Chapter 1670 The Ultimate Challenge
In the past decade, the most glorious and brilliant years in men's tennis, through one event after another, one game after another, and one year after another, the Big Four gradually formed a pattern, which also made the Grand Slam championship process more difficult. After all, the Big Four are all in their peak form.
At the same time, there is an ultimate challenge hidden outside of the four Grand Slam titles. It has nothing to do with the titles, but it is more difficult than the titles. It is an irreplaceable ultimate challenge for all players who have been active in professional tennis in the past decade. To some extent, it even exceeds the value of the four Grand Slams.
It has been mentioned before that there are only a handful of players who can defeat all four giants in their careers; and defeating all four giants in the four Grand Slams in a best-of-five format makes the difficulty of this challenge soar, comparable to climbing Mount Everest.
Plus, beating the Big Four when they were No. 1 in the world is a different level of challenge.
However, climbing Mount Everest is difficult, but not impossible.
Tsonga. Berdych. Wawrinka.
The above three players have defeated four giants in the four Grand Slam tournaments respectively, climbing to the top of Mount Everest and looking down on all the other mountains.
This is humankind, this is competitive sports. No matter how difficult, extreme or terrifying the challenge is, there will always be people who continue to charge forward.
However, there is one exception -
It is already very, very difficult to beat all four giants in the four Grand Slams, and it is even more difficult to beat them in the Grand Slams where the giants are best.
This is basically equivalent to a plan to migrate to other planets. It sounds beautiful, but no one can realize it.
Maybe it can be realized in a hundred years, but at least there is no hope in the short term.
— beat Djokovic at Melbourne Park.
— Beat Nadal at Roland Garros.
—beat Federer at Wimbledon.
Three consecutive hits! Tsonga, Wawrinka, Berdych, Del Potro, and even Murray, one of the giants, couldn't do it.
Perhaps, out of the three ultimate challenges, someone can complete one, and there may be more than one player; but there is no one who can complete two.
One! None!
Not to mention three items.
Until this year, Gao Wen continued his upward momentum.
At the beginning of the year in Melbourne Park, Gawain defeated Djokovic in the finals, losing two and winning three! In May, Gawain defeated Nadal in the quarterfinals in four hard-fought sets at Roland Garros!
In two consecutive Grand Slam tournaments, Gao Wen completed an incredible feat, becoming the first person to complete such a challenge in the entire decade of tennis' golden age, creating new possibilities, writing new history, and setting off a frenzy and shocking news on social networks and among professionals.
This is even more dazzling than winning the Grand Slam championship itself, and the difficulty is comparable to winning the Golden Slam in a natural year.
And then.
Time has come to the present.
After the Wimbledon draw was released, although Gawain and Federer were in the same half of the draw, standing in front of Gawain were two huge mountains, Dimitrov and Murray. The general view was not optimistic that Gawain would be able to meet Federer in the semi-finals, so the topic of discussion was temporarily put on hold.
However! But! Surprisingly! Things just happened like this.
Gawain was the first to stride into the semi-finals, waiting for the Swiss king; Federer was only one victory away from the semi-finals, and standing between Federer and Gawain was the difficult Simon. Things suddenly became interesting, and all the blood rushed to the heart.
Boom! If, hypothetically, just in case... Gawain can meet Federer and win again in the semifinals, it will definitely be like the Big Bang of the universe.
The birth of a whole new world.
It's that simple.
One of the most influential theories in modern cosmology holds that the universe was formed from a dense and hot singularity that expanded after a big bang 13.7 billion years ago. From nothing to something, the explosion evolved into chaos, and then after billions of years of development, a whole new world was formed.
Now, ATP is witnessing history, quietly waiting for the moment of a singularity explosion. Maybe it will happen, maybe it won’t, but no matter what, thousands of eyes are focused on it, because they may be about to witness the change of an era and the birth of an era.
This is not just the birth of the fifth giant - no matter the outcome of the next game, and no matter whether Gawain can reach the top of Wimbledon, with Gawain reaching the semi-finals of the fourth consecutive Grand Slam, the fifth giant has actually been born, and this has become a fact.
It is a reshuffle, a reorganization, a subversion, and a... big bang.
The power structure in men's professional tennis will usher in a new era, because Gawain has done it. Gawain has accomplished an incredible feat. Naturally, other players will also be inspired, and the balance of mentality and strength will undergo subtle changes, and the subsequent impact will be difficult to predict.
Perhaps, the relationship between the Big Four, the Challenger Alliance, and the Youth Storm will all change completely.
"Bang!"
There was a loud bang.
Of course, it is too early to discuss this now, not to mention that Federer has not yet defeated Simon, let alone whether Gawain can defeat Federer.
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But this is the point, a possibility, a probability, a potential change, that is enough.
When Gao Wen was waiting for Federer in the semi-finals, the situation had already been formed. How could the reporters and netizens not be excited?
If it weren't for the fact that the match between Gawain and Murray was truly amazing, and if Murray wasn't the host, the topic of the press conference would probably have been overwhelmed by the potential historic moment of the semi-finals. The reporters waited and waited, and only at the very end did they burst out with amazing energy.
Buzz, buzz, buzz...
You don't need to open social networks, just look at the faces and eyes at the press conference to feel the heat.
The whole world was in chaos, hot and intense.
"Ha, I'd be lying if I said I knew nothing."
"In fact, Pete told me about it before the match with Andy. He wanted me to be mentally prepared because you definitely won't miss it."
Under heavy pressure and attention, Gao Wen is still Gao Wen, appearing calm and composed, once again demonstrating a maturity and calmness that does not match his age.
"But I also have to be honest, I haven't thought about it for a while."
"In the match with Andy, the outcome was uncertain until the very last moment. I had to focus on the game. I don't think that thinking about the next game in advance is the right path to victory. After the game, you brought up the topic without giving me any breathing space."
"I need to think about it."
Originally, the reporters at the scene thought that Gao Wen was using this statement as an excuse to slow down the pace a little and then control the rhythm of the conversation.
But he didn't expect that Gao Wen actually picked up the mineral water and took a sip, and then... with a thoughtful expression on his face, he actually started thinking.
Uh, this...
(End of this chapter)