Melbourne, seventh match day of the Australian Open.
The competition on this day was very fierce, with several focus battles. In the women's singles event, Serena Williams will face Jankovic, and Naina will also face Safina. In addition, famous players such as Mauresmo, Dementieva and Kuznetsova will appear. In the men's singles event, in addition to the contest between No. 6 seed Roddick and No. 9 seed Ancic, Federer will also face the challenge of young player Djokovic.
In addition to the ongoing games on the field, the most talked about topic is Zhang Guan's victory over Nalbandian.
Even a non-seeded player's victory over a seeded player can be considered an upset, and a non-seeded player's victory over a No. 8 seed is even more of an upset. And this unseeded player, Zhang Guan, who entered the competition with a wild card, is inherently topical. sex.
There are too many matches held at the Australian Open every day, and it is impossible for every match to be a focus match. When Zhang Guan defeated Grosjean before, although he attracted some attention, it was very limited. But Zhang Guan's victory over Nalbandian this time was completely different. After all, Nalbandian is a veteran and strong player, and he also has the title of the world's best backhand, and he is the No. 8 seed in the tournament. Being able to defeat Nalbandian is much more valuable than the previous victory over Grosjean.
Suddenly, the video of the game between Zhang Guan and Nalbandian became a hot topic among fans. Everyone wanted to know how Zhang Guan defeated Nalbandian. When the fans saw Zhang Guan playing in front of the net, they were all shocked. In today's tennis, almost everyone is using the baseline play in singles events, and the front-net play has almost been eliminated. This retro play, which has been almost no longer used by anyone, has come back to the world, and it has instantly become a favorite among fans. Focus.
Some older fans, especially those over forty years old, have experienced the era of Sampras at the net. At that time, playing in front of the net was the most popular style of play, so when they watch In the game video, when Zhang Guanyong played in front of the net, it immediately brought back memories deep in their hearts, and that kind of nostalgic feeling burst out. This nostalgia is inherently a touching and beautiful thing, so many old fans in their 40s and 50s have become fans of Zhang Guan after watching Zhang Guan's victory over Nalbandian.
Among the younger generation, especially those who started paying attention to tennis after 2000, they have always been baptized by the baseline style of play. What they have seen is Federer's gorgeous baseline offense and Nadal's tough bottom line defense. It's a very new thing for them. Although the error rate of net play is very high, as long as you successfully make a net volley, it is indeed better to watch than the baseline shot. And precisely because the error rate is relatively high, the audience will find it more exciting. Therefore, some fans who like novelty and excitement have also become fans of Zhang Guan.
In addition, Zhang Guan is also the most famous track and field athlete in the world. He is a well-known sports star with a wide fan base. Some tennis fans themselves will also pay attention to other projects. When a familiar star achieves results, the attention itself will be several levels higher than that of a new face.
Within one day, Zhang Guan became the most popular player in the Australian Open, and people even discussed Zhang Guan more than Federer and Nadal.
…
In the evening, Federer ended his journey to the fourth round of the Australian Open. In the game, he easily defeated Djokovic, a young player with unlimited potential, with a total score of 3-0.
At this time, Djokovic had already shown his edge. His year-end ATP ranking in 2006 was 16th. At the beginning of 2007, after winning a series of achievements such as the Adelaide Hard Court Championship, The world ranking also rose to 14th. However, the current level of this tennis genius is still far away from Federer. Even though he constantly tried to attack Federer's singles with double backs, he eventually lost to Federer because of too many mistakes.
So far, Federer's promotion journey has been very smooth. Starting from the first round, Federer has defeated his opponents 3-0 in every match. According to Federer's current state, it seems that he has won this Australian Open championship. In the bag.
Federer took a dip in the jacuzzi for a while. When he walked out of the bathroom, he saw his girlfriend Milka playing with her laptop.
"Roger, Mr. Roche called just now and said that there was a very interesting game for you to watch. I have found the video of the game for you." Milka said while putting the laptop on the table. superior.
Mr. Roche in Milka's mouth is Federer's tennis coach. Roche can be said to be the most famous tennis coach in the world. Federer also spent a lot of effort to make Roche his coach. It can be said that he only hired Roche after visiting the thatched cottage three times. Deloche came out of the mountain. However, Roche only gives some advice to Federer before major competitions, and does not follow Federer to play matches around the world on weekdays.
Hearing that it was Roche's designated match, Federer didn't dare to be careless at all. He quickly wiped his hair with a towel, sat next to the sofa, and said at the same time: "Who is playing against whom?"
"Zhang Guan versus Nalbandian." Milka answered.
