Chapter 709 Top Ten in the World
"10, up 2, Huaxia, Gao Wen, 18, 4010, 8..."
In 2014, the penultimate ATP World Rankings came out, and the ATP official also gave it front-page treatment for reporting.
This is the tradition of ATP and WTA. Every time a new face appears in the top ten of the world rankings, they will give an official report to welcome it:
Gao Wen, an 18-year-old player from China, has accumulated 4010 points in eight events, rising two places from last week and is currently ranked tenth.
This is the correct way to interpret the list. The most shocking thing is the participation numbers. He only participated in eight events and had no points or ranking before July. However, just four months later, he became one of the top ten in the world. His sudden emergence was like a comet.
At this point, Gao Wen also created a new history that has never been seen before:
The shortest time to go from no world ranking to top ten in the world.
Prior to this, this record was held by the "genius girl" Monica Seles. Like Gao Wen, she also rose strongly in the first season of her professional career, from no ranking at the beginning of the year to sixth in the world at the end of the year. It took her only eight months to rank among the top in the world.
And, just fifteen months later, Seles was No. 1 in the world again.
It is precisely because of this that the saying "There is no genius after Seles" is popular in the professional tennis world. Although after her, players such as Hingis and Maria Sharapova have been hailed as "genius girls" and they have indeed achieved incredible brilliance, they are still slightly inferior to Seles.
In addition to Seles, John McEnroe and Martina Hingis also emerged out of nowhere. It took them fourteen months to switch to the professional arena from zero ranking points to entering the top ten in the world for the first time in their careers. They started their shining journey in the tennis world like comets.
And now, Gao Wen has shortened the historical record to four months.
amazing!
stunned!
Shock!
Of course, if the conditions are slightly adjusted, from no world ranking to the shortest time record in the top 20 in the world, then countless geniuses will emerge, and the shining stars in the long river of history will be innumerable.
The simplest and most intuitive example is that it took McEnroe only three months to enter the top 20 in the world; but it took him more than ten months to make his first appearance in the top ten in the world.
This just shows how incredible and bizarre it was for Gawain to win the Paris Masters.
The glory created by Gao Wen's victory in the US Open with a wild card has undoubtedly written a brilliant stroke in the history of professional tennis, which will probably never be surpassed or replicated.
But from another perspective, there are countless players who suddenly emerge in a tournament or have an amazing explosion for a period of time, shining like meteors in the sky. This is the case with those who have entered the top 20 in the world. A Grand Slam, two Masters tournaments, and an explosion in just two or three months can be achieved: for example, the most recent examples are Janowicz and Bouchard.
However, there is a layer of window paper to further improve from the top 20 in the world to the top 10 in the world. It looks simple, but it is extremely difficult to break through.
So, it is the same for all those dark horses and geniuses who make a brilliant debut. After their stunning debut, they will need to face new challenges.
The fundamental reason why Gao Wen was able to break through this layer of window paper was the Paris Masters.
Otherwise, if he misses this opportunity, Gao Wen will have to wait until next year's Australian Open to have a chance to enter the top ten in the world.
Time is saved in this way through the back and forth movement.
From this we can see that Gao Wen's victory in the Paris Masters is definitely not just about making history, the difficulty of the whole thing is even greater than the US Open.
But that’s competitive sports:
Opportunities are always there, just waiting for those who are well prepared; and the existence of records themselves is waiting to be broken, proving that human beings are constantly challenging themselves and their limits, and their struggle and fighting are just waiting for those who dare to make the attack.
Therefore, 2014 once again became a year that witnessed miracles.
ATP, undoubtedly gives the highest treatment——
At any time, they welcome the emergence of new blood in tennis, because this is the secret to the long-term prosperity of competitive sports.
Let’s temporarily return our attention to the year-end finals.
Eight days before turning 19, Gao Wen became the first substitute in the year-end finals. Is this feat worth being surprised? Actually, strictly speaking, it is not that surprising.
Argentine player Del Potro made it onto the year-end finals roster when he was 20 years old and also won a group match.
American player McEnroe became famous at a young age. When he was 19 years old, he not only attended the year-end finals successfully, but also won the championship in a record-breaking manner. The record of the youngest champion has not been broken until now.
In comparison, Gao Wen, who became a substitute in the year-end finals when he was not yet 19 years old, still lacked a little bit of mythical qualities.
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But what is truly amazing is that it took Gawain only four months to accomplish this feat. If you deduct the three Challenger Tournaments, there are only five ATP-level professional tournaments, including a Grand Slam and a Masters Championship trophy. It can truly be said that he came out of nowhere.
Moreover, with the strong rise of Ko Wen, this also means that the entire men's tennis has taken a further step forward: for the first time in history, there are two Asian players in the top ten in the world rankings, Kei Nishikori and Ko Wen.
At the same time, not long ago, people were cheering for Raonic and Dimitrov, two new generation players born after 1990, who both entered the top ten in the world and achieved a breakthrough.
Now, people have seen that Gao Wen, who was born after 1995, continues to rise and become a new top ten player in the world. Together with Kyrgios and Zverev Jr. who have already emerged, a younger and more energetic generation is making their debut and appearing in our field of vision one after another.
In addition, this group of new generation players will also participate in the year-end finals for the first time.
The wheel of history is rumbling forward.
It is no wonder that the Chinese media has seen a surge in news reports. The tennis media has undoubtedly become the hottest group at the moment, and each and every one of them seems to be living in a dream.
Recall that not long ago, due to Li Na's retirement, the tennis industry was facing a bottleneck and challenges in marketing and development, and there was a lot of worry; even though Gao Wen seamlessly filled the vacancy, the media always had a glimmer of uncertainty, fearing that the "deification plan" might have a counterproductive effect.
The hustle and bustle, the excitement, the surge are just like fireworks, brilliant and dazzling, but no one knows when they will disappear. Then they will have to face the coldness and aftermath after the fireworks disappear. Everything is so beautiful that it seems unreal.
But now, they can finally let go, the burst of fireworks is evolving into the eruption of a volcano, singing loudly and celebrating to their heart's content.
In fact, it was not just the Chinese media that was involved, but also the global media that could not miss this carnival.
(End of this chapter)