Chapter 1542 Sparks Unlimited
Among the four Grand Slams, the US Open is the most special. First, it is the last Grand Slam of the year, and physical strength and energy have often begun to decline after eight months of consumption. Second, the fast hard court also increases uncertainty. This is also the first event where the dominance of the Big Four is broken.
The French Open is the most solid. Although clay is a venue full of variables, Nadal's sudden emergence completely changed the fate of Roland Garros. However, success and failure are both due to Nadal. Everything depends on Nadal. Two injuries in 2009 and 2015 led to the loss.
The Australian Open is the most intense because it is the opening of the season and the energy accumulated during the offseason is fully released. This is true for the Big Four and other challengers. The back-and-forth competition is brought to the extreme on the slow hard court, and in the end the champions all show their undisputed peak form.
Only Wimbledon——
Not too early or too late, on the one hand, it connects the clay court season and the North American hard court season, which puts strict demands on the players' ability to adjust; on the other hand, the brevity of the grass court season leads to a general lack of adaptability among the players, which in turn highlights the talents of the top players.
Due to various factors and multiple effects, Wimbledon has become the last bastion of the giants in the four Grand Slams.
It's not just the championship, which has never been lost since 2003; the same goes for the runner-up, as the Big Four have met in the finals the most times.
Looking back over the past twelve years, the number of times the Big Four have met in the finals of various Grand Slams is clear at a glance:
Australian Open five times, French Open six times, US Open six times... Wimbledon, seven times.
Since 2003, only Roddick has reached the Wimbledon final three times in 2004, 2005 and 2009 and Berdych once in 2010, a total of four times; the other time was in 2003, long before the rise of the other three giants, when Mark-Philippoussis advanced to the final.
A champion is a champion, that is one thing; but at Wimbledon, let alone the championship, even advancing to the semi-finals or the finals is extremely difficult. The dominance displayed by the four giants on the grass court is completely superior, and it really makes Wimbledon their back garden.
It was precisely because of this that when Raonic and Dimitrov both broke through and advanced to the semi-finals at Wimbledon last year, it sparked a frenzy of discussion; but even they both stopped in the semi-finals, losing to Federer and Djokovic respectively, and ultimately failed to go any further.
At this point, it becomes even more apparent how rare it was for Berdych to reach the Wimbledon final in 2010.
As you can imagine——
When this year's draw came out, the four giants fell into four divisions respectively, and naturally, all the professionals and veteran fans were excited.
It is much more exciting and anticipated than last month's Roland Garros.
At Roland Garros, it was a possibility, an expectation, a fantasy, but when it didn't work out in the end, people weren't disappointed at all; Wimbledon was different; it was a completely different story.
People are curious about whether the rise of the Challenger Alliance, which has won three consecutive Grand Slam titles since the US Open last year, means that the dominance of the Big Four has completely collapsed and the next era will be an era of chaos with many heroes competing for supremacy and many stars shining. Is the era of giants gradually declining?
To be precise, has the page of the "Big Four" in history been turned over?
Then, I came here.
Wimbledon can be said to be the backyard of the Big Four, but it can also be said to be the last stronghold of the Big Four. If even this place is lost...
By then, there will be no need to say more, everything will be judged by the public.
For professionals, there is a little hesitation in anticipation; for fans, there is undoubtedly tension and anxiety.
After all, in the past decade, the ATP giant era has been so glorious and brilliant. The four top players have attracted countless fans. The peak duel between Federer and Nadal has broken barriers, allowing tennis to expand globally and won the love of countless fans.
It is no exaggeration to say that a large number of players now fall in love with tennis because of the Big Four.
However, this year has been in complete turmoil. First, Galvin and Wawrinka won the Grand Slams one after another. It was the first time in twelve years that the Big Four lost both of the first two Grand Slams of the season. Then, Galvin surpassed Federer to become the world's second, breaking the giants' monopoly on the world rankings for a full decade.
Chaos, instability, turbulence.
"The Big Four vs. Challengers" is one thing. As long as the game is more exciting, everyone will welcome it with open arms. But for the Challenger Alliance to truly overthrow the rule of the Big Four, end the ten-year dynasty, and start a new era, this is another matter, and it may be difficult to accept for a while.
Wimbledon, just appeared at this critical juncture——
The pressure and attention can be imagined.
Twelve years ago, when Federer topped Wimbledon, people could see that the next king of tennis would take over the scepter from Sampras, but no one realized that this was the prelude to a new era and the beginning of the greatest and most glorious period in professional tennis.
History began to be written from that time, but no one realized it until more than ten years later when people looked back and suddenly realized it.
But this time it's different.
The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!
From New York to Melbourne, then to Paris, and finally to London, before entering Wimbledon, people could already feel the turbulence of impending storm. Standing at a crossroads of history, they could clearly see the madness and vastness of the raging waves, lightning and thunder.
The answer is very simple -
If the Big Four fail to win the championship, and any challenger wins the championship again, then this will be the beginning of the collapse of the era of the giants; however, if the Big Four resist the impact and win the championship, it doesn't matter which one of the Big Four wins, they will defend their glory again.
Perhaps, the impact of the Challenger Alliance will continue and become more violent as time goes by, but the giants have already established their foothold in the turmoil and chaos. The next strong collision will continue, and the ATP giant era will be pushed to an unparalleled peak.
All of this is based on this year's Wimbledon.
Attracting everyone's attention!
Therefore, after this signing list came out, it caused constant heated discussions, spreading throughout the entire social network, and expectations reached a new height.
Even without the media fanning the flames, one can already deeply feel the sparks of full-scale explosion. The duels in every corner of the draw list may become an important step in writing history. People are looking forward to the performance of the giants, the performance of the Challenger Alliance, and the performance of the dark horses.
Who knows, maybe just like last year's US Open, this year's Wimbledon will also have a dark horse, coming out of nowhere to lay the fatal blow that changes the trajectory of history? So, what are the prospects of the four giants? What about the draw? What about the position of the Challenger Alliance, can they continue their strong performance? (End of this chapter)