There are many lawn tennis courts in the UK. After Zhang Guan arrived in the UK, he rented a lawn tennis court in Newbury, Berkshire. Newbury is not far from Wimbledon, and it is also a very suitable place for vacation in the UK. It is better to train Zhang Guan adaptively.
"Mr. Zhang, you should be quite satisfied with this site! The lawn I just sorted out is not worse than Wimbledon!"
The person speaking is Richard Coffield, who runs the tennis court.
"Thank you very much, Mr. Coffield, this is very good, very suitable for my training." Zhang Guan answered.
Zhang Guan doesn't know much about the grass field, but Coach Zhang is very satisfied with this field.
"If you have any other needs, you can call me at any time, and my family lives nearby." Coffield continued, "Newbury is not big, if you come here with any problems you encountered, come find me."
Coffield seemed very enthusiastic, not at all like a traditional Englishman, but made Zhang Guan uncomfortable.
At the entrance of the stadium, a 13- to 14-year-old girl looked around, and then she yelled at Coffield, "Dad, Mom wants you to buy some lettuce on the way back."
"Okay, dear." Coffield beckoned, motioned her to come, and said to Zhang Guan, "This is my youngest daughter, Hermione. At the age of fourteen, I also have an elder daughter and a son. "
The name Hermione is very common in the UK. In Zhang Guan's memory, several Hollywood female stars have this name.
Hermione's hair is very beautiful, with long dark brown hair and long blond hair. She is about 1.56 meters tall. She is relatively tall at the age of fourteen, but she looks a bit thin.
"Oh, you are Zhang Guan!" Hermione approached and saw Zhang Guan with a surprised look on her face. Then she said to Cofield, "Dad, you said that someone wants to rent a tennis court this morning. Is it Zhang Guan?"
Without waiting for Cofield to speak, Hermione came forward, "Zhang, can I take a picture with you?"
"Of course." Zhang Guan nodded, and Hermione immediately pulled out her phone and stopped Zhang Guan from taking a look with excitement.
Coffield showed some helplessness. This young girl, at this age, what she likes the most is to show off, these photos, probably let Hermione show off at school for several days!
...
Coach Zhang pointed to the court under his feet and said, "The grass field is the one with the least friction, and the ball bounce is also the lowest, probably only three-quarters of the hard ground."
Zhang Guan nodded and said yes. The friction between the tennis ball and the ground depends on the smooth surface of the ground and the contact area between the ball and the ground. Among them, red clay is naturally the least smooth and has the largest contact area, while the grass is the smoothest and has the smallest contact area.
Coach Zhang then said, "In the grass field, after the ball hits the ground, there is an obvious slip phenomenon, which makes the time for the player to prepare to hit the ball greatly reduced. At the same time, the grass cannot be covered as uniformly as other fields, and the foundation is also uneven. It is uneven, so the rebound of the ball on the grass is very irregular. Also, as the game progresses, some areas of the grass will be smoothed due to the athletes running for a long time, so it is more difficult to grasp the direction of the ball. Also in addition to being familiar with grass performance, athletes are required to have good predictability and agility in response to changes."
"Playing grass courts should use as many cutting balls and on the netplay as possible. The power of cutting grass on the grass is more threatening than other venues, but it is difficult to play online. Because the speed of the ball back and forth is fast, there is not enough time, even if you go to the net and face the ball much faster than other venues, the adjustment of the body technique is also very hasty, the grasp of the interception in front of the net is not very high, even Sampras during that year will have a lot of inexplicable mistakes. But if you don't choose to play at the net, you should stay on the bottom line, because the rebound of the ball is too low, it is more difficult to deal with the rebound on the ground than it is before the net."
"Wimbledon recommends that you use the bottom line. Even Federer relies on precise chopping and frequent net access to get Wimbledon's four consecutive championships. In the past three decades, Wimbledon only has Conners, Agassi, and Hewitt who have won as pure bottom-line players."
"Another advantage of the grass-court is that the service is much more powerful, especially the high-speed flat serve, which is the most lethal weapon at Wimbledon. On the one hand, it is difficult to receive the service, the friction speed of the ball through the grass is small, and the bounce height is low. The reaction space for the receiver is very small. You have a huge advantage at this point."
"In general, when playing grass court games, you have to attack. Whoever has a sharper attack will win." Coach Zhang said with a voice, and then said, "So I think Wimbledon is a paradise for you! You have the strongest serve in the world, and you also have the most powerful pre-net technique in the world, as well as the most recent set of running attacks, which can make up for the shortcomings before the net. At Wimbledon, your strengths are all multiplied, I even think that I can celebrate the Challenger Cup you will win at Wimbledon in advance!"
In the following days, Zhang Guan started training on the grass field, and when Zhang Guan slowly became familiar with the characteristics of the grass field, Coach Zhang's sparring seemed a little unqualified. When Coach Zhang was a player, he was right. The grass field is not very good for him. After retiring, he now faces Zhang Guan on the grass scene and it becomes difficult to connect the server.
...
Zhang Guan walked down the stadium with some fatigue and practiced the ball for one afternoon in a row. Zhang Guan's physical fitness also felt a little tired.
"Do you want to drink water?" The little girl Hermione came over with a bottle of water and handed it to Zhang Guan.
"Hermione, when did you come? Didn't you go to school today?" Zhang Guan took the water bottle.
Hermione is now a regular visitor to the stadium. She often visits Zhang Guan for training and sometimes brings one or two classmates together. Zhang Guan doesn't care about this. In Europe and the United States, a girl of this age is probably the main force for star chasing.
"Today is the weekend, my mother said I can stay here all afternoon, I have been watching your practice!" Hermione raised her head, staring at Zhang Guan with wide eyes, waiting for Zhang Guan to drink a bottle of water. She took the empty bottle again.
At this moment, Coach Zhang's voice sounded, "Zhang Guan, who do you think is coming!"
Zhang Guan looked in the direction of the entrance and found that Sharapova walked in with her bag on her back.
After the French Open, Sharapova went to the Birmingham Classic to warm up for the upcoming Wimbledon, so he was temporarily separated from Zhang Guan. The Birmingham Classic had just ended yesterday, but Sharapova lost to Jankovic in the final and could only finish second.
"Hermione, that's Sharapova, do you know?" Zhang Guan said as he walked towards Sharapova.
"Of course I know! It's your girlfriend..." Hermione pouted in discontent.
...
Sharapova leaned on Zhang Guan's shoulders, looking at Hermione's back, and said mischievously in Zhang Guan's ear, "I feel that the little girl likes you very much!"
"Like me? Don't joke, she is still a 14-year-old child." Zhang Guan reached out and grabbed Sharapova.
"It's fourteen years old, but only seven years younger than you." Sharapova stared at the crown.
Zhang Guan froze for a moment, then said with a smile, "God, Maria, you wouldn't be jealous! My beautiful and sexy goddess is eating jealousy from a 14-year-old girl."
Sharapova did not respond, but went on to say, "You have to believe me, and its a woman's intuition!"