Match Point

Chapter 554: backhand battle

The so-called "Grand Slam Syndrome" is known as a curse in the professional tennis world. From men to women, professional players suffer from it without exception.

In other words, after experiencing the fierce competition in the Grand Slam, the physical and energy consumption is very obvious. In addition, the excellent Grand Slam record will inevitably make the players bear the target and become the target of other players' challenges. One plus one minus Under the circumstances, the follow-up performance is prone to fluctuations.

In 2001, the Australian player Hewitt defeated Pete Sampras in the final of the U.S. Open, and then he participated in the Neon Tournament non-stop and won the championship. At the same time, he represented his motherland in the Davis Cup and ushered in two consecutive victories. As of 2021, he is also among all men's and women's players, the last player to win the championship in the first game after winning the Grand Slam championship.

So, what about the Big Four?

In 2003, Federer reached the top of Wimbledon for the first time. After the game, he returned to his hometown to participate in the Gstaad clay court event, but unfortunately lost to the Czech player Jerry Novak (jiri-novak) in the final and finished second.

In 2005, Nadal reached the top of the French Open for the first time, and went to Halle to participate in the grass court event the next day. He failed to adapt to the venue and was eliminated in the first round.

In 2008, Djokovic won the Australian Open for the first time. After winning the championship, he took a break to compete again, but still felt bad. He only won one game in Marseille and lost to the French player Simon.

In 2012, Murray won the US Open for the first time. After a full month of rest, he went to the Neon to compete. As a result, he regrettably lost in the semi-finals to Raonic, who had defeated during the US Open summit a month ago.

And the female players, even more so.

Especially for the new members of the "One Grand Slam" who won the Grand Slam championship for the first time, the Grand Slam syndrome is even more obvious. The reasons behind it are intricate, but completely understandable.

Because, not only the Grand Slam champions, but all the players participating in the Grand Slam must undergo the double test of physical strength and energy, and adjustment after the event must be a problem; After passing through, they all make the same choice:

Regardless of the Grand Slam record, after the event is over, they will not participate temporarily, but will go home to rest and adjust for a period of time.

Among them, aging is one of the reasons that cannot be ignored, but the more important thing is that with the increase of game experience, they also realize that the victory or defeat of a Grand Slam is often more impactful, and they are also ordinary people. It takes a period of time to digest and precipitate before being able to meet new challenges.

Similarly, Gao Wen is also learning this, everything is brand new; and Gulbis is no exception.

In the U.S. Open match, Gulbis faced Tim and played two sets first, with an absolute advantage in his hands. The victory was already in his hands. However, he encountered a strong counterattack by Tim and lost three sets. Flying like this was undoubtedly a blow to Gulbis' confidence.

Especially after breaking into the semi-finals of the Grand Slam for the first time at the French Open, Gulbis had higher expectations for himself. Losing is not the end of the world, but it is really unacceptable to lose in such a collapsed way, even if Farah Sheng's story was already a month ago, and it is still difficult to get rid of,

In the first round of the Imperial Capital Open, facing Fognini, who is not doing well, he can't feel it for the time being, but in the second round, facing Gao Wen, who is actively looking for a touch, Gulbis can deeply feel the pressure.

The match of "Gulbis vs. Gao Wen" was dubbed "the battle of the backhand" by the professionals. The ability of the two players in the backhand position is obvious to all. Even in a difficult situation, the situation can be changed, and the state of the backhand determines the lower limit of the game.

Sure enough, after the game started, Gulbis repeatedly tried to form a breakthrough in the backhand position—

Although Gulbis is not a player with strong offensive firepower, he is definitely a tough player who dares to fight.

He has victories against Federer, Djokovic and Murray, which is the best proof, and his tough offense and solid baseline stalemate are particularly outstanding.

However, in the face of Nadal, losing all seven matches in his career is the best portrayal of Nadal's forehand failure in the backhand against the left-hander.

Obviously, Gawain was not Nadal, so Gulbis put pressure first, trying to control the game and seize the initiative in this confrontation.

However, how did Gawain win the US Open?

In the face of heavy artillery attackers like Isner, Kyrgios, and Wawrinka who are fully fired, they can still withstand players who continue to output firepower, and they are full of tenacity.

Especially now that his own hands are not feeling good, Gao Wen relies more on the layout to create traps, shifts his focus from offense to defense, and completes the return of the ball with anticipation, movement, rotation, and wrapping. Although the defensive pilling rate has dropped compared to the US Open, the success rate is still excellent.

As a result, Gulbis was under tremendous pressure.

In the first game of the game, Gao Wen took the lead to serve. However, at the beginning stage, he didn’t find the feeling of hitting the ball for the time being. He made an active mistake and gave his opponent two consecutive break points in a blink of an eye.

"15:40".

On the first break point, Gao Wen performed very well.

Facing the pressure of the second serve, Gao Wen boldly chose the inside corner and challenged Gulbis' backhand head-on.

Gulbis tried to grab the second serve, but the rebound height of the serve was higher than expected, so that Gulbis grabbed the hitting point, but failed to suppress the rotation. Gawain's breathing space was given.

but!

Gao Wen did not directly attack with force, but suppressed the middle lane and returned a bottom line deep ball, almost repeating the line of the serve, throwing the offensive problem to Gulbis again.

Gulbis's backhand is very tough, and he made continuous small step adjustments to hit a backslash. With almost equal space in the left and right halves and it was difficult to tear apart the angle, the backhand attack was pressed to the bottom line of Gao Wen's forehand triangle area. Inside, forcefully tear the angle and break the balance of the round.

If Gao Wen's footsteps are a little slower, after hitting the ground and rebounding, he will continue to jump out, oppressing Gao Wen's position and swing~lightnovelpub.net~ However, Gao Wen predicted Gulbis's move in advance The batting line and footsteps were adjusted in a timely manner. Not only was it in place ahead of time, but also the forehand directly swept across the diagonal line. Instead of pursuing the angle and landing point, he suddenly adopted a flat attack to increase the speed and strength—

In order to ensure the safety factor of hitting the ball, Gao Wen did not pursue the dead corner, and finally chose to land near the sideline, and there is still two feet away from the out-of-bounds space. However, the relatively shallow landing point superimposed with strong side spin can make the tennis ball continue to go outward after landing jump up.

Gulbis immediately fell into a passive position.

During the continuous lateral movement, Gulbis' forehand still tried to exert force, but in order to ensure the success of the defense, the foot position had been pulled away from the baseline by nearly three meters. The landing point of the return ball is obviously shallow, and the arc is not suppressed.

Gao Wen immediately entered the bottom line, slapped a slash with his backhand, and entered the gap of Gulbis's backhand.

Easy score, save a break point.

7017k