Match point

"Oh, oh oh oh, oh God!"

"incredible!"

"Ace return, Gao Wen fought in an extremely passive situation, hit a return ACE, and ended the point neatly."

"The situation has undergone subtle changes."

"In the last game, Gao Wen led '40:0' in his own serve, but was caught up by Istomin to tie the game; in this game, Istomin led '30:0' in his own serve. 'Leading, and now being chased by Gao Wen to tie the score, the atmosphere of the whole game is a bit subtle, and the mentality fluctuates very obviously."

"Wow!"

"Now the game is at a critical moment. Although Istomin still leads the score, Gao Wen is pulling back bit by bit. The situation is still unclear."

"The next point is a test, for both players."

"Psychologically speaking, Gao Wen is undoubtedly No.1 among the new generation of players with the best ability to interpret and grasp the game. He knows how to seize opportunities."

"But the key point is that from the perspective of state, Istomin is the dominant side in this game. This is his serve. We need to pay attention to a statistic. In today's game, he has not lost Served, not even many break points, just three."

"So, next, how will the two players choose?"

buzzing...

The entire No. [-] stadium became quiet again after a short hustle and bustle. There was not a single sound, but it was precisely this quietness that made the tense and depressing atmosphere spread. The heart that hit the chest hard seemed to burst at any time. A thin layer of sweat seeped out.

"30:30".

Istomin felt the crisis, not the one whose life was hanging by a thread, but the one that was gradually approaching. He could still save and change, so he didn't panic for the time being. Instead, he stood firm and launched a vigorous counterattack. After one point, he regained his offensive touch.

—Istomin, firmly gain the upper hand.

In the first zone, a close serve with a speed of 188 kilometers per hour found the line accurately, successfully squeezed Gao Wen, restrained Gao Wen's serve attack, and the quality of the return serve was also unsatisfactory. For Tomin, this was an opportunity to attack, and he went straight to it without hesitation.

As mentioned earlier, Istomin's batting is somewhat similar to Djokovic's in some respects. The most typical point is that he lacks explosive power.

Istomin's offense is not the type of ping-pong-pong, vigorous and powerful - of course, in terms of strength, he is better than Kei Nishikori, but his strength does not have the energy of a sudden burst, and is often sustained The output is ground and average, so his offense often has a consistent rhythm.

That is to say, there is no combination of fast and slow, alternating light and heavy changes, and the continuous output of power does not have the energy to drop ten times with one force. In the end, it must be suppressed through the distribution of landing points, and finally through finding gaps and fast connections. Seek the winning point.

In this game, Gao Wen has been unable to find the sense of the ball for a long time, so that he has not been able to put enough pressure on both offensive and defensive ends of Istomin, giving Istomin enough room to play, and let himself fall into a passive position. Tomin's offense also scored frequently.

However, in this round, Gao Wen slightly changed his strategy——

Fight.

In fact, grass courts are not suitable for fighting. This is a classic tactic on clay:

Rely on the control of the landing point to continuously send the tennis back to the opposite court; and rely on the combination of different hitting techniques to continuously test the opponent's offensive ability, continue to accumulate and stack the offensive pressure through long rounds of see-saw, and finally find the space for defensive counterattack File, twist to win.

The same tactic, on a grass court, becomes extremely difficult due to the low bounce and fast-paced field characteristics, and it is easy to fall into a passive position.

To be precise, clay courts are suitable for a variety of styles. Although offensive players may be slightly weakened, they can still find a space; grass courts are not, this is the world of offensive players, and defensive counterattack players can hardly survive here. space--

It can be said to be extreme, but it can also be said to be vivid.

From the moment he entered the grass-court season, Sampras kept emphasizing that Gawain must forget all the clay-court tactics and enter a new mode:

Attack, attack, attack.

In the first two sets of today's match, Gao Wen also did the same, but the effect was not satisfactory, and the most important thing was the feeling of the ball.

Gao Wen is a player who relies on his head to play, so he began to think about how to adjust his own game.

He believes that Sampras' tactical strategy is correct, and that offense is the correct way to open the grass field. He is not going to subvert and deny this. He also still needs to face the same problem.

However, when you have a poor sense of the ball, attacking rashly is like a headless chicken. Not only is it ineffective, but it will also make yourself passive, just like Kyrgios in the Queen's Club Cup. Wen fought, and Kyrgios beat himself.

Therefore, from the beginning of the third set, Gao Wen consciously increased the entanglement of rounds and adjusted the rhythm of the game through the tactical combination of bottom line rounds.

On the one hand, looking for the feel of the ball is also looking for offensive touch; on the other hand, disrupting Istomin's rhythm and entering his own comfort zone as much as possible.

The effect can be seen directly from the score. In the third set, Gao Wen's score reached five for the first time, a slight improvement compared to the first two sets.

Although the speed is not fast, Gao Wen is indeed groping for his grass style——

Like the clay court season, this requires a process, but this time, Gao Wen must continue to complete this process on the stage of Wimbledon.

Sight, return to the point in front of you.

The tug-of-war was a situation deliberately created by Gao Wen.

Gao Wen noticed Istomin's impatience, and hoped to win this point and even this round as soon as possible, regain his footing, take the lead again, and put the pressure on Gao Wen's side as much as possible.

Therefore, Gao Wen's first task was to delay the game, and let Istomin's turbulent emotions continue to ferment and continue to be uneasy through such a see-saw.

Maybe, he can get this point, maybe he can't; but more important than the score is the layout, and he needs to shake Istomin's belief.

The round ball is formed like this.

Originally, Istomin's attack was not explosive. If Gawain didn't take the risk of attacking, but contained Istomin's attack through the distribution of landing points, then the back-and-forth see-saw could easily be stalemate——

Grass court grinds abruptly into a clay court game.

Back and forth.

ten rounds.

Mutual exchange.

Fifteen rounds.

stalemate.

In the blink of an eye, it was already twenty rounds. Istomin completely dominated the attack, but the route and landing point were not threatening, so he did not pull out the gap for a long time. Running all over the field, the rounds that come and go always maintain a balance of power without breaking the balance.

It can be clearly felt that the air is slowly clinging——

25 rounds, the stalemate continues!