In the upper half, focus matches have been one after another since the first round, but in comparison, the first week of the second half is full of nostalgia.
The style of painting is quite different.
From a professional perspective, Gao Wen's draw luck is pretty good. At least in the first three rounds, there are no giant killers or time bombs in the draw, and the overall situation is relatively stable. This also means that Gao Wen can have some time to adapt to the game and adjust his status to prepare for the subsequent tough battles.
Logically speaking, this should be considered as a wish come true, but why didn't Yu Jia and the others cheer and celebrate?
The reason is...the first-round opponent.
In fact, the high-seeded players in the upper half of this year's draw each have their own challenges.
Nadal will face Cilic in the first round, Murray will face Kyrgios in the first round, and Kei Nishikori will face Paire in the first round.
Djokovic and Ferrer's first-round opponents are relatively easy, but the second round will also be a test, with Djokovic facing Pospisil and Ferrer facing Krajinovic.
Overall, the first-round matchups in the lower half lacked some topics. Even the matchup between Federer and L-Mayer could hardly create more waves. Professionals and media reporters generally believed that Federer would advance easily. After all, this was a Grand Slam tournament and the situation was ultimately different.
If we have to pick out a focus match in the first round in the lower half, it would be "Gawain vs. Zverev".
——Zverev Jr., this is Gao Wen’s first-round opponent in this year’s US Open.
The reason for the attention is slightly different from other first-round matchups.
Because do people believe Zverev can beat Gawain? Not really.
It is because of people's expectations and hopes for the storm of youth. After all, Gao Wen made a brilliant debut on this stage last year and made his voice heard in a way that shocked the world. When he returned to Flushing a year later, it was inevitable that curiosity, expectation, and exploration were spread out.
As the undisputed leader of the Youth Storm, the media will never miss any meeting between Gao Wen and any young player.
What's more, Gao Wen still holds an impressive record, maintaining a perfect record against players born after 1990, consolidating his position as the best of the new generation with his unparalleled performance. He has undoubtedly become an important goal for every young player to catch up with and challenge.
Besides, the grudges between Zverev and Gawain also added some spice to this encounter.
Born in 1997 and just turning 18 in April this year, Zverev has already become the youngest player in the top 100 of the ATP world rankings. His upward momentum is very encouraging, and countless eyes are focused on him. The voice of "once-in-a-decade genius" is heard everywhere.
But what’s interesting is that when people mention Zverev Jr., they always can’t forget one core event in their mind: “highest consumption”.
At this year's Miami Masters, Kowen and Zverev met in the second round. The young and energetic Zverev said that he could beat Kowen and issued a challenge before the game; however, Kowen responded with a joking tone and uttered that classic quote.
The so-called highest consumption refers to the number of games Gawain lost against players born after 1995. He only lost two games against Coric, Zverev and Rublev, including challenge tournaments and ATP-level events.
In the end, “6:0”, “6:2”.
In Miami, Gawain easily swept Zverev Jr. to advance to the next round, and remained strong all the way to the top to win the championship, becoming the youngest player ever to win the Sunshine Double.
In a blink of an eye, four months have passed. After the clay court season, grass court season and North American summer hard court season, the two young players met again.
Gao Wen, Zverev Jr., and Cilic are the only three players born after 1995 in the top 100 of the ATP world rankings. Now two of them are about to meet in the first round of the US Open. How can people not pay attention and care?
More importantly, for young players, growth and transformation are the key rather than strength and performance. A complete change may often occur between the last meeting and this meeting. Each confrontation will present a different state, and expectations will naturally be high.
There is no need to elaborate on Gao Wen's continued growth; and Zverev is also growing rapidly, converting all his talents into strength on the court.
The grass season is key.
Zverev won the main draws in Halle and Nottingham respectively, and for the first time in his career he entered the main draw of a Grand Slam relying on his world ranking and stepped onto the Wimbledon court; he also won a game to advance to the second round, which once again aroused the fanatical pursuit of the German media.
Then, he reached the semi-finals in Bastad and the quarter-finals in Washington, kicking off the North American summer hard court season with consecutive strong performances. Even Zverev and his team did not expect that his performance would be so outstanding after entering the summer that it disrupted their plans.
Taking the Grand Slam tournaments into consideration and his physical fitness, Zverev gave up the Rogers Cup and started from the qualifying round in Cincinnati.
Lack of experience is still an obvious shortcoming. Zverev Jr. failed to find his form. Although he passed the qualifying test and entered the main competition in Cincinnati, he was eliminated in the first round and lost to Cilic, who was one year older than him. His upward momentum was interrupted. This is an important lesson.
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Without any rest or adjustment, Zverev arrived in New York without stopping, passed the qualifying round, and advanced to the main draw without losing a set in three rounds. He stepped onto the main draw stage for the second consecutive Grand Slam, and naturally, the media's expectations and attention also surged.
Judging from the past two months, leaving aside the lack of experience in physical energy allocation, Zverev Jr. already has the ability to compete head-on with players ranked top 50 or 30 in the world, and has entered a stage of rapid growth and improvement. His impact and explosive power are indeed at the level of a top player.
Then--
There is the sign list in front of us.
Zverev is about to challenge Gawain again, and like in Miami, it will be on fast hard courts, so will things be different this time?
In the eyes of Yu Jia and others, playing against young players has both advantages and disadvantages, because they are unpredictable and they cannot control their potential and energy. If Gao Wen can control the situation, it will be as easy as playing against the "post-95" players before, but what if he can't? Judging from Zverev's growth rate and current strength, it is not an easy bone to chew.
All these scenes can't help but make people think that Zverev is just like Gawain last year. Because of his obscurity and youthful vigor, he finally became an "X factor" and everything is unknown.
Moreover, journalists who are eager to create chaos will inevitably start fanning the flames. No one can be sure whether the interference of these off-field factors is a good thing or a bad thing.
As a result, the media started to make a fuss immediately, and the vigorous noise was like a carnival.