Chapter 1078: Against Former World No. 1 Safin

At this time, on the third court, Yan Zhi, who had just finished the game, was a little depressed. She was eliminated in the first round.

"260 kilometers per hour? 30 aces?"

Looking at her Korean coach Cui Xijun, Yan Zhi almost bit off her tongue. She didn't expect Li Ba to be so good at playing tennis.

Nodding, Cui Xijun still said with surprise: "No one expected that Tiechui's serve technique would be so strong."

Yan Zhi looked at Cui Xijun. The coach's salary was very expensive, up to 3,000 US dollars a week, nearly 100,000 RMB a month, which was her biggest expense. He was capable, but still couldn't compare with coaches like Zhang Depei.

Like Yan Zhi, Peng Shuai was also eliminated in the first round. At this time, she also learned about Li Ba's game from the media and was equally shocked.

Zheng Jie's first round of the game is tomorrow morning. She is still training. It was not until Peng Shuai called her that she knew about Li Ba's game.

"He plays tennis so well? My God, 260 kilometers, how fast is that! What is the speed of Porsche?"

Zheng Jie said in surprise.

The next day, Gao Yuanyuan took the earliest flight to New York, and the 2009 draft began.

That day, Zheng Jie and Li Na eliminated their opponents one after another and entered the second round.

There is a six-hour time difference between London and New York. Although the draft is broadcast live here, it will not start until two in the morning. Li Ba's second round will start tomorrow, so he didn't watch it.

At six o'clock in the afternoon, Liu Baoan informed Li Ba that the second round opponent was revealed, the 15th seed of this year's Wimbledon, the Russian Safin.

After dinner, Zhang Depei and Liu Baoan sent Li Ba the sorted information about Safin.

Zhang Depei said carefully: "Iron Hammer, Safin is very strong, not in the same league as Montanes, he was once ranked first in the world."

Nodding, Li Ba flipped through the information.

Safin, born in 1980, is two years older than him. He is 193 cm tall, weighs 88 kg, holds a right-handed racket, is ranked first in the world, has 15 championship titles, won the Grand Slam US Open in 2000, and won the Grand Slam Australian Open in 2005.

Chang said: "Safin is 29 years old this year, almost 30 years old, but he has announced his retirement plan, he will retire after the US Open."

Li Ba was stunned. I am only two years younger and have just entered professional tennis. You are retiring?

Zhang Depei continued, "Although Marat Safin is strong, he is old. He has not been in the top 20 in the world for three years, so he has the idea of ​​retiring. This should be your chance. His condition has dropped sharply.

In addition, he has psychological problems. He is irritable and irritable. Throwing the racket after being eliminated is his signature action. Psychological problems are his weaknesses and your strengths.

With your current strength, you still have to win based on your strengths, use your serve to keep your serve, and use the net front technology to strive for a break.

In addition, he is a powerful hitter and his serve is also very powerful, but it has declined in the past two years. According to the current information, his first serve speed is between 200 and 205, and the second serve is about 165... By the way, he is still under a long-term contract with Adidas, and you and he have the same sponsor."

On June 30, Li Ba just got up in the morning and opened his mobile phone to see that Gao Yuanyuan sent him a text message about the draft. Harden in her hand was selected by the Thunder and became this year's third pick.

At 1 pm, Li Ba and his party came to the No. 1 court again.

There were not so many stars around him this time. Michael Jackson went to prepare for his concert, and some friends also had their own arrangements, but there were also seven or eight people, including Tyson, Guo Da, and Emma Watson, who followed him.

For them, Li Ba's serve was quite shocking and good to watch, and Li Ba's game attracted a lot of media attention. His game was also equivalent to a show.

In addition to these people, there were also Peng Shuai and Yan Zhi who were eliminated.

Like Gao Yuanyuan, Jordan rushed back to the United States. The Bobcats had a No. 12 pick in their hands, and he went to participate in the draft.

Before the game, the official arranged for Li Ba and Safin to be interviewed by the media together.

Safin was not alone. His sister Safina was also with him. She was also a very famous female tennis player and the first seed of the women's tennis in this Wimbledon. She did not have a game today, so she came to cheer for her brother.

Safina's sponsor is also Adidas. The three of them have the same sponsor. Today Adidas also sent the president of the British headquarters, Myers, to support the three.

Entering the media interview session, a reporter asked: "Iron Hammer, do you have the confidence to advance against Safin?"

"I never lack confidence." Li Ba smiled.

"But your technique has shortcomings. It is difficult to break Safin, and your serve is not enough to achieve all the serve. Once you are broken, you are likely to fail." A reporter said.

"You said it is possible, so I said that my goal for Wimbledon this year is only to advance to the next round. Now I have achieved my goal. In the next game, I will strive to play my strong points and strive to advance again." Li Ba smiled.

"In other words, you will strengthen your serve?" said the reporter.

"Yes, I will pursue the opportunity to break the serve on the basis of the serve." Li Ba nodded.

"Marat, facing Iron Hammer's serve to win, what preparations have you made?" The reporter asked Safin again.

Safin glanced at Li Ba and said seriously: "Go all out to win, this is my usual requirement."

Today's match attracted not only the media, but also many players who did not play today. The biggest names were Djokovic and Federer. One of them brought his wife and the other brought his girlfriend. Their arrival triggered speculations from the media.

At the beginning of the match, the two players played a coin toss. Safin guessed correctly and asked for a serve. Li Ba chose the side.

The first game of the first set began. Safin served.

In the first game, facing the experienced former world No. 1, Li Ba exposed his technical shortcomings. He only got one point at 4:1 and was successfully saved by Safin.

After watching this game, Federer and Djokovic breathed a sigh of relief.

In their opinion, Li Ba's skills were not even up to the level of first-class tennis players. At most, he was considered second-rate.

In their opinion, Li Ba's strong physical fitness became a burden. His excessive strength often made him hit the ball out of bounds.

After changing sides, Li Ba used the time to wipe his sweat and drink water to think about the next tactics.

Safin's skills are much better than Montanes's. It is really difficult for him to break the serve. In front of this person who is about to retire, he realized that his tennis skills are still far behind.

Therefore, as long as he plays the strong points of his serve as much as possible and keeps his serve, he will have a chance to win.

This is the same as the tactics arranged by Chang Depei before the game. Safin's overall strength is stronger than him. He can only have a chance if he breaks through with his strongest point.