The ATP world rankings in the third week of September 2015, with few changes but plenty of topics -

The last Grand Slam tournament of the year came to an end, ending with Gao Wen's feat of defending the title. The unexpected thing happened unexpectedly, and it caused a thousand ripples.

Everything is directly reflected in the points of the world ranking.

First, Djokovic.

Second, Gawain.

Third, Federer.

Fourth, Murray.

Fifth, Wawrinka.

Sixth, Berdych.

Seventh, Ferrer.

Eighth, Nadal.

Ninth, Dimitrov.

Tenth, Kei Nishikori.

Judging from the ranking alone, the biggest change came from Kei Nishikori, who was unexpectedly eliminated in the first round. He dropped five places to the edge of the top ten. At the same time, Grigor Dimitrov, who reached the semi-finals of the US Open for the first time in his career, recovered strongly and re-entered the top ten, sweeping away the slump of the season.

Unfortunately, the one who fell out of the top ten was Cilic, who was the runner-up of last year's US Open and was eliminated in the quarterfinals this year.

However, that’s basically all—

Indeed, this year's US Open was full of surprises and upsets. Nadal and Murray were eliminated early, and Berdych and Ferrer's performances were below expectations. But overall, the performances of the players were relatively balanced, and there was no dark horse whirlwind like last year.

Therefore, the changes in the world's top ten rankings were not as drastic as imagined.

What is truly noteworthy is not the ranking position, but the points number, which has not changed much compared to the world ranking points a week before the start of the US Open.

First, Djokovic, 14,395, points increased by 480.

Second, Gao Wen, 11,620.

Third, Federer, 9415.

Fourth, Murray, 7860 points, 180 points less.

In other words, the points gap between Djokovic and Gao Wen not only did not narrow, but widened further.

The principle is very simple——

Gawain and Federer's final results this year are consistent with their performances last year, namely championship and semi-finals respectively, with the same points, so there will be no changes this week.

Djokovic went one step further this year than last year, from the semi-finals to runner-up, so his points increased by 480.

Murray took a step back this year compared to last year, falling from the quarterfinals to the round of 16, so his points were reduced by 180.

Clear and understandable.

In fact, the same is true for the clay court season and the grass court season. Although Kowen had no points last year and purely gained points this year, Djokovic is even better. Not only has his performance this year surpassed his performance last year, but his performance in various competitions is also ahead of Kowen.

Therefore, in the battle for the world ranking, Gao Wen not only failed to narrow the points gap, but the gap was further widened.

Amazing! Scary! But it is happening.

There is no doubt that Djokovic in the 2015 season was in the state of a Super Saiyan, surpassing the 2011 season and reaching a new peak in his career. He was fully integrated from technology to tactics to mentality. He deserved to be the world's number one, which is indeed a mountain that all players need to climb.

However! But!

It is precisely when facing Djokovic in such a super state that the feats of Gawain and Wawrinka are highlighted as magical and brilliant as ever.

But why?

Although the points gap between Djokovic and Gao Wen has further widened, the topic of the battle for the world's number one has been reignited. Why is this?

It should be said that before the start of the US Open, this topic had died down because of the uncertain future of Gawain. All the focus was on Djokovic, Federer and Murray. Once Djokovic could reach the top and win the championship, it would of course mean that Gawain's title defense had failed and the points gap would be completely widened. At that time, Djokovic would lock in the year-end world No. 1 title five months in advance. It was that simple.

And now! With Gawain defending his title, Djokovic has the possibility of securing the year-end world No. 1 position ahead of schedule, and has reopened the hope of competing for the world No. 1 spot.

Judging from the points gap, Djokovic is currently leading Gawain by nearly 3,000 points, or 2,775 points to be exact. It is indeed a huge gap, but it does not mean there is no hope.

After all, there are still a series of important events in the remaining five months, including the two Masters in Shanghai and Paris, as well as the year-end finals, and a series of 500-point and 250-point competitions.

Everything is possible.

Of course, it was very, very difficult for Gawain. Not only did he have to face a gap of nearly 3,000 points, but he also had a series of points to protect.

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For example, as the defending champion of the Paris Masters, if he fails to defend his title, or even worse, loses to Djokovic, then he will basically have no hope of becoming the world's number one at the end of the year.

In other words, Gawain has no room for error. Any slight deviation will end the competition early. However, Djokovic is still at his peak, leading the competition for the year-end world No. 1 by a wide margin. It can even be said that he is sure to win and may put an end to this topic at any time.

Despite this, the topic is still unfolding in a mighty manner, just like when Nadal challenged Federer and when Djokovic challenged Nadal.

No one wants to miss out.

When the last point of the US Open final was scored, all major media outlets could no longer contain their excitement. Their brains were working rapidly, and if mental arithmetic wasn't enough, they used computers for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. They came to conclusions one after another, and couldn't wait to throw out the hot topics at the post-match press conference.

In this regard, Djokovic and Gao Wen stood in different positions, but both gave similar answers:

welcome!

Djokovic said, "Gawain deserves all the honors and praise. He has won applause and respect with his actual actions, which he deserves."

"Although I have the advantage now in terms of points, I believe Gao Wen is one of the best players at the moment. I won't lie that I don't remember the record of our encounters this year. We lost all four times. For me, this is also a challenge, so I look forward to the next meeting."

Calm, composed, and with the heart of a champion, Djokovic still showed confidence even though he had just lost a very, very close game.

Likewise, Gawain is no exception.

"Novak is No. 1 in the world. Period."

"That's the fact, not just the points, his performance this year deserves the title, there is no doubt about it."

When the reporter reminded Gawain that he had just defeated Djokovic today, Gawain smiled widely.

"Of course, I'm enjoying it."

"But I believe that anyone who watched the live broadcast of the entire game today should know that it is not easy. Until the last point, the situation is still uncertain. We both have the opportunity to win, and we are also on the verge of losing. It is the same for both of us."

"It's true that I won the fight, but Novak didn't lose, he's a champion and he showed it."

"So, he is number one in the world and I am number two."

"I don't think the result will be the same next time we meet, because it will be a new game and a new challenge, but I am ready."

Let the storm come even harder!