Basel felt that today's game was really like a practice session.
Chen Zhen's strength was so weak that Basel had no interest in playing seriously. In Basel's view, Chen Zhen's serve was not strong enough, and the spin of the return ball was also very average. Even the choice of where to return the ball was not extreme enough. This kind of opponent is inferior to his sparring partner.
As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together, Basel’s friends are at least among the top twenty in the world, and many of the sparring partners Basel usually invites are Grand Slam seed players, and Grand Slam seed players are also I am happy to be a sparring partner for Basel. They are indeed much better than Chen Zhen.
However, looking at the score on the sidelines, Basel pouted dissatisfiedly. In the first set, the two sides actually tied at 6-6, and the tie-break was about to begin.
"I seem to be a little too relaxed today. I feel that my concentration is not as good as in usual practice. The first set actually reached a tiebreaker." Basel shook his head with a wry smile.
Basel felt that it was really inappropriate for him to go to the tie-break against a cannon fodder player. However, Basel is not worried. He is very relaxed now and is not focused on the game. Basel believes that as long as he focuses more, he can easily win the game.
Chen Zhen also didn't expect that he could actually play a "tiebreak" with Basel.
In this game, Chen Zhen basically has no tactics at all. He just has to fight for every ball. The opponent is Basel anyway, and he can't win no matter how hard he fights. He might as well fight hard, and every point he can win is a point. But the result allowed him to enter the first set tiebreaker.
If you don't look at the players but just the score, the audience will even think that this is a close battle. However, considering the gap in strength between the two sides, the tiebreaker in the first set was obviously caused by Basel's failure to enter the game.
"Bang!" The baseball hit the sideline and flew out. Basel did not catch the ball.
"ACE!" the referee announced without hesitation. He could see clearly that this was an ACE ball.
After hearing the referee's decision, Basel seemed very upset. He should have caught the ball, but he felt that the ball would go out of bounds, so he did not catch the ball. This is also a microcosm of Basel's overall state today. He is a little slack.
Basel looked at the score. The tiebreaker was now 5 to 6. Basel was one goal behind. More importantly, Chen Zhen on the opposite side actually got the game point, which was also the point of this set!
Fortunately, Basel served next, and he had the initiative.
"If we lose the next ball, we will lose this set." Basel thought to himself, but in fact, he didn't feel nervous at all.
Basel swings the racket and serves. This is still his signature topspin.
This shot was served very beautifully, with good angle, power and spin.
Although Chen Zhen caught the ball, the quality of his return was not high, and even his technical movements were deformed.
Basel directly chose to go to the net, dunked hard, and hit the ball in the opposite direction of Chen Zhen, scoring easily. Chen Zhen had no power to fight back.
The score in the tie-break became 6-6.
But then, Basel sent a double fault. The score became 7-6, and it was Chen Zhen's turn to serve again.
"This game is really close." Dai Li couldn't help but sigh.
Cheng Jianguo next to him didn't respond at all. He was too nervous to speak.
Finally, in the tie-break of the first set, Basel was superior and succeeded in winning the set and rewriting the total score to 1-0.
"Although the first set reached a tie-break, Basel still managed to win without any danger. However, I never expected that the players who advanced in the qualifying round would be able to reach a tie-break with Basel," the commentator said. .
Another commentator immediately answered: "Yeah, I didn't expect this result. I guess maybe it was because the opponent was too weak, so Basel played very relaxedly and didn't take it seriously."
Basel is indeed as the two commentators talked about, he is really relaxed now.
"If you look at the score alone, even I feel that it was very difficult for me to win this set." Basel took a sip of water, leaned back on his chair, and reported to the stands opposite. With a smile, it's obvious that he doesn't feel the slightest pressure now.
The second set of the game started quickly. Basel still looked relaxed and absent-minded, and then the game still entered the tie-break.
There were two consecutive tie-breaks. If you didn't know better, you would think that it was two players of equal strength competing.
But this time, it was Chen Zhen who won the tie-break. At the critical moment, Chen Zhen seemed to be possessed by Basel and scored two ace goals in a row. However, Basel himself did not show a very positive attitude and strong desire to win, and lost the tiebreaker.
