Chapter 673: Unsuccessful Mission

"Game, Murray, '6:3', '6:3'..."

The referee's voice announcing the score echoed over the center court, bringing the game to an end.

The roar of applause faded away from his ears. Tobias froze in place for a moment, his breath caught in his chest, his eyelids drooping to hide the surging emotions.

Then, out of the corner of his eye he could see the figures on both sides standing up and applauding. Tobias also took a deep breath, regained his composure, stood up, clapped his hands, and applauded the two teams that were trying their best on the court.

Turning his head slightly, Tobias could see Gawain's profile at a glance. A faint smile was on that young face: no disappointment, no regrets, no regrets. His bright eyes were filled with certainty, even more resolute than usual. He stared at Dimitrov on the court, and was cheering for Dimitrov with his applause.

After finishing all his post-match procedures, Gao Wen did not return to the hotel directly, but came to the center court to watch the match between Dimitrov and Murray and cheer for his friend on the spot.

pity.

In this match, Dimitrov obviously did not play to his normal level. There are many reasons, the most important of which should be his expectations for himself: at Wimbledon, Dimitrov played the role of an attacker and challenger. Facing Murray, he had no burden and could give it a try. In the rematch in Paris, Dimitrov knew that he could beat Murray, and he expected that he could perform better and more excitingly.

Just like Federer when he was young.

In tennis, not only do you want to win, but you also want to win beautifully and elegantly. The problem is that "beautiful tennis" requires you to completely relax and ensure you are in the best condition. Otherwise, if you keep chasing after blind spots and winning shots, you will often end up with mistakes.

In fact, according to the development context of the previous life, this has always been Dimitrov's "problem", because he knows that he can play smooth and free tennis, so he always pursues perfection, refuses to change or give in. Once his state fluctuates, he will lose the game quickly.

In addition, the pressure of competing for a place in the year-end finals pushed Dimitrov to prove that he deserves this honor with a wonderful victory.

But the reality is cruel. The more this is the case, the more it is likely to restrict your hands and feet, making it difficult for you to perform at your normal level.

Today, that's the case.

Dimitrov's attack could hardly break through Murray's defense, the quality of the entire attack could not be improved, and there were too many mistakes; on the contrary, his one-handed backhand often became an opportunity for Murray to break through with his backhand, and his defensive counterattacks contributed many "Top Five Goals of the Day" level rounds.

Throughout the match, Dimitrov didn't even get a break point, and he lost three service games.

What's worse is that Dimitrov only saved one break point. What does this mean? In two of his service games, he was broken directly after the break point appeared; in another service game, he only saved one break point and then was broken.

The key points cannot be held on.

Facing players ranked in the top 50 in the world, it is very difficult to win with such performance.

The result was not surprising.

The last point was still Dimitrov's mistake. He failed to find the right hitting point in the continuous confrontation with Murray with one-handed backhand, resulting in the ball slipping.

One mistake handed over the victory of the game, and also officially destroyed his hopes of the year-end finals. He no longer had the qualifications to fight for a substitute seat.

it's all over.

At this point, all the events on the third day of competition have come to an end, and the quarterfinals of the Paris Masters have all been announced:

In the upper half, Djokovic vs. Murray; Kei Nishikori vs. Ferrer.

In the lower half, Federer vs. Raonic; Gawain vs. Anderson.

Among them, Raonic, Kei Nishikori and Ferrer all successfully defeated their opponents and advanced, and still seized their opportunities in the battle for the year-end finals.

The biggest upset came from Gowan's small division, where South African player Kevin Anderson unexpectedly defeated Wawrinka and became Gowan's next round opponent.

Originally, after the draw came out, everyone was looking forward to a repeat of "Gawain VS Wawrinka", but very unfortunately, in the second half of the season, Wawrinka's energy seemed to have burned out, especially after he reached the top of the Australian Open, he became a moving target, and the competition became more difficult.

The match between Wawrinka and Anderson lasted three sets, with the score of each set reaching "seven". It was a very close and intense match, but Anderson had the last laugh in the end.

Therefore, the entire pattern of the year-end finals has become completely clear: Murray has successfully won the qualification and it is officially a done deal.

Berdych has basically made it out of the tournament. The only exception might be if Raonic wins the title, then he will need to see whether Ferrer or Kei Nishikori can make it to the final. Even if Raonic wins the title, but the winner of the match between Ferrer and Kei Nishikori cannot make it to the final, then he can still secure a seat.

Overall, it should be Ferrer, Kei Nishikori and Raonic competing for the final seventh and eighth places.

For Raonic, if he wins he'll qualify, and if he loses he'll be eliminated, and standing in front of him is Federer.

For Kei Nishikori and Ferrer, the winner is in and the loser is out.

Everything became clear, but it had nothing to do with Gawain and Dimitrov.

After going around in circles, it finally ended in such a meaningless way. I watched the tickets for the year-end finals so close at hand, but I missed it.

Especially for Tobias, a mixture of emotions surged in his chest.

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There is no doubt that this is a season of ups and downs, joys and sorrows.

In May, Dimitrov reached the semi-finals of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career.

In August, Gao Wen jumped out from the cracks in the stone to realize his dream of entering the US Open.

In October, Dimitrov and Gao Wen are still on the list of candidates competing for the year-end finals. Although the situation is difficult, the draw of the Paris Masters is good and worth looking forward to.

However, within just one day, it was all over, just like that... it ended unexpectedly, with the two players missing the trip to London one after the other.

Even for someone as sophisticated as Tobias, it would be difficult to digest such a huge amount of information and emotions in a short period of time.

"To die before accomplishing one's mission will make the hero shed tears for a long time."

Maybe this description is not quite accurate, but at this moment Tobias really has the urge to cry. Rather than disappointment, sadness, anger and boredom, it is more of a sense of emptiness——

The emptiness of having nothing.

That kind of emptiness of "floating in mid-air, unable to grab anything no matter how hard you flutter and struggle, and then watching yourself being pulled down by gravity".

Then, Tobias saw the determination on Gawain's face, and his troubled mind seemed to regain its focus.

"John, if I lose, I want you to tell me that I still have shortcomings, but I did a good job, and let's keep fighting."

"I needed someone to tell me this, and now Gregor needs us to tell him so, too."

(End of this chapter)