For various reasons, Zone 2/4 is known as the Death Zone.

Among the new generation, there is the time bomb Kyrgios; among the middle-level players, there are two elusive seeds, Wawrinka and Raonic; among the giants, there is Nadal, who has been shrouded in mystery this season.

Of course, never underestimate the giants. There is a reason why the giants are called giants.

Three weeks ago, Nadal went to Stuttgart to start his grass court season. He performed strongly all the way, regained his form and won the final championship. This was also Nadal's first grass court championship in five years since the 2010 Wimbledon championship. It seemed that he had finally regained some form.

Immediately afterwards, Nadal came to London without stopping to participate in the Queen's Club Cup, but he lost to the weird player Alexandr-Dolgopolov in three sets in the first round. His ups and downs continued the uncertainty and unpredictability of this year.

Uncertainty, instability, instability——

This describes Nadal, Kyrgios, Wawrinka and Raonic. All the uneasy unknown factors are magnified to the extreme on the grass, presenting a posture that is completely different from that on clay, yet similar in nature, leaving room for writing different possibilities.

Therefore, Zone 2/4 is called the Death Zone, which is also a microcosm of the "Big Four vs. Challengers", an all-out melee.

Again, in the 3/4 zone, Murray and Gowen face off.

In fact, judging from the matchups in the quarterfinals alone, this is undoubtedly the place of death among the four major divisions. Murray, who is considered by countless professionals to be the biggest favorite to win Wimbledon this year, happened to encounter Gawain, the leader of the Challenger League. This duel was also hailed as a collision between Mars and the Earth.

After the draw was released, professionals said that for Murray, Gawain might be the championship test. Once he can overcome Gawain, Murray's championship potential will shine. Whether it is Federer or Djokovic, Murray will be able to gain more confidence.

From Murray's perspective, this draw is really... terrible; but from Gao Wen's perspective, Chinese media believe that it is an excellent draw.

The reason is not complicated. It is not that Murray is considered the weakest link among the Big Four, but because Gawain is not good at grass. Everything in front of him is unfamiliar. It is unknown what kind of performance Gawain can show and what position he can advance to. In this case, facing Murray, whose playing style is incompatible with his, is actually the best choice for Gawain.

Murray is good at layout and design, and his forehand and backhand are balanced. Although there are no loopholes, he also lacks the power to break the balance. Therefore, Murray's games often lack an aggressive momentum. Even on grass, it is easy to fall into long-round multi-shot tug-of-war. For Gao Wen, a freshman on grass, this kind of game rhythm is easier to adapt to.

So, the luck in the lottery is really good.

And that’s not all—

It is not just the Chinese media that applauds Gao Wen's luck. Other professionals also do not think that the 3/4 zone is a death zone. The fundamental reason is:

The other players do lack some competitiveness.

In the first three rounds, Murray and Gawain will not encounter particularly outstanding and strong players, so they should have no problem advancing to the round of 16. They will not face the first serious challenge until the fourth round.

Murray's opponent in the round of 16 is Tsonga, while Gawain's opponent in the round of 16 is Dimitrov.

As for Tsonga, although he performed well in Roland Garros, advancing to the round of 16, he finally lost to Gao Wen in five sets. He adjusted his condition well after returning from injury; but the bad thing was that after the tournament, the injury recurred, so that Tsonga missed the warm-up of the entire grass season.

Although Tsonga did not withdraw from the competition, it is still a big question as to how much of his strength he can actually display due to the injury.

As for Dimitrov, there is no need to say much. He has been struggling throughout this season. His form improved slightly in the Queen's Club Cup two weeks ago but it was very limited. He finally lost to Anderson and was eliminated in the quarterfinals. He failed to defend his title. His breakup with the meritorious coach Rashid off the court was not pleasant either.

This time at Wimbledon, Dimitrov appeared almost as a defeated soldier.

In other words, if nothing unexpected happens, it is highly likely that Murray and Gao Wen will meet in the quarterfinals. Although the two players are about to start a showdown, the overall road to promotion can be described as smooth sailing. From any perspective, this cannot be called a death zone, but rather a good draw.

When the sign-in list came out, Chinese media all breathed a sigh of relief.

Although the route to the quarterfinals with Murray, the semifinals with Federer, and the finals with Djokovic is exactly the same as the Australian Open at the beginning of the year, if we consider the entire draw, Gao Wen's luck at Wimbledon is already the best among his four Grand Slam experiences so far.

After all, this is the era of giants. Any player who wants to win the championship must face the test of more than one giant. This is the commonplace situation.

What's more, this is a grass court. It is still a big question whether Gao Wen, who has only one win and one loss on grass court in his career, can pass the test of the first week and stand in front of the Big Four. Therefore, instead of worrying about the draw later, it is better to applaud and celebrate the draw in the first week.

Finally, in the 4/4 zone, Federer and Berdych face off.

Overall, this division is the weakest because the two strongest players are Federer and Berdych, who are best at grass.

Not long ago, Federer and Berdych both participated in the grass court tournament in Halle. In the end, Berdych lost to Karlovic and stopped in the quarterfinals, while Federer defeated Seppi to break the curse and win the championship.

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The "Sepi curse", which meant that Federer could not win the championship as long as he defeated Seppi on the road to the next round, was finally broken in Halle. In the end, Federer won the championship in Halle for the eighth time in his career, continuing his strong performance on the grass, following closely behind Murray and becoming the favorite to win the championship this year.

On Federer's road to promotion, opponents such as Querrey, Sock, and Lopez could not cause too much trouble. After all, grass is Federer's world, so his first challenge should come in the quarterfinals, that is, Berdych.

Berdych also lacks strong opponents in his small group. The only one he needs to be wary of is Simon, his opponent in the round of 16. However, Berdych still has the advantage with his strength. After all, Simon's grinding skills are difficult to fully display on the grass court.

Draw, as above.

Looking at the overall situation, the upper half is obviously more dangerous, while the lower half is relatively brighter.

The new generation gathers in Zone 1/4, and the close combat in Zone 2/4 is full of dangers and thrills. The defending champion Djokovic will face some tests.

The clear divisions in zones 3/4 and the smooth road in zones 4/4 can be said to have a clear structure and distinct strong and weak players. But in fact, the real strong clashes come from the second half. The fights in the quarterfinals and semifinals are comparable to those in the upper half. Murray and Federer, the two favorites to win the championship, need to meet in advance.

The flames of war are about to begin!