Match point

Chapter 1183 Doubt about life

Where is the difference?
In fact, the difference in Nadal's hitting style and tactical layout can also be seen as the difference between clay and hard court, which once again proves that Nadal's understanding of clay is indeed unique.

One, rotation.

Someone once said that if you meet Nadal for the first time in your career, the situation will be very difficult, very, very difficult. On the one hand, because Nadal is left-handed, there are not many left-handers in the tour; on the other hand, it is because "Nano-style rotation", few people can adapt quickly.

Thanks to this, Nadal has always performed the best in the first encounter in his career. The official statistics also prove this. Among the Big Four, Nadal has the highest winning rate in encounters and has obvious advantages. Far ahead.

But this is not the first time Gawain and Nadal have met, they have met twice, and in Melbourne Park, Gawain beat Nadal in straight sets.

Naturally, Gao Wen believed that he was already fully prepared for Nadal's super topspin.

This is not to underestimate the enemy or pride. In the final analysis, he lacks sufficient knowledge of clay. He is too young and naive to truly understand the significance of clay to rotation, nor can he understand the truth that Nadal is known as the "king of clay".

change!
This is a matter of course, Nadal's shots have always been like this, especially the forehand, super topspin has become a landscape in professional tennis.

Turning and heavy, sinking and rushing.

This point can be deeply felt on hard ground, but on clay, the whole feeling needs to be magnified three to five times——

Only on red soil can one truly understand what is going on at [-] revolutions.

Red clay has two properties:
One is friction, which increases the tail force of rotation; the other is weight, which virtually increases the weight of the shot.

On hard courts and grass courts, those spins are often "swallowed" by the field, and players can also rely on their footwork and strength to grab some hitting points and complete the shot before the spin is fully released. ; but on clay, these powers will be fully released.

In the previous two meetings, Nadal's shots were like hitting the racket with a heavy punch, so the control of the racket needs to face a severe test.

In today's practice match, Nadal still hit the ball with a heavy punch, but this time it hit his chest directly. Not only the racket, but also the control of the upper body also had problems, and it also affected the footsteps. The whole aftertaste and tail strength can continue It dissipates in the ground, which really makes people feel the quality of the ball.

Moreover, not once or twice, but every time, one beat, two beats, three beats, and then the pressure will accumulate little by little, and the backlog will be heavy in the chest.

Especially when the footsteps are not in place, the effect of returning the ball is very direct, and the pressure brought by Nadal's super top spin will be further highlighted.

It is conceivable that the longer the number of rounds is, the whole situation of the balance of advantages will be further tilted in the direction of Nadal.

Of course, Gao Wen is not without opportunities, every shot may become a gap to reverse the situation, but the key is that he needs to take more risks and accumulate more energy. In addition, there is also the difficulty of hell that must not be ignored, and Compared with the hard court, it is one or two grades higher.

Second, attack.

On the clay court, Nadal's defensive ability and super top spin can be used to the extreme. The longer the number of rounds, the better for him.

Of course, if you want to break the deadlock, you must use defense as the basis and attack as the entry point to find opportunities and shorten the number of rounds.

Even if Djokovic is as strong in bottom line fighting ability, he dared to fight Nadal for six hours in Melbourne and had the last laugh, but he didn't dare to grind the bottom line with Nadal on clay.

From Djokovic to Tim, they were able to beat Nadal on clay several times last time, offense is the key, and their inspiration comes from the same person:

Soderling.

In 2009, Soderling gave Nadal his first career French Open defeat at Roland Garros, relying on the tough style of playing high and high.

That year, if Soderling had the help of a god, in the best-of-five match, the eloquent, smooth and tough offense was able to run through from beginning to end. From the first point to the last point, the hot touch was perfectly continued. The real interpretation of "going crazy" is to rely on offense to win.

Of course, no one was able to replicate Soderling's feat later, including Soderling himself. In the final of the French Open the following year, he faced Nadal again and disarmed in three sets——

After all, in a best-of-five match, it is almost impossible to continue the high-frequency state for three hours, and still face Nadal.

However, Soderling gave all players a warning:
Attack, that's the key.

Gao Wen deeply agrees with this.

From the triple kill of Djokovic to the consecutive defeats of Murray and Federer, and then to the defeat of Nadal at the Australian Open, Gao Wen firmly grasped a core idea:

Dare to do it.

As a challenger, as a shocker, if you are tied up and don't have the belief of winning, then you really have no chance in front of the Big Four.

but!

On clay courts, facing Nadal, attacking has never been an easy task.

First, the weakening of strength and speed directly leads to a decline in offensive effects, and the tactics of exerting pressure through ball quality often encounter obstacles.

What's more, Gao Wen is not a strong offensive player in the first place, and the power of purely hitting the ball is limited, so it is more necessary to complete the layout through rotation, line, placement, and tactics. Naturally, the threat of offense, efficiency, etc. etc. will be affected, and compressing rounds is not an easy task.

Secondly, the speed of the ball on the clay court is relatively slow, which will also affect the rhythm of the round, and the impact of speed-up and speed-changing assaults will be greatly reduced.

Therefore, Federer's variational style of play needs to be adjusted on clay, often requiring more patience and relying on defense to win opportunities for offense.

In other words, when facing Nadal, they need to use offense to compress rounds, create opportunities, and prevent Nadal from establishing an advantage; The defense patiently maneuvers to find opportunities.

Thus, an endless loop was born.

To sum it up in one sentence, if Gao Wen is going to use the Australian Open to face Nadal, he will have no chance on clay, not at all.

It can be seen from the score -

"1:5".

Gawain is in front and Nadal is behind.

It's been a long, long time since Gao Wen was so embarrassed.

In fact, the score is not a problem. The next game is Gao Wen's serve. The difference in the score is not as exaggerated as the numbers show. What really concerns Gao Wen is:
No chance.

Really no chance at all.

He couldn't remember the exact number, but in Nadal's serve, he seemed to have scored two or three points, and the whole confrontation could not be stalemate.

Such a situation will not make Gao Wen doubt life, because he knows that the "King of Red Clay" is definitely not in vain, but it will make Gao Wen think:
Where did I go wrong?After switching venues, the gap is so obvious, it must mean that there is something wrong with his tactics.

(End of this chapter)