The big score also became a 1-1 tie.
Although the score was equalized, Basel looked indifferent. He didn't realize that he would lose to the little-known Chen Zhen. At this time, Basel is like a gambler with a million chips in hand. He appears on the gambling table with a dollar a bet. Even if he loses 180 chips in a row, he only loses one ten thousandth. , not distressed at all.
Basel always felt that as long as he was a little serious, he could easily defeat Chen Zhen.
In the third set, Basel really became serious. He did win this set, but it only reached a tiebreaker again.
Three consecutive tie-breaks are very rare in Grand Slam matches.
The game that was originally thought to be over within half an hour now had to be played for an hour and a half, and the game only lasted three sets.
In the fourth set, the score between the two sides reached 5-5 in the blink of an eye.
"Should there be another tiebreaker?" Basel looked at the score and felt a little anxious in his heart.
Being forced into three tie-breaks by a player who advanced from the qualifying round, even as a tennis king, Basel's mentality was a little unbalanced.
However, the result made Basel even more depressed. He easily kept his serve, but then failed to break serve, and the two sides entered the tie-break for the fourth time.
"Four consecutive tie-breaks. This is the first time I have encountered this situation after playing tennis for so many years, and my opponent is a cannon fodder who advanced to the qualifying round." Basel looked at Chen Zhen on the other side of the bench. , carefully recalled today’s game process.
"In the first two sets, I underestimated my opponent. Later, this guy gradually adapted to my style of play. I also made a few mistakes that I shouldn't have made, and I wasn't playing very aggressively. I would have known this was the case. If so, we should fight quickly at the beginning of the game and resolve the battle as soon as possible." Basel thought to himself.
…
"7 to 6, 6 to 7, 7 to 6, 6 to 7..." Li Dai whispered the scores of these four games, and he couldn't help but sigh in his heart, the power of the title of "evenly matched".
In a Grand Slam-level event, Chen Zhen is undoubtedly a cannon fodder player, while Basel is the well-deserved number one in the world. The competition between these two people is completely on two levels, and there is no suspense. But with the blessing of the title of "evenly matched", the result is really "evenly matched".
"My dear, the effect of this title is too perverted. It can make a cannon fodder player inextricably compete with the world's top tennis king. This ignores the difference in strength."
Dai Li couldn't help but compare this "even match" with the rewards he had received before.
"At the beginning, the effect of the explosive power aura I got was not very high, and as the level of athletes improved, the effect became less and less obvious. Later, weight loss exercises, fat reduction exercises, relaxing massages, rehabilitation massages, etc. etc., it can only be regarded as an auxiliary effect. Although it can help athletes lose weight and recover, it cannot directly affect the competition."
"Although the morale-boosting manual and warm-up square dance can directly affect the competition, they cannot directly improve the strength of the athletes. They only allow them to obtain a relatively better competition state. As for flexibility yoga and physical fitness, they are regarded as enhancing skills. It can enhance a certain aspect of an athlete, but this enhancement is not immediate and requires long-term uninterrupted training."
"Athlete illustrations and replica cards can only be regarded as props to enhance my personal abilities. They have no effect on training or competition. Athlete patches and age reduction cards are props that directly affect athletes and can continue to function for a long time. It’s an effective prop, but the quantity it can be used is limited.”
"The coaching team pyramid and the coaching authority scepter will not directly affect the athletes, but they can enhance my personal leadership skills. The first one is called 'Iron Chain and Boat', which can enhance the cooperation between athletes. In a specific competition, For example, relay races in track and field can indeed achieve miraculous results, but this title will not directly affect the strength of the athletes. How fast the athletes should run, or how fast they should run."
"In comparison, the status scale can directly affect the status of the athletes, thereby directly changing the outcome of the game. In the prediction lottery box, a lottery can also change the outcome of a game. As for today's 'even match', it is even more It ignores the strength gap between athletes and makes a tennis king and a cannon fodder player inseparable."
"And these three props have only been obtained in recent times. The rewards I have received range from those that only assist athletes in training, to those that can directly affect athletes, to those that directly change a game. So It seems that as the level increases, the rewards I receive become more and more powerful.”
