At the beginning of the year, Gao Wen broke the shackles and won the US Open and Australian Open consecutively in a historic manner. His incredible performance overturned the rule of the giants.
Then, it was Wawrinka who made a breakthrough again, defeating Federer, Gawain and Djokovic in succession to reach the top of Roland Garros, breaking the shackles of doubt.
Finally, it was Gao Wen's turn again. He not only defended his US Open title, but also wrote another incredible journey that sparked countless heated discussions.
From Gawain to Wawrinka and back to Gawain, the two leaders of the Challenger League have successfully broken the dominance of the Big Four with their indisputable stunning performances, winning five of the past eight Grand Slams. This also marks the entry of the era of giants in men's tennis into the third stage. It is not a battle of heroes, but a different kind of brilliance is performed on top of the Forbidden City.
"The Era of Giants 1.0", Federer and Nadal are two dragons playing with a pearl.
"Era of Giants 2.0", Djokovic and Murray join the competition.
In the "Era of Giants 3.0", Wawrinka and Gawain came from behind to break the monopoly with unparalleled determination and courage and pushed the game to a new height.
Applause, thunder.
Precisely because we have experienced the first and second stages, we are looking forward to the beginning of the third stage and the discussion cannot be stopped.
If you missed the first two stages and only started paying attention to tennis recently, after hearing all the rumors over the past decade, your expectations have been rising.
Veteran fans have their own expectations, and new fans have their own attention, but there is no doubt that the fans are the biggest beneficiaries.
I am so happy! My blood is boiling!
This is what competitive sports should be like, with champions and duels, rivalries and sparks, growth and progress, and strong confrontations constantly challenging the limits and presenting excitement. It not only increases the suspense of victory or defeat, but also improves the quality of the game. Men's tennis has indeed entered its golden age in all aspects.
Naturally, a discussion surfaced:
Wawrinka and Gao Wen, can they be considered the fifth or sixth giants?
In fact, since the Australian Open began at the beginning of the year, media reporters who are unwilling to be left out have begun to hype the news and have asked the two parties more than once.
He fanned the flames and hoped that the world would be in chaos.
In this regard, both Wawrinka and Gao Wen have highly overlapping views, expressing similar views in different ways:
The so-called "giants" are not just those who have won one or two Grand Slam titles. If we simply count the number of Grand Slam and Masters titles, Murray should have been eliminated long ago, and Nadal, who has been in a slump for the past year, should also fall behind. The era of giants has collapsed.
The reason why “giants” are giants is that they demonstrate dominance on the one hand, and stability and durability on the other hand, both are indispensable.
Looking at the whole year, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year, different events, different venues and different times showed strong performance.
Not just for one year, but in the past five or even ten years, it has maintained a stable position among the top ten or five in the world.
The number of championships is just one of the reference data, the number of semi-finals, the number of quarter-finals, the winning rate against the top ten players in the world, the winning rate against players ranked outside the world fifty, the average results of important tournaments, the games won by saving match points, the games won by missing match points, and so on.
Competitive sports are like this. There are highs and lows, hot and cold, explosions and depressions, difficulties and breakthroughs. No player in any sport is exempt from this.
There is only one champion. No one can win every event, including Bolt, who has won so many championships.
The key point is that over a longer period of time and in more games, the peak period has the dominance of the peak period, and the trough period has the stability of the trough period.
The “Big Four”, without exception.
Federer and Nadal have stayed at the top of men's professional tennis for a full decade, and Djokovic and Murray have also been at the top for five years. The reason they can be called giants is definitely not just because of the number of Grand Slam titles they have won, but also because of their persistence, stability and dominance.
Even though Nadal is suffering from injuries and is in a slump, and even though Murray has yet to show his dominance, they are still among the giants.
In this regard, both Wawrinka and Gao Wen have a clear understanding -
The time they have been at the top is still too short.
As for Wawrinka, it has only been two years since last year's Australian Open; as for Gao Wen, it is even shorter, with only one year until the start of this year's US Open.
Therefore, both players responded very firmly and did not think they could be considered as part of the giants.
"I need more time," Wawrinka said.
“I look forward to continuing to improve myself,” Gao Wen replied.
The straightforward and open response made the media shut up and go home disappointed, but after thinking about it, they had to admit that the views of the two players were correct. If Wawrinka or Gawain claimed to be giants, I am afraid that the first ones to jump out and ridicule them would be these media reporters.
Until——
now.
When another year's US Open came to an end, when Gawain once again defeated Federer and Djokovic in succession with his unparalleled performance to reach the top.
The frenzy is coming. It is overwhelming and overwhelming.
"Champion! Gawain!"
"The fifth giant, rise!"
“Fight, fight, fight—Gawain interprets the mysteries of the God of War with his life.”
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"The era of the Big Five has arrived, and Gawain is shaking things up."
“A new chapter in the Age of Giants: Gawain joins the game.”
"A reversal of fate, a legend written on the earth."
"Gawain, break the curse and defend the US Open title."
"A US Open full of surprises, a US Open that witnessed history: Pennetta and Gao Wen won the singles championship respectively."
"In the midst of chaos and turmoil, witness the emergence of the fifth giant."
"A myth, a miracle, a journey - Gawain, the man destined to write history."
"Here it comes, the fifth giant has finally arrived."
Heat waves, tides, storms—
Sweeping the world.
Without any agreement or communication, all major media outlets adopted similar headlines and threw out the crucial keywords in unison:
The “Fifth Giant”! It filled the field of vision with its bustling crowds and swept the screen with its powerful momentum.
It is a rare occasion that media outlets focus on the same hot topic and express the same opinions, causing a storm around the world.
Is this because Gawain finally broke the shackles of consecutive semi-finals at the French Open and Wimbledon and defended his title at the US Open to win his third Grand Slam title?
Indeed, this is an important reason and one that cannot be ignored, but it is not all.
In terms of championships alone, Gawain finally made a breakthrough. Not only did he win the Grand Slam for the second time in a year, following in the footsteps of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic and showing his dominance, but he also surpassed Murray and Wawrinka to win his third championship trophy.
This feat is enough to give Gao Wen an advantage in terms of numbers.
But if that's all, as Wawrinka and Gawain themselves said, it's still not enough. After all, the time is too short and they still need to continue to prove themselves.
In fact, it is not just that, all major media outlets have reached a consensus in unison:
A giant is born.