Chapter 640: Insignificant
In just one week, the competition for the year-end finals spot has changed again.
As Tobias said, no one wants to miss such an opportunity easily. Even if there is only a glimmer of hope, they will firmly grasp it and go all out.
This is a close combat.
To some extent, the competition for a place in the finals is even more intense than the Huashan Sword Contest itself. After all, there are more competitors and the gap between them is closer.
2014 is undoubtedly a special year. The four Grand Slams have been won by four players, and the eight Masters Championships have been won by five players so far. As a direct result, the points are more widely distributed, and no one stands out alone. 3,500 points has become the entry threshold for the year-end finals:
The level of competition is the most intense in the past decade.
In fact, the competition for the year-end finals is not only over, but also the competition for the world's number one position at the end of the year:
As of this week, the points gap between Federer and Djokovic is less than one thousand points, nine hundred and ninety points to be exact, and with three weeks of competition left, the highest score can reach three thousand points.
Everything is possible.
The suspense also makes the competition in the final stage of the season more exciting.
In the past week, three 250-point events were held in different cities, and the different results directly changed the situation.
First, Moscow.
Raonic, Cilic and Gulbis, three contenders for the year-end finals, will compete.
As a result, Raonic was eliminated in the second round, Gulbis was eliminated in the semi-finals, Cilic made it all the way to the final and defeated Auger-Aliassime to successfully reach the top.
This also meant that Gulbis, who already had little hope, failed to score more points and the situation became even more unfavorable; while Raonic, who had an advantageous situation, missed the opportunity to consolidate his position and fell into a bloody battle.
Next, Stockholm station.
Berdych and Dimitrov, two direct competitors for a place in the finals, will compete.
In the end, the two players, who were ranked first and second respectively, successfully met in the final. Berdych firmly grasped the throat of fate, defeated Dimitrov in three sets and seized the opportunity.
Finally, Vienna.
The three competitors, Ferrer, Murray and Kei Nishikori, are in head-on confrontation, and there are also spoilers such as Lopez and Thiem.
The tournament went smoothly, with the top four seeds competing in the semi-finals. In the end, Murray and Kei Nishikori each defeated their opponents to enter the final. In the match where Nishikori defeated Ferrer, he suppressed his opponent in a head-to-head confrontation and seized the initiative in the subsequent competition.
Murray defeated Kei Nishikori to become the champion.
At the end of the week, three races have concluded and the championship standings have changed.
The top four are still Djokovic, Federer, Nadal and Wawrinka, but there are slight changes in the positions after the fifth place.
Berdych, Murray, Ferrer, Raonic, Nishikori, Dimitrov, Cilic, Gawaddy, Tsonga.
These are the positions from fifth to twelfth.
Obviously, Murray moved up two places, from eighth last week to sixth this week; at the same time, Raonic, sixth last week and eighth this week, the two players swapped places.
If we only look at the rankings, it is difficult to see the "earth-shaking" changes. After all, the championship points for this week's event are only 250. However, looking at the championship points, we can directly feel the direct change that one week of events has brought to the competitive landscape of the year-end finals.
Currently, Berdych's points have reached 4195, successfully breaking through the 4,000 threshold and taking a slight advantage. As long as his performance in the next two weeks is not too bad, he can basically secure a place in the finals.
The competition starts with Murray, and for the last three spots ranked sixth, seventh and eighth, a total of seven players are competing head-on.
Murray's points are 3905, ranking sixth; Cilic's points are 3395, ranking eleventh.
This is simple math: the points difference from sixth to eleventh is 510 points. The next week's Valencia and Basel are both 500-point events, with the champion 500 points and the runner-up 300 points; and the Paris Masters the week after that is a 1,000-point event, with the champion 1,000 points and the runner-up 600 points.
If we analyze it more carefully and in depth, the possibilities are countless, but what is certain is that, on the one hand, the players themselves need to perform well; on the other hand, they also need to pay attention to the performance of their competitors at all times, as the points in one round after another may change the situation.
The bayonet saw blood!
In the true sense of the word.
So, what about Gawain?
Last week's points were 2710, and this week's points are still 2710, 1195 points away from Murray, who is ranked sixth, and 1060 points away from Raonic, who is ranked eighth.
That is to say, even if Gao Wen enters the finals in the next two weeks, and his competitors perform mediocrely and fail to achieve better results, this is not enough for him to enter the top eight and enter the year-end finals stage.
The points for the finals are still not enough.
The only glimmer of hope is to win the championship, defeat a group of competitors, and make a strong impact on the championship through all obstacles; and this must be done for two consecutive weeks.
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The possibility is very slim.
But Gawain didn't care.
He had anticipated this situation, and reality proved Tobias's worries. However, the most wonderful and moving thing about competitive sports is not "how big the chance is", but to seize the 0.01% chance and do your best.
Even if there is only the faintest and most remote ray of hope, we should release all our energy without reservation, sprint with all our strength and fight till the last moment, leaving no regrets.
This is enough.
Then, the competition in the third week of October slowly kicked off.
Basel, a star-studded gathering.
The competition is led by three top players: Federer, Nadal and Wawrinka, and Raonic, Kei Nishikori, Dimitrov and Gulbis are also on the list.
It is clear that among the players currently ranked fifth to twelfth, only three players are participating in the competition, and they will strive to break through the blockade of the top three seeded players, reach the semi-finals or even the finals and win the championship, so as to ensure that they have an advantage in the competition for a place in the year-end finals.
Valencia, head-on battle.
Berdych, Murray, Ferrer, Cilic and Gawain all participated.
These five players are the top five seeds and are also direct competitors for championship points. In addition, there are a number of good players such as Lopez, Isner, Agut, Simon, etc., which make up Valencia's entry list.
In comparison, Valencia's overall strength is closer, and all of them are head-to-head competitions. In the competition to London, they will have a head-on confrontation with their opponents. The outcome will directly affect the real-time ranking of the championship standings. There are many heart-pounding duels.
In other words, among the top twelve players in the world, only Djokovic is exempt from the competition, while all other players will participate.
This shows that the chaotic situation in men's tennis this year is becoming more and more tense and exciting as it approaches the end of the year. This is a lively scene that has not been seen in many years.
(End of this chapter)