Chapter 675 Mixed Feelings

Obviously, today's defeat was a heavier blow to Dimitrov than he had imagined.

If you think about it carefully, it’s not surprising.

For Gao Wen, what he missed was the opportunity to participate in the year-end finals, but he did not let down and ended the day with a victory; moreover, from the very beginning, they knew that the hope of advancing to London was very slim, the conditions were too harsh, and things were very, very difficult.

The fact is that other players have won a ticket to the year-end finals with better, more balanced and more stable performances.

Gao Wen could face this calmly.

A promising season for Dimitrov ended in disappointing fashion:

The first half of the season showed an upward trend. Not only did he win three championships in Acapulco, Budapest and Queen's Club, but his performances in the Australian Open quarterfinals and Wimbledon semifinals continued to set new career highs.

But his career went downhill in the second half of the season, not only was he eliminated in the round of 16 at the US Open, he also failed to secure a spot in the year-end finals.

He really thought he could go one step further and advance to the year-end finals for the first time in his career.

However, this is how it ended.

Starting high and ending low always hurts more.

Especially today, facing Murray, I lost two sets and had no chance at all in the whole game. It was undoubtedly cruel to watch hope slip through my fingers.

Different positions, different expectations, and different situations will naturally bring different feelings.

Gao Wen's career was too short. Even if he lived two lives, he had not experienced it. He could not empathize with Dimitrov, but he could understand Dimitrov's disappointment and confusion.

At the same time, Gawain also knew that he had no way to give Dimitrov an answer, and the only one who could give Dimitrov an answer was himself; and the only thing Gawain could do was to stay with Dimitrov and do what a friend should do: support him unconditionally.

The locker room was completely quiet except for the sound of gurgling water. It felt like the sound of glacier water rumbling beside my ears.

"……ah."

After waiting for a long time, Dimitrov finally spoke and sighed softly. Although he did not say anything, the complexity and heaviness hidden in the sigh were inadvertently leaked out.

Gawain did not respond in a hurry, but just listened patiently.

“In fact, we are all under tremendous pressure.”

us?

Gawain was a little unsure about who this "we" referred to, but he didn't need to think further because Dimitrov's words had already revealed the answer.

Dimitrov raised his head and glanced at Gawain. Those thoughts hidden deep in his heart, he had never told anyone else. But looking at Gawain in front of him at this moment, a little bit of his fragility, a little bit of his frustration, and a little bit of his sadness leaked out uncontrollably, and he couldn't hold it back after all.

"You know, the media is not friendly to us. They always speak ill of us, thinking that our relationship is a hindrance and that I am using her fame to gain popularity."

"Every time I talk to or interact with other female players, even if I just stop to say hello on the side of the road, they always can't wait to tell me that I'm cheating."

The answer is revealed: Maria Sharapova.

In the professional tennis world, many golden boys and girls have been born. The marriage of Agassi and Graf is hailed as the legendary union with the most Grand Slams in history. But when they got together, Graf had retired and Agassi's career was coming to an end. They were not a couple active on the court.

At the turn of the century, couples like Federer and Mirka, Hewitt and Clijsters were the most beautiful scenery in professional tennis.

However, when Federer became the "King of Pop", Mirka had already retired and was not in the spotlight much; while when Hewitt and Clijsters were dating, they were respectively the world's No. 1 men and No. 3 women, attracting the attention of the whole world.

At the time, all major news media compared Hewitt and Clijsters' relationship with that of Agassi and Graf, and believed that their children would most likely be ranked number one in the world 20 years from now.

Unfortunately, Hewitt and Clijsters did not end up together because a third party intervened and Clijsters left with a broken heart.

Compared to football and basketball, tennis is an individual sport, and there aren't many off-court gossip stories, so the media has been trying to dig out more gossip.

Even Nadal, who is insulated from scandals, has been angered by the media.

Nadal has been dating his childhood sweetheart for fifteen years, and their relationship has been very stable. There is also almost no gossip about Nadal off the court, which has made reporters rack their brains to try to dig out something.

Before this, Nadal had never walked into the marriage hall with his girlfriend, and reporters had been asking Nadal whether he refused to make a commitment to his girlfriend.

In 2019, Nadal finally got married to his girlfriend, but he lost the year-end finals to Zverev, who had never lost, in two sets. Reporters pressed Nadal at the press conference after the game whether he had lost his concentration because of his marriage, so much so that Nadal swore on the spot, which was very rare, and thought that his love life that had remained the same for 15 years could actually become a point of attack.

“That’s ridiculous!”

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Similarly, the families of Federer and Djokovic have repeatedly become the targets of harassment by journalists.

It wasn't until last year that the couple Dimitrov and Sharapova appeared in the public eye.

However, the media has never been optimistic about this relationship.

Because Sharapova is the beloved queen of tennis, her commercial value has reached new highs, and there is almost no gossip about her on and off the court; while Dimitrov has the appearance of a playboy, looks like a playboy who is not doing his job properly, and does not seem to have any passion for tennis.

At the beginning of this year, Dimitrov and Sharapova officially moved in together, their relationship became more stable, and his performance on the court also showed an upward trend.

However, the media still did not let him go, and had scandals with Serena Williams and Bouchard respectively, and the descriptions were very detailed, and they would start to denounce the relationship at the slightest sign of trouble.

In particular, Sharapova's performance this year was mediocre. Winning the French Open was her glorious moment, but she was eliminated in the fourth round of the other three Grand Slams. Her overall performance was far below expectations. This also made the media hold Dimitrov's pigtails and firmly believe that he influenced Sharapova.

The disturbance outside the field has nothing to do with the game, but it is inextricably linked to the game.

Gao Wen had heard about these things to some extent, but he had no idea how much pressure they were under. However, Gao Wen knew about the media:

They are everywhere and can penetrate any hole. No one can stay out of it and no one can be invulnerable.

After the "US Open Myth", Gao Wen is now also a media darling. His every move is under the watchful eyes of countless eyes. I'm afraid everyone is waiting for him to make a mistake.

Just like Dimitrov and Bouchard who shined in the first half of this year.

(End of this chapter)