The earth continues to revolve and will not stop because of any disturbance.
Life is always like this.
In the world of competitive sports, no one wants to see injuries, but what happens happens, and the game won't stop.
Gao Wen regretfully withdrew from the Rogers Cup semi-finals. The storm inside and outside the competition and on the Internet spread like a hurricane, but in Toronto, the competition is still going on, and this year's championship trophy is still waiting for its owner. Everyone is looking forward to a peak showdown.
In the lower half, Murray won without a fight.
In the upper half, “Djokovic VS Chadi”.
Although there was no upset in the result of the game, the progress of the game still brought some small surprises.
On the one hand, Chadi once again delivered an outstanding performance, proving that the confidence of the "Challenger Alliance" has risen across the board and they are making a strong attack on the blockade of the Big Four.
On the other hand, Djokovic is in poor form. He took a month off after winning the Wimbledon title and is still in the adjustment stage when he came to North America.
A very interesting and special piece of data is that -
Djokovic is quickly becoming the best hard court player of all time. His record, winning percentage, championships, etc. on hard courts are all very impressive. Naturally, the North American hard court season is his time to shine, but the details are somewhat different from the imagined data.
In the spring season, Djokovic did perform strongly, winning the Indian Wells and Miami doubles, which other players may not be able to accomplish once in their entire careers, but as of this year, Djokovic has accomplished it twice, in 2011 and 2014 respectively, and has won a total of seven times.
In the summer season, Djokovic is a completely different person. Although he won the Rogers Cup three times in 2007, 2011 and 2012, he has never won the Cincinnati Championship so far. Not only the number of championships, but also the overall performance in the semi-finals and quarter-finals is lower than Djokovic's personal average.
Climate, venue, environment, etc., all play an important role.
Subsequently, it also affected Djokovic's performance at the US Open.
To be precise, it’s not that Djokovic performed poorly, but that his dominance was not that strong.
This year is no exception.
After arriving in Toronto, Djokovic has never adjusted to his best form. He even almost lost to Gulbis in the last round. However, after bumps and stumbles along the way, Djokovic still showed his deep foundation and once again proved his hard court strength.
“6:4”, “6:4”.
Djokovic defeated Chardy and advanced to the final.
Fans, satisfied.
In the 2015 Rogers Cup final, “Djokovic vs. Murray”, although Gawain’s absence from the semi-finals overshadowed the event, the ending was still good and worth celebrating.
For both teams in the final, they all have their own goals and things they need to prove.
After losing the Australian Open and French Open finals in a row, Djokovic finally won the Wimbledon championship, proved himself, and regained his bloodiness, but he is not satisfied with this. He has set his sights on the US Open and is eager to hold on to the world's number one throne and withstand wave after wave of attacks.
Now, Gawain has retired due to injury and his future is uncertain. Djokovic does not need to be thankful. In a sense, he also hopes to meet Gawain again. The two have not met since Miami. He has been sharpening his sword and preparing for another fair fight.
Sadly, at least in Toronto, that won't be happening.
But it doesn't matter. Djokovic continues to focus on himself and do his best. This is enough for him to seize the initiative in the battle for the world's number one.
Murray, after a long struggle with injuries and a difficult recovery, finally returned as the king in this year's clay and grass season, but this is not enough, far from enough.
He suffered consecutive defeats at the French Open and Wimbledon. His performance in the warm-up matches was absolutely top-notch. He entered the Grand Slam stage undefeated on both clay and grass, but he was defeated again and again. Those defeats were bitter and painful, and caused the pressure and accusations on him to continue to rise.
Lost to Djokovic at the French Open and lost to Gao Wen at Wimbledon——
Murray needs to prove himself again.
Although he missed the chance to take revenge on Gawain in the Rogers Cup this time, Murray has already set his sights on Djokovic.
On Murray's road to recovery and awakening, Djokovic is his victim.
Seven consecutive losses.
It was simply a long and horrible nightmare, miserable and inhumane.
The two partners who grew up together have similar styles, playing methods and abilities, but Djokovic seems to be a little bit stronger. Just a little bit, a slight difference can lead to a huge mistake. Then the positions of the two people in the professional tennis world have subtly changed. It's fate.
After Wimbledon, Murray also took a month off, but his condition was better than Djokovic's.
In fact, almost all of Murray's important breakthroughs in his career are closely related to the North American summer hard court season.
In 2006, he reached the semi-finals of the Masters for the first time in his career in Toronto.
In 2008, he won his first Masters Championship trophy in Cincinnati.
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In 2012, he won his first Grand Slam title in his career, in Flushing, New York.
Data doesn't lie.
Stepping onto the North American hard court again, Murray also hopes to make a breakthrough this year. In fact, his last Masters championship trophy dates back to 2013.
That year, in Miami, he saved match point in the final to beat Ferrer and won the title, which was also the first time in his career that he saved match point to win the championship. After that, he won the Wimbledon title for the first time and ushered in his highlight moment, but then entered a long period of injury troubles.
It is conceivable that this final is equally important to Djokovic and Murray. They both have their own goals and strategies.
No Federer, no Nadal, no Gawain and no Wawrinka——
By the way, Wawrinka also suffered an injury in the third round match against Kyrgios. He could hardly continue in the deciding set. In the passive situation of "0:4", he had no choice but to choose to retire; but unlike Gawain, Wawrinka did not have so much pressure and did not cause any controversy.
However, the final was still exciting.
The reason why the “Big Four” are giants is that they can remain strong in the midst of turbulence and withstand the impact with superior skills.
This time, it's Djokovic and Murray.
Before the game, professionals generally believed that although Djokovic was in poor form, the final would be different after all, and Djokovic would definitely improve his form. In addition, the two players were familiar with each other, and Djokovic was better at dealing with Murray, so the winning rate was still on Djokovic's side.
However.
Murray disagrees.
"6:4", "4:6", "6:3".
Murray defeated Djokovic in three hard-fought sets, not only ending his long seven-game losing streak against his friend, but also winning the Masters Championship again after two years. From clay to grass to North American hard courts, his outstanding form has been improving step by step, and finally he has reached the moment of breaking out of the cocoon and becoming a butterfly.
Boom! Boom boom boom! In an instant, no one remembered anything about Gawain anymore, and all eyes were focused on Murray.