Chapter 1490: Magnificent Finale
On Saturday, two finals, similar situations led to different endings.
In the women's singles final, Serena Williams once again defended her world No. 1 title with an unparalleled performance, completely ending the turmoil and doubts of the past year and proving that she is still the best female player currently.
In the men's doubles final, the dominance of the Bryan brothers was further impacted. Age and injuries are bringing more uncertainties, and the competition in the men's doubles arena is about to enter an era of chaos with a hundred schools of thought contending.
This is true not only for tennis, but for every competitive sport. Age and injuries are hurdles that cannot be avoided. The debates of "the new generation pushes the old generation forward" and "can Lian Po, who is too old, still make a living" are also topics that cannot be avoided.
Similarly, the men's singles arena is no exception -
Or, to be more precise, the powerful clash between the "Big Four vs. Challengers" in men's singles is the most exciting and best show in professional tennis in the past eighteen months, and no one wants to miss it.
Everyone is paying attention, and then, after going around in circles, they return to where it all began.
The amazing storm set off by this challenger alliance began as early as Melbourne Park in 2014. Wawrinka defeated Djokovic in a long set in the quarterfinals and entered the semi-finals, sounding the clarion call for subversion.
After that, everything turned upside down and there were huge storms.
Now, Wawrinka and Djokovic are standing in front of each other again, this time not in the quarterfinals, but in a duel for the French Open championship.
In fact, after the 2014 Australian Open, Djokovic and Wawrinka met twice more, and Djokovic remained undefeated, including a sweeping victory in the group stage of the year-end finals in which he only lost three games.
In other words, Djokovic has successfully taken revenge and proved himself.
This time at Roland Garros, Djokovic was full of confidence and aimed at the championship. He did not hide his ambition from beginning to end. He defeated Murray, who was also undefeated on clay, in a five-set battle in the semi-finals and proved himself again that he is the best player on clay this season.
Facing Wawrinka, Djokovic is confident of winning and full of ambition.
but!
That's Wawrinka. Once he enters the super god state, he will go completely crazy. Although he is not a crazy person, but if he gets "crazy", he will definitely be a crazy person who will kill gods and Buddhas.
At the Australian Open earlier this year, Wawrinka was almost dragging Djokovic into the abyss. The two sides fought for five sets again. Wawrinka pushed Djokovic to the extreme in Melbourne Park. Although Djokovic won the deciding set directly with a score of "6:0", no one would question Wawrinka's explosiveness and impact.
Just look at this year's French Open.
He won two consecutive straight-set victories over two top players, Berdych and Federer, and then broke Gawain's unbeaten streak in Grand Slams in his career in a five-set battle, truly demonstrating his unstoppable super-god form.
As you can imagine, this final is worth looking forward to, very, very worth looking forward to.
On one side is Djokovic, who is determined to win and whose confidence has reached its peak.
The record of five consecutive wins over Wawrinka on clay can bring him confidence, but the fact that Djokovic and Wawrinka have all entered the deciding set in the past four Grand Slam encounters has also sounded a wake-up call for the world No. 1.
Moreover, playing for three consecutive days on Friday, Saturday and Sunday also poses a severe challenge to Djokovic's ability to adjust himself.
On one side is Wawrinka in super godly state, bloodthirsty and entering a new realm.
Consecutive wins over Federer and Gawain have given Wawrinka more confidence, and he has also defeated Djokovic on the Grand Slam stage. Gathering energy and waiting for his opponent also allowed him to take the lead.
But so far, there are only a handful of players who have defeated four top ten players in a row to win the Grand Slam championship. Wawrinka's challenges are gradually escalating. He will face the ultimate challenge of becoming the world's number one, and the physical and mental tests will be unimaginable.
So, who will have the last laugh?
Everything is possible.
The final was very exciting. In fact, it was exciting in every aspect, but unfortunately, it was not enough.
It’s just like the World Cup, an exciting tournament, but the final is often not the most exciting one.
The peak of this year's French Open has already arrived. Whether it was the quarterfinals between Gawain and Nadal, the semifinals between Gawain and Wawrinka, or even the quarterfinals between Wawrinka and Federer, they are all worth remembering.
In comparison, the intensity and excitement of the finals are still slightly inferior, but the real mystery of the finals is that it will determine who will win the championship.
This is enough, because this is the jewel in the crown.
"4:6", "6:4", "6:3", "6:4".
The four-set match took three hours and twelve minutes, and Wawrinka won the game in a comeback!
In fact, Djokovic performed very well. Not only did he win the first set, but he also broke the serve first in the fourth set and had a huge lead. However, facing Wawrinka on the other side of the net was a super god-like state.
Wawrinka was really going crazy. Except for the slow start in the first set, his fierce and tough attack throughout the game completely controlled the situation.
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In the second set, he almost suppressed Djokovic with a full-scale attack; in the third set, he did not give away any break points from beginning to end, and repeatedly took a two-point lead in Djokovic's serve.
Even in the fourth set, he fell behind in the opening set due to lack of energy, but after catching his breath, he turned the situation around with clean attacks despite the difficult situation of break points, and rushed towards victory in an unstoppable manner.
In the match point, Wawrinka missed a match point but also saved a break point. He overcame his brief psychological and state fluctuations and successfully converted the second match point with a backhand straight line winner.
Strong throughout the game, leading by a wide margin——
The 57 winning points severely suppressed Djokovic's 28 winning points, and the pressure-filled style of play throughout the game forced Djokovic to make an incredible 47 unforced errors.
The data, at a glance.
In the end, Djokovic was defeated in the final for the third consecutive year and missed the Grand Slam; at the same time, Wawrinka once again wrote the miracle of the challenger and won the French Open championship for the first time in his career.
Surprising or not? Unexpected or not? Before the start of this year's Roland Garros, I'm afraid this was an outcome that no one could have predicted, including Wawrinka himself.
However, with the championship at the French Open, Wawrinka successfully got rid of the "one Grand Slam" label, and successively defeated the world's No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 to reach the top, including the two giants Federer and Djokovic. This was very convincing, comparable to Gawain's performance at the Australian Open at the beginning of the year.
Those doubts, those denials, those provocations can all come to a temporary end.
In addition, an interesting fact is that Murray, Wawrinka and Gao Wen are all two Grand Slam champions, and none of the three players has yet been able to top the world No. 1, so -
Who will be the first to win the third one?
(End of this chapter)