Kogkinakis started his serve, he lost three points in a row and encountered three consecutive break points, which really caught Kogkinakis off guard.
In fact, objectively speaking, the game has just started, it is a little slow, and the feel is not good, which puts me in trouble. I need to face the test of break point at the beginning. This is very normal in tennis games, and there is no need to make a fuss. From the overall situation,
Look, tennis is a sport with a relatively high error rate.
What really shocked Kogkinakis was this:
Is the player in front of me really Gawain?
Yes, Kogkinakis knows that Gao Wen has grown rapidly in the past six months. He has won two heavyweight championships and his world ranking has soared. He is no longer what he used to be.
These are facts before our eyes, but since we haven’t actually played against each other, the feeling brought by those data is still not very real, which means that the sense of oppression is not real.
For Kogkinakis, his impression still remains on the challenge six months ago. At that time, he defeated Gao Wen in a panic and got a match point. He was only one point away from defeating Gao Wen.
, it was only one point. Although he encountered a reversal in the end, he still had the upper hand.
That defeat was tragic; but at the same time, Kogkinakis also firmly remembered that he could beat the enemy to the bone and that he had such ability.
Therefore, the only thing he needs to do is to stay vigilant, not to relax at the last moment, and then go all out, and victory will belong to him.
This is Kogkinakis's memory, a very real and very specific memory, and it was just six months ago, not that long ago.
Of course, after that, Gawain grew rapidly, but at the same time, Kogkinakis himself was also growing rapidly. He believed that his improvement was not inferior to Gawain at all.
From all aspects, Kogkinakis is not afraid of Gawain. To be more precise, he came here to defeat Gawain.
but.
but!
Is the monster in front of me really Gawain?
Not only can strength create a confrontation, but also the layout of the batting line, the choice of tactical timing, comprehensive... crushing, the entire game content is completely different.