Basel thought of the day's match as more of a practice exercise.
Zhen Chen was so weak that Basel wasn't interested enough to take the competition seriously. In Basel's mind, Zhen Chen's serve was not strong enough, and the whirl of his return was also average. Even his ball placement left much to be desired. His sparring partners were better than this guy.
As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together. Basel's friends were all top 20 players. His sparring partners were all good enough to be seeded in the Open tournaments. They really were much better than Zhen Chen.
However, Basel pouted, as he was dissatisfied with the score. In the first set of the match, the two sides actually tied 6-6. They were now both competing for the advantage.
"It seems I've relaxed too much today. My concentration must not be as good as when I usually practice. I'm even stuck in a tie." Basel shook his head with a bitter smile.
