There are gusts of cold wind and a series of cold reviews.
In the 2015 US Open, on the first day of the tournament alone, the attrition rate of seeded players in the women's singles competition was as high as 33.33%. Is this a curse or something else? In addition to Ivanovic, Ka-Pliskova, and Navarro -
No. 21 seed Jankovic lost to French rookie Oceane-Dodin, born in 1996, in three hard-fought sets. No. 29 seed Stephens lost to compatriot Vandeweghe in two sets. No. 30 seed Kuznetsova lost to another French rookie Mladenovic.
In a blink of an eye, only twelve of the eighteen seeded players in the upper half remained.
Of course, Serena Williams continued to perform strongly. Facing the tough Vitalia-Diatchenko, she delivered a wave of eight consecutive games. When she was leading "6:0" and "2:0", her opponent unfortunately retired due to injury. She easily advanced to the second round in less than an hour.
Although she is the defending champion, the real focus of this year's US Open for Serena Williams is the annual Grand Slam. She has taken a solid first step, proving once again that in the chaos of today's women's tennis, she is still the undisputed king and is not on the same level as other players.
Perhaps, Serena Williams' only opponent is herself. After all, one of the biggest challenges of the annual Grand Slam comes from physical injuries and fatigue.
On the other hand, the WTA is still in turmoil.
On the other hand, ATP is not much better.
Originally, the WTA has always lacked stability and was in total chaos, which further highlighted the strength of Serena Williams. However, the ATP has always been strong. The strength and stability of the Big Four have created a golden age. Not only them, but the overall performance of other players has also remained stable.
It is precisely because of this that the double upsets in last year's US Open semi-finals were so shocking, but unexpectedly, the turmoil in this year's US Open began so early.
The biggest upset in the men's singles competition came from Zone 2/4:
The sixth seed Kei Nishikori was eliminated unexpectedly.
In this year's North American summer hard court season, Kei Nishikori performed very well, winning the Washington championship and the Toronto quarterfinals. Although he withdrew from the Cincinnati event due to injury, professionals generally believed that this was a tactical withdrawal to preserve his physical strength and energy for the Grand Slam and to go to the US Open with full confidence.
In this match against the French "socialite" Paire, although he lost the first set, Kei Nishikori quickly regained his form, won two sets in a row, and got two match points in the third set tiebreak with "6:4"; however, at the critical moment, a forehand error went into the net and he gave away his serve points, missing the opportunity to end the game.
Then, Paire saved the second match point with an ace. After escaping from death, he completed the reversal in one go and eliminated Kei Nishikori in five sets.
Kei Nishikori became the only top ten seeded player to be eliminated in the men's singles on the first day of the competition, making Perre's third career victory over a top ten player in the world.
The previous two times were in 2013, when he defeated Del Potro in Rome and in Montreal, when he defeated Wawrinka.
For Kei Nishikori, it is not a satisfactory season. After last year's highlights, he was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and French Open this year, and was eliminated in the first round of Wimbledon and the US Open. In particular, the points of last year's quarterfinalists will be directly reset to zero. Kei Nishikori's world ranking is likely to slide to the edge of the top ten.
Neon media, silence.
To be honest, they have great expectations. Kei Nishikori and Kovan are the twin stars of Asia. Just like Federer and Wawrinka, they shoulder all the hopes of the tennis world, provide guidance for countless young players in Asia, and look forward to boosting confidence in other competitive sports.
Especially with Kei Nishikori performing so well in the warm-up matches, the expectations of the Japanese media are rising steadily.
A bold and crazy imagination, if Kei Nishikori and Kobe both make it to the semi-finals, it would definitely be a rare scene. This year it is possible to achieve because the two players are in the 2/4 zone and 4/4 zone respectively. As long as they can advance step by step, there is hope of making history.
However……
It was so unexpected and shocking that I was speechless, not even able to exclaim.
After the game, Kei Nishikori said that New York was particularly hot and humid this year.
Compared with Melbourne, Paris and London, the sultry weather in New York is slightly different. It is wet and heavy, but at the same time it is accompanied by strong winds. The physical condition cannot be maintained in a stable state, which poses a severe test to the players' adjustment and adaptation. Therefore, in the tie-break of the fourth set, Kei Nishikori was distracted.
Kei Nishikori also realized that he did not adjust to his best condition, but Paire's performance was indeed better at the critical moment, so the result was very disappointing.
Kei Nishikori's elimination is not an isolated case.
There has been a wave of withdrawals in the ATP arena, which is so frequent and unexpected that even the US Open officials have expressed concern.
Anduar, Klizan, Stepanek, Dolgopolov, Lu Yen-hsun and others all withdrew from the competition due to injuries.
The situation is obviously abnormal.
Including Nadal also mentioned the relevant situation in the post-match interview -
Facing Cilic, Nadal performed very well, defeating his opponent in four sets, winning this focus match, and successfully advancing to the second round, bringing some surprises.
In the first two sets, Nadal's performance was indeed getting better and better, and he swept the opponent with almost no chance; but starting from the third set, Nadal was sweating very heavily, and coupled with the cold wind, the temperature difference in the night game was more obvious, causing him to have abdominal pain.
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At that time, my overall physical condition deteriorated significantly, my performance also fluctuated, and I ended up losing the set.
But Nadal was experienced and overcame his physical condition, regained his focus in the fourth set and won the game.
Weather conditions are indeed playing a disruptive role.
From Kei Nishikori's unexpected elimination to the wave of withdrawals in the men's singles event, all signs indicate that this is an extraordinary tournament.
Even the US Open organizing committee itself did not expect that the injury problems before the game would continue into the withdrawal from the main game due to injuries. Emergencies occurred one after another, and the injuries in the camp were even shocking. This is an unprecedented event in the four Grand Slam tournaments this year.
Moreover, this is only the first day of competition, which is worrying.
Looking at it from another perspective, there were too many unexpected situations on the first match day, and the other players saw them all. When preparing for the second match day, they and the team will also make preparations in advance based on the actual situation, which can reduce the impact of weather conditions to a certain extent.
Perhaps, as the tournament progresses, unexpected situations can be effectively controlled...? Of course, despite a series of unexpected events, the top players and focus players still showed their concentration and dedication on the first day of the US Open.
Among them, the match between Murray and Kyrgios lived up to expectations, with Murray winning in four sets: "7:5", "6:3", "4:6" and "6:1".
In terms of intensity and excitement, this match was comparable to the one between Nadal and Cilic and did not disappoint people's expectations. Although Kyrgios was surrounded by negative news off the court, he still seemed unrestrained on the court and the quality of the first three sets of the game was worthy of recognition.
It wasn't until the fourth set that the absent-minded Kyrgios lost the game in an easy win. As always, his style remained the same, which was not a surprise.