"This is it! I know, Zhang Guan defeated Nalbandian 3-0. I was shocked when I heard about it yesterday. I know Nalbandian's strength best, although he was affected by injuries. Although he is out of form, his sharp backhand is still the best in the world. And Zhang Guan can beat him, which is incredible. I wanted to find the video of this game yesterday, but I have to prepare for the game with Djoko That’s why I didn’t watch Vicci’s match.” Federer finished speaking and clicked the mouse to start playing the video of the match.
"Zhang Guan is a one-handed backhand! And like me, he also holds the racket with his right hand... His backhand return looks so familiar!" Federer said while watching the video.
"Of course you will feel familiar. Don't you think Zhang Guan's backhand is very similar to yours?" Milka said.
"It really looks like my backhand, but it feels more powerful than my backhand! But even so, it can't deal with Nalbandian! Look, Nalbandian's backhand changes the line, He can't catch it," Federer said.
The game video quickly came to the second game.
"This is serve and net!" Federer sighed, and then said: "Zhang Guan is the fastest man in the world. His mobility must be very strong. It is also normal to use serve and net. And this kind of The style of play really restrained Nalbandian’s backhand.”
"The timing of hitting the ball was very good, and the landing point of the ball was also well controlled. It was just where Nalbandian couldn't reach it. Well, Zhang Guan's serve and net looked very skillful. Just with his strength This serving and hitting the net is probably at the level of a Grand Slam seeded player! Where did he learn this technique? Did he learn it from Sharapova?"
"Huh? How can you catch the ball and hit the net! This is not a good choice for netting, but it was successful!" Federer's expression finally changed. At this time, he already understood why Coach Roche asked him to take a look at this. game.
"This ball is also going to the net! Is it a ball in front of the net? Beautiful! This ball is so beautiful, it completely mobilized Nalbandian!"
"Still on the net! This ball is unnecessary. Wouldn't it be better to hit it from the baseline! Sure enough, it went out of bounds. But this ball is not without possibility of success, it is just a little bit unlucky... "
Federer became more and more serious as he watched, and couldn't help but get caught up in the game. At the same time, he was also thinking about how he would deal with this kind of ball if he faced it.
The video was played to the third set between the two sides. Nalbandian was in no condition because he was worried about his injury. Federer also paused the video. He knew that there was no point in continuing to watch the video. Federer had already passed what he wanted. Get all the information.
"Yes, this is the way to play at the net! This is the world's top way to play at the net! This style of play reminds me of Sampras!" Federer's breathing suddenly became rapid, and he closed his eyes and remembered The scene at Wimbledon in 2001.
In 2001, Federer, who was less than 20 years old, met Sampras, the then king of golf, at Wimbledon. Federer defeated the king of Wimbledon on the grass, which was also Federer's famous battle.
But Federer knew that what he was facing was not the Sampras in his heyday. At that time, Sampras was already 30 years old and his speed was not as fast as before. Sampras' best net play had lost its speed. Support, the power is greatly reduced.
For Federer, it is a great regret not to be able to compete with Sampras at his peak. Especially in recent years, Federer has reached the top of the world, and this feeling of regret has become even more intense. of intensity.
But now, Federer has seen this world-class front-net play again, and the fire in his heart is burning again. He feels that he finally has a chance to make up for this regret!
"I really want to compete with Zhang Guan! Let's see when I can meet Zhang Guan." Federer immediately found the match list, and then showed a look of disappointment on his face.
"Zhang Guan is actually in District 3, and I'm in District 1. We won't meet until the finals! How could this happen?"
In the seed grouping of the Australian Open, the No. 1 seed is in Zone 1, the No. 2 seed is in Zone 4, the No. 3 seed is in Zone 3, and the No. 4 seed is in Zone 2. The semi-final matchup is between Zone 1 qualifying players and Zone 2 qualifying players. , the qualified players from District 3 will face the qualified players from District 4, which means that the players in the top half want to meet the players in the bottom half, only in the finals.
"It's only the fourth round now, and Zhang Guan's fourth round hasn't started yet. Can he advance to the finals? There is another Davydenko in Zone 3 where Zhang Guan is. They may be in the fourth round. They meet in the first final, and Nadal is in District 4, and may become a qualifying player in District 4. Zhang Guan needs to beat these two before he can enter the final. Can he do it? By the way, Zhang Guan's fourth The round hasn’t even started yet, let’s see who his opponent is in the fourth round!”
Federer immediately found the fourth round matchup table and saw Zhang Guan's opponent.
"Why is this such a difficult guy!"
The third chapter has been delivered. I am not used to this state of not saving the manuscript. There will be Chapter 4 tonight. Please give me a monthly vote and a recommendation vote!
(End of chapter)