FULL MATCH | LIN Yun-Ju vs MA Long | MS F | #WTTFrankfurt 2023

Final match of the week here at this inaugural WTT Champions, Frankfurt, Ma Long, the greatest of all time. Taking on this super talented lefty from Chinese Taipei, Lin Wenru. Such a big match for both. It's the fitting grand finale in prospect to an amazing week here in Germany. This groundbreaking week. First WTT series event held in this country and what a week it's been. And just that feeling, Fraser, of star power, a glittering of stardust, whichever way you look at this particular contest. Let this match be a lesson as to how to play the serve receive, how to counter, how to block, how to change rhythm. Lin Wenru doing a better job of it so far. How can Ma Long handle this pendulum serve? Ma Long is not a flicker. He prefers to trap the spin of the serve with a short push, a short touch. Jars into it, but it's very difficult and it can be quite suffocating as a righty playing against the lefty with serves of this level. Tail break. Ma Long's backhand is slightly more divisive, but look at that. When he's not so comfortable, plays the block and then makes more of an extension with a compact counter once he's in position, constructing the point. Just saw Seiko Iseki there, a picture of Lin Wenru, former Olympic World Championship gold medalist in men's doubles. It's just star power wherever you look, really. It is the fitting finish to the week and I think we're going to get it, as you've suggested. So tough to call. Finish from Ma Long. That silhouette, world renowned. Exaggerates that movement. Sweeps over the top of that ball. Use the wide angles, not just on his serves to prevent that flick of Lin Wenru, but also in the open play. Got a bit of fortune there, but then went right against the momentum of Lin Wenru's movement, who was expecting it to the more exposed side, actually, the backhand. Yeah, I think width is going to be so key here, because at the end of Lin Wenru, this is such a big day for him. First final at this level, but he's been in and around, been in the top ten. Key threat to the Chinese and the other top players. And it's that flicking, as you say, that that banana flick that he's got, which is how he announced himself on the international stage. Wow. With more side spin. He's not just feeding off the pace, he's generating his own. You see it right off the bounce there with that forehand. So strong on both wings. He'll also be looking to stretch Ma Long wide, especially to the wide forehand. Feels like both of them are kind of in Olympic mode. There's three time Olympic finalist Wang Hao. And world champion, of course, from 2009. Yokohama. Yeah. The marvelous one turning this opening game around at the moment. Seems to be the entire court at times. Look at the kick on that one, the angle. If you want to create, if you want to make an angle from that position, you have to play with spin. To get the arc. And security. And the dragon. Playing one shot with the next in mind, the half long push and then gets the bat high ready to pounce. Six of the last eight points for the Chinese. Baits him in. To that flick that you can't make there, Lin Min Ru. Hard to tuck it back. In the fore motion. Living every moment they are, as we all are. So much experience of these occasions. Demonstrating it here in this opening game. Lin started well. Ma Long. Now with four game points. Greasy spin, Ma Long tries the chop block. They've both got immense feeling. Sometimes that's kind of underestimated because of how often they just kind of come right over it with the counter. But the touch of the dragon. Something else to consider for Lin Min Ru. Such an amazing week on so many levels, including for these two. They're looking to put the champagne finish on it. The icing on the cake in another way, if you will. The game to the good here in that opening point in the bank as well. But this crowd, all week, have seen what this left-hander can do. Such a seamless player, isn't he? The transition that he makes. Feels effortless. It's so elegant, the style of Lin Min Ru. Beautiful, absolutely beautiful to watch. Gets the guide flick out of Ma Long there. Finishes it well. Good push. The way he cuts under it, you can hear the quietness of the contact. Digs it really well with good intent there. It's just his way. Talked about a few times this week, you've made the point, Fraser Ma Long, how he's able to deal with, to trap spin and counter spin as well. Short game. Yeah. With these tacky Chinese rubbers, you can do that so well. But it means that you have to really use more body in the shot. Bounce on the angle. That's an escape there for the silent assassin. Usually, Ma Long would make you pay the price for that. That time, he paid the price. Some people might say, why would he not drop shot that? Well, it's incredibly difficult to time off such a high sky lob. He's a bit irritated with that, Ma Long. Oh, he will be. Pacing around there. More controlled aggression. Using the peripheral vision slightly better there. He sees Ma Long drifting out, so actually gives him a more shallow, slow ball. The composure here from Lin. So much to do. The float serve. And look at that. Off the half. That wasn't even a bad push. That's where, as you said already, that's where he's added most of all in. The physicality there. He's going to produce that shot. Awesome from Ma Long. But yeah, 100%. Lin Min Mu has developed his power against slower balls. How do I generate my own pace? Well, it's the case of flicking and then feeding