Chapter 471 Breaking the Blockade
For tennis fans, before 2005, it was a golden generation of stars shining in the era of taking turns to be the banker. The top 20 or even top 30 players in the world were highly competitive in the Masters and Grand Slams, and every championship was full of suspense; after 2005, it was the era of the Big Four.
Roger Federer in 1981, Rafael Nadal in 1986, Novak Djokovic in 1987, Andy Murray in 1987.
These are the "Big Four" who have jointly dominated men's tennis for a full decade.
Since Federer became the world's No. 1 in February 2004, Nadal became the world's No. 1 for the first time in August 2008, Djokovic became the world's No. 1 for the first time in May 2011, and Murray became the world's No. 2 for the first time in August 2009 (and became the world's No. 1 for the first time in November 2016).
The top four positions in the world rankings are basically dominated by four players; at the same time, the feat of sweeping the semi-finals in four Grand Slams and three Masters tournaments is unprecedented and will be hard to surpass.
More importantly, even if one or two of them fall behind unexpectedly, the other giants can always appear steadily in the semi-finals or even the finals to defend their honor.
Taking Nadal’s victory at the French Open in 2005 as a turning point, in the past ten years——
In terms of the number of Grand Slam titles, Federer has 17, Nadal has 14, Djokovic has 7, and Murray has 2.
In terms of the number of Masters titles, Federer has 23, Nadal has 27, Djokovic has 19, and Murray has 9.
From 2005 to 2014, the Grand Slam champion did not belong to any of the Big Four only twice, Del Potro's US Open in 2009 and Wawrinka's Australian Open in 2014; and the Masters Championship champion did not belong to any of the Big Four more times, but also very limited, a total of fifteen times.
There are nine Masters tournaments throughout the year, and a total of ninety in the past ten years, but they only lost fifteen times. Among them, the Paris Masters held at the end of the year is undoubtedly the tournament where the Big Four have the weakest dominance, losing a total of six times during this period.
In addition, among these fifteen non-Big Four championships, Nikolay Davydenko, known as the "model worker", won a total of three championships and is also the player with the most Masters championship titles among active players other than the Big Four.
Once upon a time, some people criticized Murray for the fact that his number of championships was far from comparable to the other Big Three, and believed that Murray could not compare with the other three players.
But the fact is, in the era of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic, Murray is the only player who can be on par with them, and the only player who can break their dominance of the championship.
The most intuitive thing is that as of the 2014 US Open, Murray's record against the other three players is worth mentioning: against Federer, eleven wins and eleven losses; against Nadal, six wins and fifteen losses; against Djokovic, eight wins and thirteen losses.
Regardless of the win-loss ratio, it can at least be seen that Murray has the ability to compete with them and is on the same level.
It is also because of this that, outside of the "Big Four", Davydenko has won the most with three Masters titles, while Wawrinka, who has performed best this year, has only one Grand Slam and one Masters; but Murray has won nine Masters titles and two Grand Slams, which is enough for him to occupy a place among the Big Four.
Just a few small data can clearly show the extraordinary dominance of the Big Four. It is precisely because of this that even if one player can briefly break into the top four in the world rankings and break the blockade, it will become the material for extensive media coverage.
Finally, since the French Open in 2005, at least one of the Big Four has been seen in 38 consecutive Grand Slam finals. Del Potro's victory over Federer at the 2009 US Open and Wawrinka's victory over Nadal at the 2014 Australian Open have continued this tradition for the past decade.
The “Big Four” are absolutely worthy of the title.
There is no doubt that this year's US Open is still developing in the preset direction.
Although Nadal was absent due to injury, Djokovic and Federer, as the top two seeds, firmly advanced into the semi-finals, and Murray, who lost to Djokovic in the quarter-finals, gradually found his touch after returning from injury.
In the semi-finals, Djokovic and Federer's respective opponents were "dark horses". Both players were in the US Open semi-finals for the first time, and it seemed that they could not shake the dominance of the Big Four. Everyone was speculating that the situation at Wimbledon two months ago would be repeated in Flushing.
People began to discuss early on whether Djokovic would win his eighth Grand Slam trophy, or Federer would win a record-breaking 18th Grand Slam gold cup and return to the world's number one throne. The upcoming US Open final once again continued the suspense of Wimbledon.
The audiences are eagerly waiting for the performance. The two wallflowers, Gawain and Cilic, are like the second male lead in a romantic idol drama. “Everything is good and it attracts the audiences’ attention, but in the end they are just cannon fodders and witness the happy ending of the protagonist together with all the audiences.”
However, the greatest charm of competitive sports is that everything is possible before the game is over.
Gawain defeated Djokovic and Cilic defeated Federer. The elimination of the two players also created a series of history:
This is the first time since 1966 that the top two seeds of the US Open have been eliminated in the semifinals at the same time, which is also the first time in the Open era; it is also the first time since 1997 that the champion will be decided by two players who are not in the top ten.
Finally, and most importantly, from the 2005 French Open to the 2014 US Open, for the first time in ten years, we will not see one of the Big Four in the Grand Slam finals. The record of 38 consecutive Grand Slams ended here. This is even more shocking than Gao Wen reaching the finals in his first Grand Slam with a wild card.
After all, Gawain's dark horse miracle may be a meteor, flashing by, just like Ivanisevic; but the rule of the Big Four is stellar, lasting for a full decade.
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Gurgling.
Gurgling.
The air is burning. This year's US Open is destined to be extraordinary. From fans to media to the uninformed spectators, everyone is boiling with excitement.
At the same time, it is precisely because of this that more attention has been focused on Gawaddy and Cilic.
The first to be hit were the curses. Countless irrational fans cursed the two players for ruining the last bit of the viewing appeal of the US Open, cursed the two players for preventing the 36th duel between Djokovic and Federer, and cursed the two players for being like a shit stirrer and making this year's US Open meaningless.
What followed was admiration. They even went a step further than Wawrinka at the Australian Open and Raonic and Dimitrov at Wimbledon to break the blockade. The most fascinating and moving thing about competitive sports is witnessing miracles and creating history, and now, they have become witnesses of history.
(End of this chapter)