Is KM having phobia against Heo? But Heo played really well. His net shots and followed by his booming smashes.
Momota is having phobia against anyone with a powerful smash and can run to be honest. Plus his defence against cross court smash from the backhand position of the opponent is non-existent. This is opening up other areas.
Tough loss for Momota. Could be a case of mental block, much like Momota did to Viktor. What's the running game everyone is talking about?
Passive gameplay, where your goal is to make the rallies as long as possible, and to rely on tiring out your opponent.
Speed is actually not as important as angle, placement, ability to suddenly leap from base position to smash, and recovering quickly to continue pressure.
To add to what @Nine Tailed Fox said - Momota had speed in his smash and more importantly placement consistently! That alone was enough to inject pace or score some points.
And not just angle, but the ability to keep doing it over and over again. Seo and LZJ are able to do it with such "ease" that any high lift is suicidal.
Oh, I see. Yeah, the 2019 and before Momota made it a draining experience for his opponents. He had the physicality and the stamina to outlast almost everyone on tour. Now that he's gone through an accident, lack of tournament play, getting covid, and some devastating losses to heavy hitters, he's not the same anymore. I would really like him to change his playstyle (if physically possible) into a more explosive one because his long rally game is not working. He's getting outpaced and left frozen on the court, not being able to read where the opponents' smashes are going. His defense is not up to par so he can't rely on that anymore. I'd rather he develop more heavy hitting or quick attacks to catch opponents off guard and steal the lead in a game.