Chapter 230: Enemies Meet on a Narrow Road
On July 14, 2014, the Binghamton Challenge officially kicked off.
This small challenge tournament with 64 draws has no place in the US Open series and is not worth mentioning. Logically, no one should pay attention to it, but it attracted a lot of attention because of the top two seeded players, and even the ATP official website homepage gave it an official report.
There are a total of eight seeded seats in the tournament.
The top seed, Alexander Zverev, just set a series of records in the Challenger Tour and the Gold Tournament last month. He is in the limelight and naturally needs no further introduction.
The second seed, Sergiy-Stakhovsky, is a 28-year-old player who has been in the professional tennis world for eleven years. However, he still came to participate in the Challenger Tournament. Logically speaking, he should be a supporting player who is not worthy of attention.
However, Stakhovsky attracted worldwide attention at last year's Wimbledon Tennis Open. In the second round against defending champion Federer, Stakhovsky, who was ranked 116th in the world at the time, performed well and eliminated Federer with a total score of "3:1".
This also created an embarrassing record. Following Hewitt's unexpected loss in the first round in 2003, Federer became the earliest defending champion to be eliminated in the Wimbledon men's singles tournament.
It is precisely because of this that Stakhovsky became famous in one battle! Unfortunately, due to injuries in the past year, Stakhovsky's world ranking has never been high, and his performance has been up and down. After reaching the third round of Wimbledon for the second consecutive year last month, he turned to North America and chose the Binghamton Challenge to start his North American season.
Simply put, Stakhovsky also came here to find his touch, build confidence, and prepare for the U.S. Open.
With Zverev in front and Stakhovsky behind, Binghamton suddenly became popular.
After the draw, Zverev was in the upper half and Stakhovsky was in the lower half. Both players were the focus of the press conference.
In fact, considering the scale of the Challenge Tournament, there was originally no press conference. Only the ATP official website and the tournament media themselves released news announcements.
But because of the top two seeds, Binghamton also had a rare lively moment. The appearance of more than a dozen reporters made the players feel like they had witnessed a press conference.
When answering reporters' questions, Zverev Jr. said, "Winning the championship is my only goal," which shows the young man's ambition.
Stakhovsky was more low-key, "I still need to adjust my condition and hope to go as far as possible", but then he changed the subject and said, "Of course, if I have the opportunity to compete for the championship, I will naturally try my best."
The two favorites to win the championship are both aiming for the championship.
But for other players, there is no time to think about the championship for the time being. Instead, they need to focus on the game in front of them and move forward steadily step by step.
For example, Gao Wen, the first round opponent——
Tanasi-Kokinakis.
Jilong: ...
MacDonald: …
Really... Enemies always come together. How was the lottery drawn? It even makes people suspect that there is a mastermind behind it. How could it be so coincidental?
Overall, McDonald and Geelong's luck was much better, both of them were in the upper half, and only Gawain was in the lower half.
McDonald's opponent is a native American Hispanic teenage player who is under the age of eighteen. He has not entered the NCAA, has received professional training since childhood, and just switched from the youth arena to the professional arena this year.
Jilong's opponent is a Zimbabwean player who turned professional in 2008. He is 25 years old this year and has rich experience, but he is still playing in the Challenge Tournament in his sixth year of professional career, which shows that he is not a talented person.
Judging from the strength on paper, McDonald and Geelong both have the upper hand, but it is different for Gawain.
Kokkinakis is currently ranked 297th in the world, which means he is in the top 300. He is also the highest ranked unseeded player. He is a tough nut to crack for any player, even if we put aside the off-court grudges, he is definitely not an easy target.
At the beginning, Gawain played against Kyrgios and beat Kyrgios 5:0. Not to mention that it was a charity exhibition match, Kyrgios was indeed caught off guard; just looking at the score, you can tell, it was only five points. If it was a complete game, it would probably be a different situation.
Now, Gawain's first official match in his professional career will be against Kokkinakis, which is indeed a severe challenge, more difficult than any match Gawain has played so far. Coupled with Kokkinakis' provocation, the situation becomes even more dangerous, because they all know that Kokkinakis will definitely go all out and is ready to ravage Gawain.
So, how should Gawain respond?
"Ah, the other wild card was given to Sean. Nguyen and Hanfman both got in through the qualifying rounds."
Gao Wen is paying attention to the situation of his NCAA opponents. He can see at a glance how everyone got to the finals, but that's not the point, okay?
"Gawain, aren't you worried that your opponent is deliberately trying to embarrass you?" McDonald's brows were furrowed, and his worry could be clearly felt.
Gao Wen shrugged his shoulders easily. "He wants to teach me a lesson, but he has to look at who his opponent is. I am also a tough guy, okay?"
Seeing Gawain's calm demeanor, MacDonald and Jillong also felt a little more relaxed.
Gao Wen patted his two friends on the shoulders and said, "A little challenge is a good thing. This is why we came to Binghamton, remember? Don't be afraid of the strength of your opponents. If you treat those difficult opponents as a test and a growth, then everything will be interesting."
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Gawain is not blindly confident. He knows how strong Kokkinakis is, and he also knows how strong Zverev and Kyrgios are. But it is precisely because of their strength that Gawain is looking forward to playing against them even more.
This is the most interesting and moving part of competitive sports.
Well, let them see how powerful the talent Kokkinakis is. Gao Wen can't wait to step onto the court.
Then, a cheer was heard in their ears, "Oh Yeah", and everyone looked in the direction of the sound. They could see Kokkinakis celebrating with his fists clenched, twisting his waist and dancing, cheering and jumping continuously. His excitement could be felt without words.
Others were puzzled and no one knew why Kokkinakis was celebrating. Did he get a good lottery?
But Gawain knew.
Kokkinakis also saw Gawain in the crowd, did a space slide, raised his chin proudly, stared at Gawain with burning eyes and a smile on his face.
Gawain did not say much, but crossed his hands over his chest, and watched Kokkinakis's performance with great interest, as if he was watching a circus performance.
Kokkinakis understood the deep meaning in Gawain's eyes, and his movements froze, and he cursed inwardly: Damn it! I'm not playing tricks on you, okay?
Gao Wen raised his chin slightly and showed a satisfied smile. This boy is teachable.
Second update.
(End of this chapter)