Twenty-five minutes before the end of the match at Philippe Chatrier Stadium, Suzanne Lenglen's match had already come to an end, with the winner decided:
"6:4", "6:3", "7:6(4)".
Wawrinka won in straight sets.
Although Federer barely managed to hold on in the third set and the match went into a tiebreak, Wawrinka was in superb form, firing on all cylinders.
Throughout the game, Wawrinka scored 43 winning points, and in just three sets, his winning point data is comparable to that of Gawain. You know, Gawain and Nadal fought hard for four sets. This shows that Wawrinka's hot offensive touch completely controlled the situation.
Last year, Wawrinka carried the expectations of the public and stepped into Roland Garros as the Monte Carlo champion. It was also his first time to compete in a new Grand Slam tournament as a Grand Slam champion. Under the heavy pressure, he performed poorly and was eliminated in the first round, causing a lot of gasps on social media.
It is precisely because of this that there are overwhelming attacks and complaints about Wawrinka on social networks. It is generally believed that he may only be at the level of a Grand Slam, and his superb performance at the Australian Open was purely accidental and will never happen again. Despite his outstanding performance in Melbourne, he still cannot get rid of the title of "parallel import".
However, this year, he got rid of his burdens one by one and entered the clay court season with a low profile. Wawrinka has regained his offensive touch and proved with practical actions that he has indeed been in peak form in the past two years. He once again reached the semi-finals after the Australian Open at the beginning of the year.
——“He beat me like crazy.”
This is people's intuitive impression of Wawrinka's consecutive victories over Berdych and Federer. Just like Soderling in 2009 and 2010, he raised the banner of offense on the clay court, relying on violent, continuous and powerful offense to cut through the obstacles and carve out a bloody path.
In an instant, my memory returned to the Australian Open at the beginning of last year, and I flashed back.
There is no doubt that if Wawrinka can continue this offensive touch, he will have a chance against any opponent.
The focus now is whether Wawrinka can maintain his hot form in subsequent matches, how much energy he has in his tank in the two-week long tournament of five sets and three wins, and whether this energy can support him to cross the finish line in one breath when encountering strong opponents continuously.
This year's French Open did have many upsets, but compared with previous years, people's definition of "upsets" should be changed. It doesn't matter if there are more upsets, because the "Challenger Alliance" has risen across the board, and the dark horses are no longer like shooting stars, and the competition has become exciting.
Two weeks ago, the French Open draw was released, and everyone from professionals to enthusiastic fans cheered and celebrated. The long-lost grand occasion finally appeared again.
The four giants are located in four divisions respectively, making it possible for them to meet in the semi-finals.
In the turbulent season of "Big Four vs. Challengers", the giants do face many challenges, but when they come to the French Open, it is still one of the two most stable and solid backyards for the giants, the other one is Wimbledon.
Over the past decade, the championship has always been won by the giants.
In Paris and London, the giants have always been able to firmly grasp the absolute advantage, so it should not be impossible for the spectacular scene of the Big Four meeting in the semi-finals at Roland Garros this year.
Get ready.
My blood is boiling.
However, Wawrinka and Gao Wen successively stepped forward to express different opinions.
These two players are the leaders of the Challenger League in the past year and play a key role in this ATP innovation storm.
This time at the French Open is no exception.
The two players teamed up to destroy the dream of "the giants meeting each other", and once again extended the storm of "the Big Four vs. the Challengers" to Roland Garros, continuing the turbulence and excitement of last year and this year.
Worth applause!
In an instant, the situation changed, and all eyes were directed towards the upper half -
Wait, no... no way?
A crazy idea slowly began to emerge.
In fact, after the sign-in list came out, experts gave professional analysis:
The upper half is more intense and dangerous than the lower half, because the players in good form are basically concentrated in the upper half. It is obvious that the players who stand out in the upper half are more likely to be champions, while the players in the lower half are likely to be runners-up all the way.
This is reflected in two points:
First, Djokovic and Murray, the only two players who remain undefeated in this year's clay court season, happen to be facing each other in the upper half.
Second, the players who were in the top group in overall performance in this year's clay court season were generally in the upper half, and the two players who finally stood out were Kei Nishikori and Ferrer, who were on the favorites list to win the championship.
Among them, Kei Nishikori will face Djokovic, and the former has currently achieved two consecutive victories against the world number one.
Ferrer faced Murray, who had never defeated Ferrer on clay in his career.
In other words—
Maybe Djokovic and Murray are indeed the two best clay court players this year, but Kei Nishikori and Ferrer both have the ability to defeat their opponents.
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This means that if we are not careful even a little bit, the two giants in the upper half will both fall, and this year's semi-final draw will be very exciting.
From the "meeting of giants" that was expected before the game to the possibility of "the comprehensive rise of challengers" that has now evolved, even just a little bit of possibility is enough to make all the media go crazy.
Naturally, Gawain and Wawrinka, who were the first to reach the semi-finals, have already seized the initiative; moreover, once Kei Nishikori and Ferrer are able to pull off the mission of shocking upsets, the experience of the two Grand Slam champions in the lower half of the draw will be able to prevail, and the entire situation may take a 180-degree turn.
Perhaps this is their best chance to reach the top of Roland Garros? Of course, the two quarterfinals in the upper half have not yet been played, and the results will be known tomorrow. It is too early to describe the chaotic situation now, but there is no doubt that the two new French Open semi-finalists in the lower half are indeed worthy of attention.
For Gawain, he doesn't have to face Federer; for Wawrinka, he doesn't have to face Nadal. It's a win-win situation for both players.
Especially for Gawain.
In their careers, Gao Wen and Wawrinka have only met once, in the round of 16 at the US Open last year. At that time, the two players fought hard for five sets and kept fighting until the final set, and finally the winner was decided:
Victory belongs to Gawain.
It was also through this victory that Gao Wen built up his confidence and blew the horn of rise, and subsequently defeated Kei Nishikori, Djokovic and Cilic to successfully reach the top.
After more than half a year, the two players met again on the clay court. Interestingly, Wawrinka's offensive style of play is obviously not the most suitable for Roland Garros, and Gawain still has a lot of room for improvement in his first clay court season in his career. Both players have obvious shortcomings on this court, which adds more uncertainty to their duel.
Perhaps, Gawain has a slight advantage, but the advantage is limited.
The reporters were extremely excited because of the chaos that had already occurred in the lower half and the potential chaos in the upper half. With a little bit of luck and a little bit of coincidence, Roland Garros might be about to change completely. Just imagining it made them so excited that they almost had a cerebral hemorrhage.
really!
In competitive sports, everything is possible, and this is the greatest charm!