Dai Li suddenly felt a sense of fear in his heart. When he had the ability to change the outcome of the game, how could the game be fair at all
"A world-class coach has the ability to change a game. This is also the value of a coach. If an athlete is bad, and then after the coach's guidance, he is still bad and has not improved at all, then the coach What's the use?" The system's voice suddenly sounded from Dai Li's mind.
"But other coaches don't have systematic assistance. They rely on their own real abilities. This is unfair to others." Li Dai responded immediately.
"There is no fairness in life. From the moment human beings are born, their starting points in life are different. Inequity between people exists. This is fate and cannot be chosen by people. There is a higher one. The starting point in life is not a sin, it can only be said that he is lucky. Just like if you met me, that means you are luckier than others, so you have a higher starting point."
The system voice paused, then continued: "A knife can be used for many things, it can be used to cut vegetables, chop firewood, or hurt people, but the specific use depends on the user of the knife. From this perspective, I am the knife, and you are the user. So in the end, how you use me depends on you and what effect you want. Maybe sometimes, what you want The effect is not simply victory.”
"It's not just a victory?" Dai Li was slightly startled, and then he saw Chen Zhen on the court.
At this time, Chen Zhen's eyes exuded a strong fighting spirit, and his expression showed confidence.
At this moment, Dai Li suddenly felt a sense of enlightenment.
"No matter what the outcome of this game is, Chen Zhen has gained the heart of a strong man! Isn't this the result I most want to see?"
Thinking of this, Dai Li suddenly laughed.
Dai Li really wanted to help Chen Zhen, but Chen Zhen's talent was not the best and his strength was not very strong. He still had many areas to improve. For a cannon fodder player like Chen Zhen, it is impossible to go too far in the Grand Slam competition. Perhaps for this kind of player, gaining confidence through the Grand Slam competition is better than winning. reward.
…
In the fifth set, the two sides were still inseparable. Chen Zhen always had several lucky scores at critical moments, while Basel made many unforced errors at critical moments.
Chen Zhen was also very lucky. He successfully overturned the referee's decision twice when he challenged Hawkeye, making the referee feel hot on his face. However, Basel failed to challenge Hawkeye twice.
In the blink of an eye, the fifth set was tied at 6-6.
When this score appeared on the field, the audience exclaimed. The game lasted five games, with the first four games all being tie-breaks and the fifth game reaching 6-6. This made the game, which was originally expected to end in half an hour, exceed two and a half hours.
More importantly, according to the rules, the next step is to rely on a long game to decide.
The men's singles of the four major tennis tournaments are a best-of-five-set system. If the first four sets are tied at 6-6, the winner of the set will be determined through a tie-break, and the fifth set will be After 6 to 6, it is not a tie-break, but a long game decider.
Generally, tennis matches adopt a short-set system. The first player to win 6 games in each set is the winner. If there is a 5-5 draw, the first player to win 7 games is the winner, which is a tie-break.
In the four major Tennis Opens, when it comes to the deciding game between the two sides, they have to play a long game. That is to say, in this game, if the two sides tie at 5 to 5, the player must win more than six games and win more than two games against the opponent. Just won one set. Therefore, in long-game finals, scores such as 10 to 8 or 12 to 10 often occur.
The longest long-game final in history was at Wimbledon. The score was 70 to 68. In other words, in the final game, the players from both sides played a total of 138 games, and this game was played for three full days, with a cumulative total of 138 games played. The game time reached 11 hours and 5 minutes. It can also be seen from this score that the strength of the two contestants is really evenly matched.
In fact, the two players who can reach a long-set decider are really evenly matched. The two conditions for a long-set decider are that the score in the first two sets is 2 to 2, and the second is that the tiebreaker reaches 6 to 6. If Without two players of equal strength, it would be impossible to achieve these two conditions.
The relationship between Chen Zhen and Basel obviously has nothing to do with being "evenly matched". Before the game, no one would have imagined that the king of Basel, facing a cannon fodder who had advanced to the qualifying round, would actually have to play a long game to win!