Match point

Chapter 981 Looking Ahead
When Agassi arrived at the training ground, he immediately saw Gawain running under the golden sunlight.

Bean-sized sweat was pulled by the centrifugal force, flying and blooming. The whole body was dripping with sweat, as if it had just been fished out of the water. The gorgeous sunlight coated the whole body with a thin layer of gold, like honey. Melt with marshmallows.

Pelt was in stark contrast. Standing opposite the net, with no expression on his face, eyes condensed slightly, he could not find a single drop of sweat, and devoted himself to training meticulously. The barracks scene.

However, Gao Wen was very, very devoted, the sound of his footsteps rubbing against the pitch, as if his sneakers were about to catch fire.

Involuntarily, Agassi raised his head and glanced at the sun——

It is now February in the northern hemisphere, and it is still winter strictly speaking, but the picture in front of me always gives people the illusion of "midsummer is coming".

I couldn't help but take another look, and then I took a step forward.

Silently came to Sampras, lowered his voice and asked, "What's going on? Why did the intensity come up?"

Sampras was completely focused, staring at the court motionlessly, and answered directly without turning his head when he heard the sound.

"Gao Wen has gradually adapted to the intensity and is challenging Martin's authority. Therefore, Martin also took out the bottom of the box."

Agassi was slightly taken aback, then laughed dumbly, "This is indeed very elegant."

But when you really think about it, it's not surprising.

Even though he won the Australian Open, but against three giants in a row, Gao Wen still saw his own shortcomings, and there is still room for improvement in the game.

This is also the focus of their work for the next period of time, so Gao Wen's initiative to increase the intensity of training is completely in line with Gao Wen's personality.

Agassi noticed that Sampras's expression was slightly dignified, and he thought Sampras was worried, "Don't worry, this kid knows what he is doing, he won't be easily satisfied just because of the championship, he should have already aimed at the next one The goal, the next challenge."

Sampras came back to his senses, turned his head to look at Agassi, showed a smile, and his expression stretched out, "I know."

As if thinking of something, Sampras even chuckled a few times, completely unable to see the serious and focused appearance just now.

"Do you know what Gawain said?"

"Competitive sports are like sailing against the current. If you don't advance, you will retreat."

"The fans see Federer hitting the ball gracefully on the court and looking chic and handsome. In fact, in private, Federer also spends countless hours training. In the final analysis, they are a group of ducks."

Agassi couldn't help being stunned, "Duck?"

What kind of metaphor is this?
Sampras lowered his voice mysteriously, "Above the water surface, calm and elegant; below the water surface, fight hard."

"Haha." Agassi laughed softly, his eyes were full of smiles, "Staying with Gawain, I feel that I have learned a lot."

Sampras subconsciously nodded in agreement, but then remembered that he was surrounded by an old opponent, and immediately complained, "Otherwise, you let Gao Wen be your coach, are you ready to make a comeback tomorrow?"

Agassi was not in a hurry, nodded slowly, and said unhurriedly, "Okay. After all, I can still make a comeback, and someone is not good enough."

Sampras: ...

"You guys just like yin and yang." Sampras couldn't hold back after all, and rolled his big eyes.

Agassi also ignored Sampras—

If he was young, he would have to argue with this guy, who is the yin and yang; but now, this guy is just an old child, who will never grow up in his life, and the more he cares about it, the more he will hold on to it.

So Agassi calmly changed the subject.

"Since it's not about training, what are you worried about? The expression just now looked a little serious."

Sampras punched the cotton, unable to use his strength, opened his mouth, and wanted to fight Agassi for two rounds, but after thinking about it, he regained his composure.

If we say that, besides regaining the passion and enthusiasm of life, rediscovering the love of tennis and an irreplaceable sense of accomplishment, what are the additional gains of being Gao Wen's coach?
Sampras might say, the friendship with Agassi.

Of course, Sampras also doubts whether there was any real friendship between them when they were young and frivolous, or whether it was just a scene in front of the camera.

But it is undeniable that now, they can indeed sit down and have a conversation calmly, sincerely admire each other's achievements, and then make suggestions for Gao Wen together, grow up with Gao Wen and fight together. On the contrary, they are closer than when they were young. many.

Think of this-

"Because I have business to do, so I won't talk to you anymore." Sampras still couldn't hold back, and complained stiffly, and then returned to the topic.

"Exactly, there is something I want to discuss with you."

"The clay court season is coming soon, and I'm a little worried."

Strictly speaking, there are still two full months before the clay-court season. The so-called "immediately" is not so fast, but as coaches, they can't cram their feet temporarily, and must be far-sighted and comprehensively planned.

After the start of the new season, the Australian Open is the first important task. Before that, all their focus was on the Australian Open. Now that the Australian Open has come to an end, this also means that they must adjust their plans.

According to the ATP schedule——

In the third week of February, 250 races, Rio de Janeiro; [-] races, Marseille, Del Rey Beach.

Fourth week of February, 250 races, Dubai and Alpurco; [-] races, Buenos Aires.

In the next week, there will be rest and adjustments, there will be no ATP events, only challenges and hopes.

Second week of March, Masters, Indian Wells.

Fourth week of March, Masters, Miami.

Then, the clay court season officially kicks off with the first week of April.

In fact, the schedule is very clear:
January, Australian season; February, South American season; March, North American spring season.

In the middle, Marseille in Europe and Dubai in the Middle East are interspersed, but the impact is not significant. Overall, the ATP's event schedule is very clear.

All of the above events are hard court games.

January, culminating in Melbourne Park.

In March, the climax will be two Masters tournaments.

Indian Wells and Miami are both events in North America. The former is located in the deep desert of California, less than two hours' drive from Los Angeles; the latter is located in the south of Florida and is known as the nursing home in North America because It is sunny all year round.

Both tournaments are Masters with [-] points, second only to the Grand Slam.

Moreover, the difference from other Masters is that Indian Wells and Miami are both two-week events, with 96 picks——

It is more than the 56 picks of other Masters, but slightly inferior to the 120 eight picks of the Grand Slam.

In addition, these two events are both men's and women's competitions held at the same time. In addition to the four Grand Slams throughout the year, only these two stations and the three top events in Madrid are jointly participated by men and women.

It is no exaggeration to say that these two events directly compete with the Grand Slam.

It is precisely because of this that Indian Wells has always enjoyed the reputation of "the fifth Grand Slam".

From scale to level to weight, these two events are indeed the focus of the first half of the year, drawing a perfect end to the hard court season in the first quarter.

(End of this chapter)