off the pace. It's okay. If I get something slow, I need to be able to kill it. They're not looking to rally. As hard as that is to believe, the amount of times we see it. That's just credit to the recovery rate and the ability of the opponent to read. Ma Long is actually baiting the flick there. The only weakness of the flick is the time it takes to recover to a neutral position for Lin Min Mu. Under pressure, it's just his ability to block. Something we haven't really talked about so much yet. But feel it's going to be a key aspect of the matchup as it goes on. Ma Long's backhand block. The rest of his game, utterly world class. Ma Long intentionally doesn't put too much power into the backhand. Because he knows that he might get a more powerful bit of playback. Which is going to give him less time to play the impending doom forehand. He consciously keeps the backhand at about 60% Ma Long. 70% rather. Not too powerful. Because he wants the time to set up that forehand. You've got to be conscious of what you're giving your opponent. The most delicate. He's not just here to be part of the scenery. He's not just here for the ride. He's going to go through. He'll hope to go through to the destination. And be there first. Cality of Ma Long. Barrel challenge serve. It's no good without the recovery. Ma Long returns. Something a little bit different there. From Lin. Good time to do it in hindsight. Wider serve. But if it's an inch too high. He can do that to it. Not happy with that one, Ma Long. The greatest of all time. Game three. With a flourish. Nice soft hands with the block. And then tightens the grip. Puts a bit of pressure on his forefinger there. With the forehand. And usually the top players will put pressure on their thumb. With the backhand. To help stabilize the racket. It's that philosophy of playing through the fingers. That the players are almost just visualizing their hand. They let the footwork and all the effort they put into training. Do the rest of the work. Following the hand. Six of the last eight here. For Lin Wenru. For Ma Long. Something to think about. Come back to that. Element to follow. One of the elements to follow in the match up. With the serve. With the third ball. He's looking to open up the angles as much as possible. To deny the easy flick. Edge ball there. Now to follow up. And that ball as well. Double trouble. For Lin. In this contact. He's served out Lin Wenru. And Ma Long. Is not going to make the error. Backhand the ball. The double trouble becomes the triple threat. In this game. For Lin Wenru. Three points in a row. For his opponent. Couldn't have gotten any worse. In the last three points. An edge in it and a miss serve. Pressure in the middle quite a lot Ma Long. Making slight changes in placement. Playing it away from the racket. If you play it into the racket Lin Wenru is going to beat you. Going to make your opponent. Have to make a change in footwork. First. Before they play their shot. That's how you're going to get. A slightly weaker ball at this level. Perfect timing. Better than a Swiss watch. Very tightness at the moment isn't it. A couple of runs being put together right now. It's very close in terms of service success. Just 5% separating them right now. So far. Bit of an extension to be fair. A mini counter. Starting to put a bit of a run together again here Ma Long. Six of the last eight points. Five. Seven. Loses that one. Second tail break of this. Third game. Just a couple of points between them. Absolutely sold out here. As you'd expect. Six. Seven. Oh. A no spin serve. He's been playing them quite a lot. You'd be surprised how often the top world players serve with no spin. It's a philosophy of giving your opponent absolutely nothing to work with or against. Dagger to the heart. Athleticism. He didn't have to smash that one. He could have just put it on the table in any way he wanted. Shows power anyway. He did well to keep his wits about him there Lin. Surely wouldn't have expected that ball to come back on the tape. That's what both of them are capable of. This is fascinating isn't it? You can build up a match. Not just in world table tennis. In sport in general. And for different reasons it doesn't live up to the billing. But this is doing so at the moment. Now this is just going back and forth. Like a pendulum serve. Six of the last eight. For Lin Wenru. Five. Seven. All of a sudden Lin is being able to calibrate his flick a little bit better. Gets on the front foot straight away from the receiver. And that's the beauty of the flick. The way he plays it anyway. Irrepressible standards. Maybe the receiver was a touch high. But it didn't matter because of what followed. Couldn't recover after it. What a block from Ma Long. What a read. As clutch as can be. Have a look back here. Point from a few moments ago. And that stunning bit of coverage from Ma Long. He didn't get anything for it in the end. But he did get some appreciation from the crowd. Both giving it everything. Both recognising here. That every point matters in this knife edge match up. And this final is on a knife edge right now. Boy is it on a knife edge. Both two points right now from a 2-1 lead. It's the service. An oh so slight advantage. I say oh so slight because their numbers on serve, the quality of the receiver have only been around 50%. They're both lower than usual because of that. But it is a slight potential advantage. It put Ma Long here to a first game point. Wow. To keep it so low and then snips the half long. So spinny. Almost