"15-0!", "30-0!", "40-0!".
Nalbandian watched the score come to 40-0, with Zhang Guan's three consecutive serves, Nalbandian lost three consecutive goals.
"Thi is the kind of serve I hate the most, the volley!" Nalbandian stared at his opponent but saw that Zhang Guan had already delivered the fourth ball. With this goal, Zhang Guan still hit Nalbandian's backhand.
"I won't let you hit a volley so easily!" Nalbandian looked at Zhang Guan and then hit back at a tricky angle.
"The angle of this ball cannot be judged unless he is a very experienced player!" Nalbandian looked at the opposite Zhang Guan with confidence but found that Zhang Guan was running towards the direction of the tennis flight, and then hit the ball on the next beat.
"What? He predicted right!" Nalbandian's eyes revealed an incredible look. When he just returned, he could adjust the angle of the racket. The purpose was to make the return more concealed, but Zhang Guan still accurately judged the ball flight path.
"He was right!" Nalbandian gripped the racket angrily, and then quickly adjusted his emotions.
"It doesn't matter if you don't finish the break, there will be a chance after a while, but then it will be my service game, as the first set, I will continue to fight backhand with you. You can't win against my backhand with one hand." Nalbandian thought confidently.
In the third game between the two sides, Nalbandian started to serve.
"Drink!" This time Nalbandian looked very serious and he couldn't help yelling while serving.
As in the first set, Zhang Guan's one-handed backhand return, the points were quite satisfactory, and Nalbandian used his backhand, which is the powerful line-changing ability and began to mobilize Zhang Guan, and this time, Nalbandian chose the edge of the frontcourt.
Zhang Guan ran directly from the backcourt to the frontcourt, completed the return, and quickly retreated towards the centerline.
"This time you will be transferred to the backcourt, and then the next ball will come to a diagonal line, depending on how you catch it!" Nalbandian has already thought of the next plan.
However, at this time, Zhang Guan ran towards the frontcourt.
"Huh? Is this going to be a volley? Is he going to receive the ball with a volley? But this is not a good volley opportunity. If you force the volley, it will be very difficult. Do you think you are Sampras!" Nalbandian thought very disdainfully.
With the retirement of Sampras, there are fewer and fewer volley players, and very few are excellent. Most players choose the bottom line, such as Federer's gorgeous bottom line attack and Nadal's solid bottom-line defense, Including Nalbandian, he is a bottom line player.
If the volley technique was used ten years ago, there may be a lot of people who can complete the volley, but today, I am afraid that no one can complete the volley.
"He is a rookie, in the end, he is completely unclear about the situation, this ball is not volleyed opportunity, stupid!" Nalbandian snorted, and at this time, Nalbandian's pupils reflected Zhang Guan swinging the volley.
"Whoosh!" The tennis ball flew by and went straight to Nalbandian neutral.
The next second, the tennis ball hit the line, and then popped out of bounds!
0-15, Zhang Guan took the lead to win the next goal.
...
"Zhang Guan succeeded! This is not an opportunity to intercept a volley, but he succeeded!" Nalbandian looked at where the tennis ball finally landed and carefully recalled the process just now.
"The ball hit the sideline, almost out of bounds, it seems that this is a dribble balloon." Nalbandian relaxed a lot and began to serve again.
After the two sides held each other, Zhang Guan rushed to the net again.
"Volley again? How could he make this choice, this ball shouldn't be an opportunity for a volley. It's naive, just your luck, did you think your luck will continue to be good?"
However, the tennis ball once again flew towards Nalbandian, hitting the sideline again, and then bounced out.
"Is his luck really good? No, one success may be a coincidence, but if he succeeded two times in a row..." Nalbandian thought of a possibility, but at the next moment, he rejected it.
"Impossible, the kind of ball just now, I am afraid that only the level of the king, Sampas, can complete the volley interception. Federer can't do it, and Zhang Guan can't do it. I don't have to fight Sampras pre-net technique, I just admit defeat! It seems that Zhang Guan's luck is really against the sky today."
Nalbandian continued to adjust his mentality and issued his third point.
The two held each other again for a few points, and Zhang Guan again ran from the bottom line to the frontcourt.
"Come back? Think you can succeed every time? Sampras personally came and blessed you, but it is impossible to complete the interception before the net!" Although Nalbandian thought so, he stared at every action of Zhang Guan cautiously.
Zhang Guan did not run to the net this time, but stopped just in the frontcourt and chose to return the ball in the frontcourt.
"It turned out that it was just the ball back in the frontcourt." Nalbandian ran a few steps, then subconsciously cut out a slash.
At this time, Zhang Guan moved and again intercepted the volley.
"Zhang Guan hit another volley? The timing of this volley this time is very good! Wait a minute! He just returned the ball!" Nalbandian suddenly remembered Zhang Guan's move in the frontcourt and suddenly realized.
"Zhang Guan ran to the frontcourt to catch the ball, the purpose is to create this opportunity to intercept before the net! He expected that I would return to the slash ball! In the frontcourt, he would catch the opportunity to create an interception, this is completely the frontcourt technique, pre-net players will use this style of play." Nalbandian is also very knowledgeable and instantly realized that Zhang Guan currently uses pre-net players technique.
"Just a moment ago, Zhang Guan's serve was played on the volley, and in my serve, he has also been creating opportunities to serve the volley. It's not wrong. This is exactly the type of play he is using before the net. What's the matter? Isn't Zhang Guan a bottom line player? This is completely incompatible with Zhang Guan's previous performance!"
In the game against Grosjean, Zhang Guan showed two new techniques, namely Federer's signature topspin, and Nadal's turn, these were are all seen by Nalbandian.
Federer's signature spin-up serves, the follow-up is mainly the bottom line confrontation, and Nadal's turn is also a baseline technique. Both Federer and Nadal are athletes who are very spin-oriented, so they are all bottom-line players.
The front of the net is mainly based on small balls and flat hits. It is short and fast. It is impossible to play a strong rotating ball in front of the net. Therefore, in the style of the ball, the bottom line technique and the front of the net are not compatible. Although the bottom line players can also access the volley, they use the bottom line technique to create opportunities for volley interception, rather than through pre-net technique and pre-net play.
Every tennis player has a unique style of play and has its own best style of play. In the game, players also avoid weaknesses and maximize their strengths as much as possible. Zhang Guan's serving and receiving in the game against Grosjean is a bottom line technique, so it is natural for Nalbandian to think that Zhang Guan is a bottom-line player, and before Zhang Guan used the Sampras experience book, he was indeed a bottom line player. But now Zhang Guan has learned the experience book of Sampras, he has the experience and ability of the players before the net, of course, he can use the play before the net.
In Nalbandian's view, this situation is impossible. No player can have two incompatible styles and play styles at the same time. Even Federer, who is reputed to be flawless, cannot do this. The newcomer Zhang Guan in Nalbandian's eyes is a rookie, and should not be able to do it.
But Nalbandian will never understand that he is facing an all-around athlete.