Chapter 1991 Death Group
The 2015 season is coming to an end. Who will have the last laugh at the ATP London Year-End Finals?
Perhaps the WTA Singapore Year-End Finals can serve as a reference.
Exactly one week ago, the last WTA event of the year came to an end. However, Serena Williams, who has won three Grand Slam titles, was absent due to injury, which made the event overshadowed. The event, which was supposed to be a contest of swordsmen, lost its meaning due to the absence of the most beautiful queen.
The progress of the event was even more surprising——
The two group runners-up, A-Radwanska and Kvitova, qualified with a record of one win and two losses, but both unexpectedly defeated the two group leaders, Sharapova and Muguruza, in the semifinals to meet in the final. This also created an embarrassing history of the WTA: for the first time in history, the final was held between two players with one win and two losses in the group stage.
Especially in the semi-final between Sharapova and Kvitova, in the deciding set, Sharapova was leading by a large margin of 5:1 but lost the good game and was overturned.
This also verifies the chaos of the WTA season. Serena Williams stands out. Apart from her, the gap between the top 30 players in the world is very small. No matter who wins or loses, it cannot be considered an upset. No one has absolute certainty when facing anyone. This once again proves Serena Williams' unparalleled dominance.
final.
A-Radwanska defeated Kvitova in three sets and won the most important championship in her career. After experiencing a terrible season, she rebounded strongly at the end of the season. A-Radwanska's inspirational story once again proved that everything is possible in the world of competitive sports.
Unexpected. Unpopular. Surprise. Noisy.
On the positive side, the depth of the WTA is increasing, the distance between seeded players is shortening, and there will be more and more exciting confrontations. For spectators and professionals alike, no one can ever predict who will win the game. Such suspense is undoubtedly the key to ensuring its appeal.
But from a negative perspective, apart from Serena Williams, the WTA no longer has the charismatic superstars like the ATP, which is not friendly to passers-by. The global appeal of the ATP is indeed reaching new heights, as can be seen from the heated discussions about the year-end finals on social networks.
A-Radwanska unexpectedly won the WTA year-end finals, which also gave a crucial revelation to the ATP year-end finals that is about to kick off——
Never rule out the potential for upsets; that’s the beauty of competitive sports.
What's more, in the ATP Huashan Contest, the victory or defeat is decided by a hair's breadth, so it is far from being an upset.
Looking back at this year's four Grand Slams, when people were discussing the favorites to win, the situation before the game was relatively clear. Regardless of whether the final predictions were accurate, at least the pattern of the warm-up matches was relatively clear, the situation was clear at a glance, and the predictions, including those of bookmakers, could also see clear classifications.
However, this is not the case in the Asian season and the European indoor hard court season.
Djokovic and Gao Wen were the first to bear the brunt of the impact, with their overall performance and results being much higher. They reached the finals in all the tournaments they participated in, and were either champions or runner-ups, continuing their strong performance of the season. There is no doubt that they became the leaders in the final stage of the season and formed the leading group.
The point is, the other players are not pushovers either.
Federer performed poorly in the Shanghai and Paris Masters and was eliminated early, but won the championship in Basel.
Wawrinka, Shanghai and Basel performed mediocrely, but Japan won the championship and Paris showed strong recovery.
Nadal, from the imperial capital all the way to Paris, has been in better and better shape. Although he has not won any championship, his performance has fully recovered.
Murray is guaranteed to reach the semi-finals in all tournaments, but his two crushing defeats to Gawain should serve as a wake-up call.
In general, the state has ups and downs, and the results have been good and bad. Entering the end of the season, the top players are also adjusting, and the ups and downs are more obvious and more intense than the US Open; but there is no doubt that these are not their first time participating in the year-end finals, and everyone is adjusting their state step by step -
The ultimate goal is to reach the year-end finals.
At the same time, are Ferrer, Berdych and Dimitrov, who is a substitute, really cannon fodder?
Not necessarily.
The situations of these three players are somewhat similar. Due to injuries or poor form, they all experienced a period of lows. Until the Asian season began to slowly recover, they fought, tried and adjusted themselves in one tournament after another, and finally returned to the top ranks.
The situation is similar to that of A-Radwanska.
Perhaps, judging from their strength on paper, Ferrer and Berdych are far from being the favorites to win the championship, but neither is A-Radwanska.
What's more, the stability and impact of Ferrer and Berdych may also play a disruptive role and change the entire pattern of competition and confrontation.
Full of suspense!
Precisely because of this, the attention and popularity of this year's London year-end finals has reached an unprecedented height. Before the event even kicked off, the traffic has already set new highs, and discussions on social networks are abuzz. Not only the fans, but also the spectators are equally excited.
——Strong breakthrough.
Just with the group draw ceremony, the topic tag of the London Year-End Finals appeared in the top ten of the global trend list. The popularity was extraordinary, almost comparable to the group draw of the Champions League finals. This is definitely an unprecedented event in the history of the ATP Year-End Finals.
After all, it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Unlike the Champions League final, the eight players in the ATP Finals are divided into two groups. The possibility of a balanced distribution of players objectively exists but is indeed not high. This also means that one group will inevitably be easier and the other will be more thrilling. The importance of the group draw is much higher than that of the Grand Slam.
Expectations and attention are naturally different.
This year's London year-end finals, in order to commemorate two legendary tennis players, the event adopted new group names, namely the Stan-Smith group and the Ilie-Natasha group.
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Under the attention of tens of millions of viewers around the world, the group draw was announced.
Huh! Take a deep breath! On social networks, there was a wailing and astonishment, which swept the screen in just three minutes. Even if you are mentally prepared, your heart will still stop beating.
Stan Smith Group: Djokovic, Federer, Berdych, Ferrer.
Ilie Nastase team: Gawain, Murray, Wawrinka, Nadal.
this……
Imbalance is a predictable result, but the serious imbalance is beyond expectations, so much so that social networks exploded.
Iliye-Nastase group, what kind of epic death group is this?
——Four Grand Slam champions?
——Two giants, a new giant, and a challenger leader?
-- The four players with the best average performance in the Asian season and the European hard-court season? -- Second, fourth, fifth, sixth in the world rankings? Exciting.
This is really exciting! Especially when compared with the Stan Smith group, the madness of the Ilie Nastase group is further highlighted, and I can't help but start to doubt my life.
Anyone who shows up is possible, that's the literal meaning.
The road ahead of Gawain to becoming the best in the world is a hellish journey of swords and fire.
(End of this chapter)