Rome, the Eternal City, is a city full of history and art. The vicissitudes of time have carefully carved out the magnificence and splendor of this city.
The sunlight stays here and seems to bloom with different colors.
This year, when tennis came to this city, the Rome Masters, it was ordinary, yet extraordinary.
first.
Cilic and Kyrgios were both eliminated in the first round.
After returning from injury, Cilic has never been able to find his touch, and it seems that he has not been able to get rid of the "first Grand Slam final syndrome".
Kyrgios, who upset Federer last week, also performed poorly against Lopez, who has been in mediocre form this season, and was eliminated in straight sets.
Secondly.
Seeded players including Auger-Aliassime, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Felipe Lopez, Dimitrov and others were all eliminated in the second round, continuing the upsets of the clay court season.
The only surprise came from Tim.
Thiem, who had performed poorly and was eliminated early in the previous two Masters tournaments, finally found some feeling in Rome and defeated Simon to advance to the round of 16. This young player who is good at clay court is still concentrating on learning and improving slowly in the tour, waiting for his own moment of qualitative change.
then.
Murray unfortunately stopped in the round of 16, not because of a loss, but because of a tactical withdrawal.
Fatigue from three weeks of competition and physical overload made Murray realize that his body was sending him a signal, so after discussing with his fitness trainer and doctor, in order to avoid unnecessary injuries, he chose to withdraw before the round of 16 against Goffin, allowing Goffin to advance to the quarterfinals.
According to the official statement, Murray said that it was due to injury considerations. After all, it took him a whole year to get back on track after recovering from the injury. What he needs least now is the potential injury risks brought about by forcing himself to participate in the competition; but anyone with a discerning eye can see that Murray has also begun to accumulate strength for the French Open.
Following Djokovic, Murray also chose to withdraw tactically, and his target is also the French Open. This year's Roland Garros should be very lively.
In addition, Thiem also lost to Wawrinka after a hard-fought two sets and was unable to go further.
Then.
Gao Wen, Nadal and Kei Nishikori all lost in the quarterfinals.
Kei Nishikori lost to Djokovic.
Nadal lost to Wawrinka in a not-so-unprecedented upset. After losing in last year's Australian Open final, Nadal suffered two consecutive defeats against Wawrinka.
Gao Wen lost to Berdych for the first time in his career.
It has been mentioned more than once before that perhaps Berdych lacks a little explosiveness and willpower at critical moments, but there is no doubt that he is one of the players in the "era of giants" who has not been able to win a Grand Slam but can still be called "great". Not only does he have a high lower limit, but he also has a high upper limit.
The match against Berdych was different from the previous losses to Ferrer and Nadal.
On the one hand, it can be seen that Gao Wen's understanding of clay is not deep enough or comprehensive enough. The venue of each clay court tournament is slightly different, and it is not easy to adapt. Some shot choices and tactical arrangements are questionable, and Berdych happens to be a player with no loopholes.
On the one hand, it can also be seen that the clay court season is extremely demanding on physical and mental strength. Apart from Nadal who is in poor form, the other three giants are facing varying degrees of physical exhaustion. Gao Wen is no exception. In the second half of the game, his body did face some tests.
"6:3", "3:6", "6:7(3)".
The whole match took two hours and forty minutes, and Berdych had the last laugh, defeating Gawain for the first time in his career.
So, the top four faced off against——
In the upper half, “Djokovic VS Wawrinka”.
In the lower half, “Federer VS Berdych”.
Normal, yet abnormal.
It is normal because fans have seen similar scenes more than once or twice in the past ten years, and everything is too familiar.
It's abnormal because the rise of the Challenger League over the past year has completely disrupted the situation, and this year has ushered in a turbulent era. In particular, young players born in the 1990s and 1995s have completely dominated the public's attention, but this time there is not a single young person to be seen? This...
But who can refuse? Familiar formula, familiar discussion, familiar match-up... Overnight, it seemed like we had traveled back to before 2014, and the familiar feeling returned in full force.
Everything is still the "Big Four Era".
Moreover, even the ending is so familiar.
Djokovic defeated Wawrinka and Federer defeated Berdych. Both giants advanced to meet in the final.
Following the meeting of Murray and Nadal in Madrid last week, the other two giants were not to be outdone and showed excellent form, successfully meeting in Rome.
The familiar scene of the "era of giants" has returned to our sight, as if nothing has changed.
A little bit weird, but much more interesting.
The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!
In the spring hard court season, the "Big Four" encountered an all-round impact. Not only did Gao Wen win the important tournament championship, but the number of losses of the four giant players in different rounds and positions also began to increase significantly. From the new generation to the middle generation, they are rising fiercely and impacting the dominance of the giants.
Finally, everything is concentrated on the subversion of the world rankings, like a microcosm, witnessing the turbulence of the era of giants.
When people are concerned about when Gao Wen will be able to become the world's second and whether he can become the world's first, it is actually a kind of recognition: they also agree that the "era of giants" may be gone forever, and what follows is an era of chaos where many heroes compete for supremacy, entering a new chapter, but it is still the golden age of tennis, with more top players, more exciting duels, and more classic events, and fans are the biggest beneficiaries.
However--
Entering the clay court season, behind one upset and one surprise after another, is a journey for the Big Four to regain their dominance.
It started in Monte Carlo, when Djokovic and Nadal met in the semi-finals, and Ferrer and Monfils broke through from the lower half. Although the final was not a meeting between the two giants, we could already see the familiar scenes before 2014, but people did not realize it at that time.
Then, Madrid.
Now, Rome.
In fact, Murray's victory in Munich and Federer's victory in Istanbul were all clues.
Although there were some surprises, twists and turns, and ups and downs in the process, there is no doubt that, step by step, the four giant players slowly regained their lost ground in the clay court season and once again awakened people's familiar memories, as if what happened in the past year and a half was just an unexpected dream.
final.
The final scores were “6:4”, “6:3”.
The difference in both sets was a break of serve, which was not only close but also intense. This time, it was Djokovic who defeated Federer to win the championship.
It is worth mentioning that Djokovic and Federer have faced each other seven times on clay in their careers, with Federer leading by four wins and three losses, slightly ahead by one win.
Among them, Djokovic defeated Federer three times, twice in Rome. Obviously, this venue is indeed more suitable for Djokovic to perform. This time he achieved the third time and tied the two players' record in clay court matches.
Rome can be regarded as Djokovic's blessed land.
Then, all eyes turned to the Forbidden City, the final showdown of the clay court season.
Let's meet in Paris!