Chapter 1074 Desert Storm
In 2015, the Indian Wells Masters, the first round of men's doubles, the focus match was on the stage, the results of the tournament were mixed, some happy and some sad.
The Federer-Wawrinka pair lost, the Raonic pair lost, the Gasquet pair lost, and the Felipe-Lopez pair also lost.
The Nadals won, the Murrays won, the Isners won, the Fogninis won, and Gawain and Dimitrov also won.
"6:4", "4:6", "10:7".
In the match against the strong combination of Ferrer and Verdasco, the combination of Gawain and Dimitrov played smarter and more determined in the final stage. With a little bit of luck, they had the last laugh and successfully advanced to the second round. This is a good thing for Dimitrov.
It's also good news for Indian Wells.
According to official ticket statistics, the match between Gawain/Dimitrov and Ferrer/Verdasco attracted more than 6,000 spectators at Court No. 2.
The attendance rate is as high as 75%.
This was also the highest-attendance event for all events at all venues on the first day of competition, far exceeding Federer and Nadal's respective doubles matches.
After all, four well-known singles players stood on the doubles court for a strong clash; moreover, the teaming of two new generation leaders, Gao Wen and Dimitrov, was undoubtedly the focus of attention, which easily attracted a large number of people and created a craze on the first day of the competition.
Even after the game ended, the topic's popularity did not drop significantly. The animated pictures and photos of Gawain and Dimitrov in the game were widely circulated. Both tennis reporters and spectators at the scene were eager to share their thoughts on watching the game up close.
The fact also proves the wisdom and intelligence of the tournament organizing committee. It is absolutely a stroke of genius to arrange this match on the No. 2 court.
After all, not even Federer and Nadal were treated this way.
The first round of doubles matches ended with both good and bad news. The good news was that the audience traffic reached a new high; the bad news was that Federer, Wawrinka and others all lost.
Industry insiders have always emphasized that if top singles players join hands to participate in doubles, they are obviously the more favored side, but countless competitions have also proved that singles masters may not necessarily be able to shine in the doubles arena.
Of course, from another perspective, this may not be a bad thing.
The main purpose of doubles matches is to adapt to the venue and to adjust the state. In simple terms, it is to prepare for singles events.
The impact of winning or losing is very limited.
Even if these singles masters can really make great progress in doubles, if doubles may affect singles, they will definitely give up doubles without hesitation. This also means that when the doubles event enters the quarterfinals or semi-finals, they may win without fighting.
This doesn't look good.
Therefore, the singles masters appear in the first and second rounds, attract box office revenue, then lose and are eliminated, and then the stage is left to professional doubles players. In this way, there are box office revenue and competitions, and the excitement of singles and doubles will not be compromised, so everyone is happy.
The doubles losses of Federer, Wawrinka and others are not necessarily a bad thing.
However, having said that, the victory is still worth celebrating.
For Dimitrov, he needs this victory, not only to regain the feeling of winning, but also to find the way to enjoy the game.
A victory may seem insignificant, but when you hit rock bottom, it is like a faint ray of dawn, a beacon that guides the way forward.
Whether it is a singles victory or a doubles victory; whether it is an ATP level victory or a Challenge Tournament victory, as long as it is a victory, it can become a ray of hope.
Dimitrov needed a match like this.
The feeling of victory continued into the singles competition.
In the second round of the singles event, the top 32 seeds in the men's and women's singles made their debuts after enjoying a bye in the first round.
Gowen faced Raonic's fellow Canadian, Pospisil.
This young man, born in 1990, is from the same group of players as Raonic. For a long time, he has also been considered the hope for the revival of Canadian tennis.
In fact, Pospisil's situation is somewhat similar to that of Australia's Koggenakis. They are both talented, but unfortunately they suffer from frequent injuries and are often distracted by off-field affairs, so that they have never been able to fully realize their talents and have been lost in the crowd.
The two players even have some similarities in their playing styles: powerful serves, strong forehands, dominant offense and weak defense, typical new generation baseline players.
Overall, Koggenakis has stronger explosiveness and impact, while Pospisil is more balanced and comprehensive on both offense and defense.
Because of this, Pospisil's career is more dazzling than Koggenakis's, and he has had his own shining moments:
Last January, his world ranking reached 25, setting a new personal career high. He entered the spotlight at the same time as Raonic.
Compared to the new generation in Australia that is waiting to rise, this group of young players in Canada have already taken the lead and stepped onto the stage, becoming a new force in tennis.
Last week, Pospisil and Raonic teamed up for the Davis Cup, also winning one and losing one, losing to Kei Nishikori.
This week, Pospisil faced Gawain, and he could already feel some tension before the game.
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Apparently, Pospisil and Djokovic have a close personal relationship, and he doesn't like Gawain's attitude towards Serjan and Djokovic.
Although Pospisil did not express it directly, the perfunctory handshake before the game and the eye roll during the coin tossing session were clear enough: he was not interested in Gawain at all.
But does Gawain care?
Of course not! Note that this is not a live meeting between online friends, but a competition. Neither he nor Pospisil stepped onto the field to make friends.
Therefore, Gawain really didn't care about Perspisil's little adolescent thoughts, emotions, and awkwardness.
A competition is a competition, and Gao Wen is completely unmoved.
On the other hand, it can be seen that Pospisil is obviously a little impatient. The more he wants to exert force and express himself, the more likely he is to make low-level mistakes.
Moreover, the unpredictable strong winds in Indian Wells have been "adding fuel to the flames". The frequent occurrence of unexpected situations has also changed the atmosphere of the competition. The more impatient you are, the more helpless you will be. You can't get angry at the air, as that might be considered mentally ill.
Pospisil's impetuousness and anxiety formed a sharp contrast with Gawain's proper advance and retreat, overall layout and calmness in the face of emergencies, and the whole game fell behind a little too quickly.
“6:1”, “6:2”.
Gao Wenbing won the game easily in two straight sets. The whole match was over in less than an hour.
After the game, the handshake was still tense.
Pospisil refused to make any eye contact with Gawain, nor any form of communication or courtesy. He avoided Gawain's gaze completely, lowered his head, and looked like a player going to the black market for a secret transaction. He hurriedly patted Gawain's hand and turned away.
That figure from behind bears some resemblance to the suspect.
(End of this chapter)