impossible to counter from Ma Long there. That's amazing. To keep it slow in your game point down shows an immense amount of maturity. Rather than feeling obliged to send it right into Ma Long. Now punches that away. Painting the table Lin Min Ru. Hitting the white of the line. Lin here with a game point. The vocal, oh so vocal reaction there as he saves the game point. He is right in this and wants to win this. They both do. More evidence of it there. How much it means to him. This final here in Frankfurt. For all he's done and achieved in his career. So motivated to try and win this. He was over the top. Takes it away from him. Picks his pocket again there. Every inch counts. Every point counts. Second game point for Lin. He's got a very solid record against lefties Ma Long. 84%. I mean you have to imagine that Timo Boll and Xu Xin have been a big part of the problem. In the matches that he's lost. We come back to it again. It's very difficult to play against a lefty of this level as a righty. Drop time, drop shot. Here he tries a snake shot but it's not going to fool the dragon. There is no after motion from Lin Min Ru. Made it easier for Ma Long to read. Testing the in and out footwork. He was in the position to win that rally and he did. Nice snake bite on the dragon there. Let's talk about it in terms of time. Ma Long is safer to block with the backhand. He'll only really counter with the forehand. His longest line to play is cross table. And that goes into the big strength of Lin Min Ru, the forehand. And vice versa. Still grappling with it at the moment. As you say, the challenge of playing this elite lefty. Six of the last eight points as I just showed you there. In the previous game and the start of this. Ma Long can't flick the receive that Lin's given him into the mid and forehand. And he can't attack it because it's too short. He can only push or touch. Looks like he was in the depths of despair but look at that. Not even fully balanced. Couldn't even fully plant the feet. Leaning and making a winner against that level of forehand. Blurring the lines Lin Min Ru. As to what is possible and not possible. Good serve from Ma Long. Tempts him into the flip but puts more backspin on it. Tough for Lin Min Ru to really flick backspin. Because you've got to come down and up it. And the table surface is in the way of the lower serve. That's why the Chiquita came about. To come round and under a little bit easier than what you can do with a traditional flick. Draws him in and then delivers the sting. Can forth right now. Neither can really establish a telling run of momentum. Had a brief period of it but then the other hits back. What is making it utterly absorbing to watch. So tight in so many respects. Fortune there. Forced Lin Min Ru in trying to play the seatbelt shot. But a nice squatted counter there from Ma. It's a blur isn't it. It's got to make the server more nervous knowing what's on the other side there potentially. That's why their numbers are not as high. Normally it's the quality. Quality in general. Quality of the receivers being so good. Feathering it as well. I mean he was reaching over the table but again. Ma Long's receive doing enough. Got away with it slightly there. Lin won't miss those too often. Can understand why he tried the guide flick down the line. These numbers actually going down right now. With below 50%. They both got better on the receive against it. And also in the rally countering. And Ma Long here to prevent this flick. Which Lin Min Ru's got better against the wider serve. May want to serve tighter and lower into the backhand with backspin. But he's got to expect a touch or a push. Top spin into the short backhand. Might not be a bad idea either for Ma Long. We'll see if he changes his serves up here at the Dragon. After the second tyre break. Krauser said this didn't he. When we were speaking to him earlier Guy. He said if he does the long serve. Lin Min Ru's not going to flick that. And then Ma Long's already out there at the back. Ready to counter and block. Ma Long has to make. He doesn't have to make as big of a compound movement. If he does the long serve. Richard Krauser of course the performance director. Of the German Table Tennis Federation. He did go tight to backhand. But what an angle. Level of difficulty here. Look how low Ma Long has to get there. Well it's hit to the table. Even he can't pick that one up. It wasn't that much spin on the receive. But Ma really tried to play it perfectly. Into an awkward position. Shallow and spinny. It's amazing how much physicality. Actually goes into making a slow shot as well. More of that vocalisation from Ma Long. Talked about it didn't he. After the win. In the semifinals. About starting the final chapter. Of his career. Finale that we've got. Before us here to the week. You don't take it for granted. In terms of watching him. On these occasions. But those of you Ma Long fans. Or table tennis fans in general. He's not retiring. As far as I know after this match. But you understand the general story here. That it has to end for everyone. At some point. It has to end. This is the start of the final chapter. And he's looking to. Write the perfect finish. To that final chapter. The start of it. That through. An equally important. Fourth game of this final. Both of them looking to. Inscribe right. A new chapter in their careers. In a sense for Lin Wenru. As well. First time in a final at this level. Table tennis pyramid of events. Structure. Previous game at nines. Going to the wire again. Massive pressure moment here. For Ma Long. It isn't. But it feels like a must-win game. He does not want to be 3-1 down. And now he's against serve at 9-0. Seko Izeki here. He's charged. Just a couple of points away. With the service as we say. From a 3-1 lead. This final in Frankfurt. Coming right up here. Absolutely slinging at each other here. This would be. To the side of the dragon. If Lin can take this one. Oh my word. Game point. That chance. Flash away from him. You expect these 10-0 situations here. And the grandest stage. And the grandest stages in the sport here. What we've seen in the week. What we've seen so far here. On finals day. 10-0 again. Nothing to separate them in this game. Having had that game point. Two points. The winning margin needed. Ma Long here with the service. 