Chapter 1870: Too many elements
Unpopular! Unpopular! Unpopular!
Just before this, people relaxed their vigilance a little, and looking at the semi-final lineups of the men's and women's singles, they all said that the upset was over and the US Open was back on track.
Soon after, a series of upsets occurred in the women's singles semi-finals, subverting all imaginations and pushing the chaos of this year's US Open to a new height.
Dumbfounded.
transfixed.
With Pennetta sweeping Halep and Vinci reversing Serena Williams, a series of records were written strongly, and more than 30 records continued to be screened. Among them, the two records that are most worthy of attention and discussion are:
For the first time in 74 years, the U.S. Open will feature two first-time Grand Slam women's singles finalists.
For the first time in thirty-six years since the 1979 Australian Open, there was no Grand Slam women's singles final among the world's top 20.
Shocked. Stunned. Amazed.
But think carefully, does the scene before your eyes seem a bit... familiar? Last year, in the men's singles semi-finals, Cilic defeated Federer and Gawain defeated Djokovic, and the two unknown players met in the final.
This year, exactly the same scene was copied and pasted in the women's singles semi-finals. It was not very similar but exactly the same, which was astonishing.
People felt a deep sense of shock, and even if they witnessed it with their own eyes, they still found it hard to believe that it really happened.
Moreover, for two consecutive years, players who reached the Grand Slam finals for the first time in their careers met and defeated the first and second seeds respectively. This feat was repeated one after another, first in the men's singles and then in the women's singles, which continued to attract attention.
All of a sudden, there are too many factors to keep up with.
Some were shocked by Halep's helplessness throughout the game. The player with the most hard-court wins this year suddenly seemed to have lost her ability to play.
Some people were shocked by Vinci's outstanding performance. You have to know that this Italian veteran is a clay court expert. The highest-ranked player he has defeated on hard courts throughout the season is only Bouchard, who is currently ranked 25th in the world.
Some people were shocked by Serena Williams' misstep, and perhaps she will never have the chance to surpass Graf, and will eventually be caught up in the storm in these turbulent times.
Others were shocked by...
Blah blah, I can't stop.
Looking back at the entire US Open women's singles event, the foreshadowing had already been laid since the upsets in the first round. Such a situation was brewed in chaos and disaster, and finally the legendary meeting of the two Italian veterans was achieved.
Admiration and astonishment spread out in a mighty manner.
Even when the night show started, I still couldn't regain my composure.
The most shocking and intuitive thing is the ticket for the women's singles final on Saturday.
Originally, American audiences were looking forward to witnessing Serena Williams' historic completion of the annual Grand Slam feat on her home soil. Coupled with Serena Williams' absolute advantage over Vinci, it seemed that they were certain that the world No. 1 would advance strongly, and tickets to the women's singles final soared.
Even before the start of the US Open, all tickets were announced to be sold out. This is the first time in history that ticket sales for a women's tournament have led those for a men's tournament, which shows people's expectations for the women's singles final.
The cheapest mountaintop ticket at Arthur Ashe Stadium was once sold for an astonishing $270. However, after Serena Williams lost to Vinci, the lowest ticket price plummeted to $40 in just five minutes.
There is a world of difference.
People couldn't help but start to speculate, would the men's singles competition continue to be cold?
When Dimitrov and Djokovic first stepped onto the court, the Arthur Ashe Stadium was already in a frenzy, with everyone applauding in the most enthusiastic manner, and everyone was looking forward to a truly exciting game.
At the scene, the five-star red flag was flying again, and the power from China did not hesitate to cheer and shout, cheering for Gawain's good friend Dimitrov.
Indeed, the excitement of this semi-final depends on Dimitrov's performance. After all, Djokovic has shown top form this year. Once Dimitrov can't keep up, the game may become one-sided.
Dimitrov needed the encouragement.
In fact, Dimitrov did the same thing. At the end of a long and difficult trough, after being cleansed of all the dross, he gained new vitality.
"6:4".
In the first men's singles semifinal, Dimitrov won the first set, which surprised everyone again. Although this was not the first set Djokovic lost at the US Open this year, it was the first time Djokovic lost the first set.
Dimitrov showed rare determination and was very focused from the first point. Even without a coaching team, he formulated a clear strategy, made adjustments to target Djokovic, and implemented it.
Even professionals have said that Dimitrov brought surprises. The genius known as "Little Federer" seems to have finally found the core of his game, and his tactical organization has made obvious progress.
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However, there is a reason why Djokovic has been able to maintain his top competitiveness this year and frequently reach the semi-finals and even the finals in Masters and Grand Slams. His competitive state has indeed reached a perfect state.
“6:4”, “6:3”.
Djokovic won two sets in a row, completed the reversal and took most of the lead.
It cannot be said that Dimitrov played badly, but Djokovic played at a higher level. His absolute strength on both offense and defense was amazing.
In fact, Djokovic's current style is not to show off his aggressiveness, but to find a perfect balance between the transition between offense and defense at the baseline, and to bring his talent for baseline ball-wrapping to the extreme.
More than once, reporters asked Djokovic the same question at press conferences:
At critical moments, Djokovic habitually takes more shots, often starting with 20 shots, and often 30 or 40 shots. Is this a tactic or a habit? Djokovic also said that he did not deliberately extend the number of shots, but that more rounds allowed him to find a sense of stability and a way to break the deadlock.
Therefore, when facing Djokovic, the impact at the tactical level is very important. Later, Djokovic obviously exposed his shortcomings when facing the impactful players among the new generation of players. The impact of strength and speed is the key. Otherwise, if it only relies on tug-of-war, it is estimated that only Medvedev can use Djokovic's method to drag down Djokovic.
This is also the reason why Dimitrov fell behind in the score. He is an elegant and smooth striker, but he does not have an advantage in absolute strength and speed.
So, does this mean that the match has no chance? Has the match completely entered Djokovic's familiar track? Is it another standard ending?
Judging from the past, Dimitrov did lack some bloodiness. Not only when facing Djokovic, but also when facing the Big Four, Dimitrov was always lacking a little bit and was unable to break through that layer of window paper. Maybe things are just like this and cannot be changed.
But tonight, at Arthur Ashe Stadium, Dimitrov finally made his voice heard.
He said, no.
(End of this chapter)