Chapter 1250: Second Place,
First Place What are the highlights of the 2015 clay and grass seasons?
Can Nadal reach the top of Roland Garros again? Can Djokovic challenge Federer for the title of "King of Grass"? Can challengers such as Wawrinka and Gawain continue to be strong? Can the performance of the youth storm meet expectations? Can a new generation rise?
Yes, and not entirely.
The above topics are all hot topics, but the most important one is the historic reshuffle of the world rankings.
Gao Wen, currently ranked third in the world, is about to become second in the world, and even challenge the world's first.
In fact, this is a simple math problem.
After the Australian Open, until the US Open, all tournaments were opportunities for Gao Wen to continue to improve his world ranking points, and his resume was blank; but in direct contrast, other players all faced different pressures to maintain points, and any ups and downs in performance could lead to fluctuations in the rankings.
After the “Sunshine Double Crown” reached the top, everything was just a matter of time.
In other words, it is only a matter of time before Gawain surpasses Federer and becomes the world's second-best player. The key is when will it happen? Which tournament? How? Can Gawain and Federer face off? These details are the key points of discussion.
That’s why the same questions are repeated over and over again at every tournament of the clay court season, drawing the attention of the world.
but!
I never expected that in Monte Carlo, the first clay court tournament, this would happen.
Federer, runner-up in Monte Carlo last year, lost unexpectedly to Monfils and was eliminated in the round of 16. His current world ranking points plummeted by 510 points.
Before Monte Carlo, the world ranking points difference between Federer and Gawain was only 215 points, which means that even if Gawain rests this week and does not participate in the competition, he can still overtake and make history by lying in the swimming pool for vacation.
What's more, Gawain didn't.
Not only that, Gawain also successfully made it to the quarterfinals in Monte Carlo, earning 180 points. Not only will he successfully overtake Federer, but he will also further widen the points gap with Federer, gaining some advantages for himself in the battle for the "world's second" in the upcoming clay court season.
History is written in this way.
Accident!
Very very unexpected!
Originally, people were expecting Gawain and Federer to meet in the semi-finals and face off, with the outcome of the match set to decide the world's second place. Just like the championship trophy, the "world's second place" also needs a peak showdown on Mount Huashan to decide, which is exciting enough.
However, it did not.
Federer was eliminated unexpectedly, and the matter was settled.
Soon after, Gao Wen also stopped in the quarterfinals, but his second place in the world was already set in stone.
This is what the "world ranking" is like. Unlike the championship, this list is determined based on the performance over the past year. It does not depend on the winner of a single game or station. Long before the results come out, the accumulation of a long period of time has already determined the direction.
Although Federer and Glover did not have a head-to-head confrontation, Glover's performance in Indian Wells, where he defeated Federer to win the championship, was convincing enough. Then, everything was reflected in the points of the world ranking, leading to a new historical feat.
Of course, the Monte Carlo event is still ongoing and the world ranking will not be updated for the time being. We will have to wait until next Monday for the system to complete the update.
However, the news media couldn't wait to start promoting it. With Federer's elimination, a lot of news was flying around -
Gao Wen, is about to be ranked second in the world.
This means that Gao Wen will soon compete in the French Open as the second seed; this means that Gao Wen tied the history and became the third Asian/Asian singles player after Michael Chang and Li Na to reach the second highest world ranking; this means that Gao Wen has once again raised the limits of Asian men's singles players to a new height.
More importantly, sit second and look forward to the first:
Until the US Open, Gao Wen still has a lot of room to increase his points. Although the gap between him and Djokovic is huge, he is not without opportunities.
Be it Michael Chang or Li Na, all Asian singles players have never reached this historical height. The opportunity has come to Gao Wen again. Standing at the crossroads of making history, Gao Wen's next performance is worth looking forward to.
Next, the competition between Gawain and Djokovic will be even more exciting. In addition, there is Federer who is eyeing to regain the world's second place, plus Murray and Nadal who continue to attack from both sides. The men's tennis world is indeed exciting.
The Monte Carlo Masters is still in progress, but social networks are already erupting with activity.
The moment that we had waited and waited for, discussed and discussed again and again, arrived early in Monte Carlo. After a brief panic and surprise, all the emotions were released.
However, "history" is indeed history, but there are subtle differences in the reporting perspective.
The reason is not complicated.
Since the 21st century, men's professional tennis can be divided into two eras, with the first week of February 2004 as the watershed, becoming the era before and after the Big Four: the former was the end of the golden generation of a hundred schools of thought contending and heroes vying for supremacy, and then, Federer became the world's number one.
The latter is a long dynasty in which the Big Four joined hands to dominate professional tennis.
However, strictly speaking, the "Big Four Era" should also be divided into two parts, one before and one after.
In the first week of July 2011, Djokovic became the world's No. 1 player, and this was used as the benchmark to divide the Big Four era.
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Previously, it was the era of Federer and Nadal. In the whole seven years, the two players only lost the two Grand Slams, the Australian Open and the US Open, once, and won all the important tournaments together, truly creating an era.
After that, Djokovic and Murray rose and reshuffled the cards, raising the competitive level of professional tennis to a whole new level in all aspects, and stimulating, promoting and competing with each other, and men's tennis ushered in its heyday.
In other words, there are still differences of opinion in the professional tennis world on how to view and define the "Big Four Era."
Some media believe that
"The Fifth Pole has officially arrived, and the era of the Big Four is facing the crisis of collapse."
"The ten-year history has reached a turning point. Gao Wen has broken the dominance of the Big Four and is about to become the new world No. 2."
"Finally! The post-90s generation has stepped onto the historical stage. Can Gao Wen become the next world number one?"
"The era of giants is facing a crisis for the first time in a decade, and Gaowen is becoming a disruptor."
"Witness history. For the first time since the first week of February 2004, an unknown face entered the world's top two."
"Men's professional tennis has changed, and the glorious decade has reached a turning point."
"Gao Wen, a history maker from China, broke the ten-year dynasty with his own strength!"
Boom! Boom boom boom! In their eyes, the "Big Four" is a whole. Even though Djokovic and Murray rose to prominence after 2011, they are still tied to the title of the Big Four, substituted into the ten-year period since Federer's rise in 2004. Therefore, what Gawain challenged was the entire ten-year "Big Four Dynasty", and the shock and impact were naturally more turbulent.
ten years.
The first player to break the dominance of the Big Four in a full decade is indeed a huge achievement.
(End of this chapter)