Match point

Chapter 322 Stalemate

Gao Wen had anticipated the difficulty of the competition and was fully prepared to face all possible situations. However, if he has not experienced it, he is inexperienced. After all, there is still a gap between the difficulty imagined with his brain and the actual situation. bigger.

It is precisely because of this that Winston-Salem's chance to compete is so important, and after missing it, Gao Wen can only try and make mistakes through actual combat.

After being broken by Isner, Gao Wen quickly adjusted his mentality and returned to Isner's serve.

However, Isner showed his maturity and sophistication, as well as his great control over his serve. With an excellent serve escort, he did not leave any chance for a second serve. Advantage, and sitting on the advantage of serving first opened the score.

At the end of the game, even though Gao Wen was always trying to create opportunities, Isner’s serve was impeccable, defeating all of Gao Wen’s attempts in the game to win the game, and strongly cutting off all possibilities—— After Wen successfully secured his serve, Isner also successfully secured his serve.

This also directly verifies that sentence. Facing Isner, losing a serve may mean losing a set.

"6:3".

Isner won the second set to level the score and put the two players back on the same starting line.

In Hu Litao's words,
"This is equivalent to changing the best-of-five set to the best-of-three set. Of course, physical exertion is another issue, but the next third set is the commanding height of strategic deployment. The competition between the two sides should be very fierce. Both players want to go over the score first and set the stage for victory."

From the first two sets, it can be seen that Gao Wen really has the ability to fight against Isner. This is also a common phenomenon in men's tennis. The difference in hard power between the top [-] players is actually not that big obvious.

But, the point is, can the game be played out?How much strength can be exerted?How long can it last?Can it be stable at critical moments?How big is the difference between peaks and valleys?Will there be enough weapons to fight to the end in a best-of-five match?
These details are the difference between a hundred players before and a hundred players after.

The best case is Zverev Jr.

Two months ago, Zverev Jr., who was still ranked outside the 19 in the world, was able to perform well in the ATP Championship level with [-] points, defeating four players in the top [-] in the world in a row - the highest ranking was Youzhny, No.[-], made his stunning debut.

Two months later, Zverev Jr., who was already ranked close to No. 150 in the world, arrived in New York with great ambitions to participate in the qualifying round of the US Open. However, he lost in the second round to an unknown player ranked No. 140 in the world, Turkey. Marcel-Ihan (Marsel-Llhan), missed the race.

So, is Zverev Jr. not strong enough?Obviously not, but he failed to find a way to show his full strength and run through it all the way.

In fact, by 2021, young players still have not been able to break the Grand Slam domination of the Big Four, and the same is true.

Young players have already seized the title in the ATP Masters. Almost all of the nine Masters championships throughout the year have been captured by young players one after another. However, there is still no breakthrough in the Grand Slam. It is definitely not the reason for lack of strength. Level regulation and critical moment play, this is the key.

At this moment, the same is true for the game in front of us.

At least judging from the situation in the first two sets, when facing Isner, Gao Wen's confrontation ability was not inferior at all, but when entering the third, fourth and even the final set, Gao Wen was able to maintain his strength. Is this the batting state?Entering the crucial moment of deciding the suspense of the outcome, can Gao Wen keep his mind clear like he did in the first tie-break?

After all, standing opposite was Isner, who had set the record of "70:68" in the final set.

Competitive sports have never been that simple. There are too many possibilities in a "play on the spot".

really!

The third set became the commanding height of tactics. Both Gao Wen and Isner realized that this was a match that determined the trend of the game. Both sides showed their best performance without reservation.

Especially after two sets of exploration, the two players have now adapted to each other's style and ability, which also made the third set even more anxious.

"1:1".

"2:2".

"3:3".

……

The two players were at a stalemate all the way, and because of the decline in physical strength, there were fluctuations in their serve games, and break points appeared frequently.

Before and after, Gao Wen created four break points and missed all of them; Isner created seven break points and missed all of them.

At the critical moment, the serving side can always improve its state in time, save the break point with a better performance, and keep the serve in one go, and then the two sides remained deadlocked until the end of the game.

"6:6".

No one was able to get the count, and the third set entered the tie-break again. In the tie-break, Gao Wen was still the first to serve.

However, this time was completely different from the first set. The two players still gritted their teeth and concentrated their attention. The stalemate continued to the end.

The small score, from "1:1" has been deadlocked to "6:6", the staggered score has never widened the gap, and the tense atmosphere is suffocating.

Because neither side had a break point, at "5:5", Isner won his second serve point and took advantage of the opportunity to get the first set point in the third set. However, Gao Wen Unmoved, with a beautiful serve to attack, he quickly recovered the inventory.

As a result, the score was tied again, "6:6".

Then, the two players are about to switch places for the second time in the tie-break, and either side must win two points in a row to win.

"The set score is '1:1', the game score is '6:6', and the small score is also '6:6', just like the whole third set, and just like the whole game, the situation is still very stalemate, very very stalemate, No one has been able to close the gap."

"Obviously, both players are in a high state of concentration, not giving an inch, fighting strong, and now, every point is worth a thousand dollars."

"Any side, no matter who they are, as long as they can win this tie-break, they will be able to seize the advantage at the psychological level."

"Let's see now, at the critical moment, who is more daring to attack."

"Teacher Hu, what do you think?"

In the studio, the bubbling air is almost suffocating. People watching the game are always more nervous and anxious than those on the court, and their hearts seem to burst at any time.

Faced with Zhan Jun's question, Hu Litao still maintained his professionalism and analyzed the game as objectively as possible, although the balance in his heart was tilting wildly towards Gao Wen.

"Actually, Isner is a bit lenient right now, especially the forehand. Gawain made several head-on breakthroughs today, and his strikes were not strong enough at critical moments. He missed at least two chances to kill the board in the tie-break."

"However, Isner's own serve is very finely divided, and his serving state has always been stable, leaving no flaws, so he has always maintained a balance of power."

(End of this chapter)