11-10. Trying to go fast along. A really pronounced stamp. From Ma Long. Lin was level to it. Got a bit of fortune there Lin. Really threw off Ma Long's calibration. Can he take this one? The silent assassin. Service alternating of course here. From 10-0. Lin's second game point chance. Oh that dribbles away. Game to win. 1-0. Ma Long this season. Three finals. Prior to this. Three losses. Singapore smash. Champions Macau. Star contender Lan Zhan. 1-0. And then we knew after a purple patch really. It came after Tokyo. He's playing. To an absolutely new level. I mean we knew how good he was with his skill set. Amazing player. Well it's it to be his day. When you look at moments like that. Well the way you did Wang Chi Chin. Destroyed him basically in the last two games. I mean we haven't seen Wang beaten like that. In ages. Six of the last eight. He's out there. But what he's been doing here again in this final so far. Whether this is to be his big moment. On the big stage. Ma Long desperate to win this first WTT Series trophy. Win his trophy. Is he going to be denied again? Just the quality there. The contact. The weight of Lin. Was Lin sane? Well Ma fresh aired it. Could have won that rally. But it's not obvious if Lin's going to touch or flick. The way he comes into it. No way Jose. Oh my god. There is more Lin sanity. The bits we were hearing there Fraser. Translation from Wang Hao is just. One by one get them back. Break it down here. Because I think with the way Lin has played recently. Ma Long with his experience. Could be in a bit of a spin. Right now mentally. It's the depth. Of Lin Wenru's quality. When you really think about it. Can make the Chinese as uncomfortable. As Lin Wenru. Maybe this is his time now. Following on from Harimoto. Who has. More career titles. Relatively speaking. Fulfilling your destiny. And achieving your potential. He's done that with the level. But maybe this hasn't had the titles. Maybe this is his time now. Maybe this is where the floodgates open. For Lin Wenru. And all or nothing. All cards on the table. Forehand from Ma Long. Off the wide one. Brilliant reach. Left the table wide open. But Lin couldn't make him pay the price. The door was open. Find another gear. Find the wiggle room Ma Long. He'll be looking. Of course. You don't need to say this to him. He's aware of it. But still to stamp his experience. As Lin perhaps moves closer. That is an area. Where Ma Long can still make this count. He owns that. And this is his. 69th. Career singles final. It's Lin's eighth. And he's coming back to here. Even at this point. Even with this. Tremendous performance. From Lin Wenru so far. Four points away. Still so far away though. In a sense. Maybe the fact that he beat Ma Long. En route to winning his first title. Is what makes him not feel too daunted against him. Eight. Five. Going about his work. Doing his business. And going about it. In wonderful fashion. Lin Wenru. In tracking the service success. Look at this for Lin Wenru. Coming up at the crucial time. This is out there. But it's now above 50%. Moving ahead of Ma Long. As he's done in the storyline prior. Huge pressure on. The Chinese here now. With the service. Chiquita flick there to go again. The side spin of Ma Long's serve. It's coherent quality. Continues to corrupt Ma Long's game. Nine. Seven. Trying a more shovel action serve. Ma Long to dig himself out of trouble. The Asian singles champion. Still. In hot, hot water here. Nine. Eight. Just saying though. A few points away now. Lin Wenru. And it's surely going to feel that way. It's not just a WTT champions title. It's who he's against here at this point. The greatest player of all time. In most people's minds. For what he's achieved. It just adds to the pressure of the situation. He's just trying to be divisive. And on the table. Switching Lin around. To perhaps draw out a bit of insecurity. In the attacks. Works really well to get himself back to nine all. Lin still two points from victory. But Ma Long with the service now. Two points from narrowing the gap in this final. Reducing the arrears. Amazing serve. Look at that for a recovery against the fortune. With the improvisation from Ma Long. But that Lin. Sweeps. That forehand topspin. Championship point. Solid from Ma Long there. Bringing out a few tricks. Such as the reverse pendulum. Maybe he thinks to himself. Well I should have brought this out sooner. If he can get this game. Who knows. But it is still make it or break it. Go to tens again. Who's going to win. That biggie. That biggest trophy. This man. Will have another chance to do so. Look at the action. He came down over that. His reliability to counter. Can he take this one. Then win route. Second championship point.