Chapter 716 Tasteless
Tasteless.
According to the draw, the eight players of the year-end finals were divided into two groups. They would first play a round-robin match within the group, and then the top two players in each group would advance to the semi-finals based on their ranking.
Group A, Djokovic, Wawrinka, Berdych, Ferrer.
Group B: Federer, Murray, Kei Nishikori, Raonic.
On the first day of competition, Group B took the lead.
As the opening match of the O2 Arena this year, the "Federer VS Raonic" match easily sparked a wave of popularity. After all, the two players had just played against each other just three days ago. Raonic played a masterpiece of his career, and the young man's vigorous momentum is worth looking forward to.
However, ideals are full and reality is skinny.
"6:1", "7:6(0)".
Federer swept Raonic in straight sets to complete his revenge.
Whether it was the crushing defeat in the first set or the head being shaved in the second set tie-break, Raonic was unable to demonstrate his competitive level and was like a completely different person from three days ago.
Of course, everyone knows that any match against the Big Four is not easy, and it is even more difficult to win consecutive games, which is why Gao Wen's victory over Djokovic in Paris last week attracted so much attention; but Raonic's defeat without any chance of fighting back was still disappointing.
So, what about the second match? Murray vs. Kei Nishikori, this should be closer and more intense, right? Unfortunately.
“6:4”, “6:4”.
Kei Nishikori was in full force, not only winning his first career victory over Murray, but also suppressing Murray throughout the entire match, rushing towards victory so far that the cheers from the home crowd were completely muted.
I feel so depressed.
The fans and spectators came with high hopes but left disappointed. Such a one-sided match was definitely not what they expected to see, but they still held on to a glimmer of hope: perhaps, this was only the first match day and things should improve tomorrow. The matchup in Group A would also be quite interesting.
but……
One game, “6:1”, “6:1”.
One game, “6:1”, “6:1”.
On the second day of competition, the two matches ended with exactly the same score, with Wawrinka sweeping Berdych and Djokovic sweeping Ferrer.
Moreover, both games took less than an hour and were concluded so quickly that the audience was dumbfounded: That's it?
Too boring, isn’t it? The scariest thing is that the disaster is still not over. “Sweep”, “crushing defeat” and “complete victory” are spreading quietly in the O2 Stadium like a virus.
On the third day of competition, Murray swept Raonic and Federer swept Kei Nishikori.
On the fourth day of competition, Berdych swept Ferrer and Djokovic swept Wawrinka.
All of them were "2:0"! Moreover, in the four matches and eight sets, only the second set between Murray and Raonic was close, "7:5", while the other seven sets were all very different. Djokovic even gave Wawrinka a duck egg in the second set, and all the matches took about 70 minutes.
The most anticipated yet most surprising match was the match between Djokovic and Wawrinka. This was the first match between the two this season after Wawrinka upset Djokovic at the Australian Open. The match was so one-sided that Wawrinka had almost no ability to fight back. This was completely unexpected.
It is true that it is the end of the season and the players are exhausted. Their physical strength and energy have reached their limits. In addition, they have exhausted their energy in the final sprint for a place in the year-end finals. Just look at the upsets in the two Masters Tournaments in Shanghai and Paris. These are understandable objective factors.
However, from the process to the score, from the confrontation to the stalemate, the whole game was not intense or stalemate at all, and the quality could be said to be terrible.
This... this is really...
It’s hard to put it into words.
Since the start of the year-end finals, four full days of competition have passed, but there is not a single group match worth discussing. Isn’t this too shabby and pathetic?
Whether it is the newcomer to the finals, Raonic, or the regulars such as Berdych and Ferrer, or the new Grand Slam champion, Wawrinka, the overall performance is disappointing. To sum up the situation so far, it is -
Djokovic and Federer won two consecutive games, and the suspense of the year-end world No. 1 battle continues.
If we have to pick out the tallest among the short ones, Kei Nishikori's victory over Murray is still worth mentioning; but the problem is that Kei Nishikori only resisted Federer for 69 minutes and won five games in the whole match. It seemed like he suddenly couldn't play anymore, which was still bad.
Before the game, I was so excited; now, I am so disappointed.
Before the game, it was so noisy; now, it is so silent.
Compared with the enthusiasm and madness of the fans and spectators, the quality of the game was really not up to par. Even the reporters were speechless and didn't know what to say.
What else can I say?
Obviously, the players don't want this to happen. They also want to go on the court and try their best to win, but they are indeed exhausted.
Perhaps, this situation in the year-end finals also indirectly confirms one thing: if the structure of professional tennis is to be completely overturned, there is still something missing.
But is there no highlight in the year-end finals?
The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!
no.
After two rounds of matches in Group A and Group B, no one in either group has qualified yet, and both have formed a ring pattern, which further proves the chaos of this season.
Djokovic in Group A and Federer in Group B have both won two games in a row, so they are in a favorable position to qualify. They only need to win one set in the last game to qualify smoothly; and even if they lose two sets, they will not necessarily be eliminated, they must have a smaller score.
Apart from them, the qualifying situation in both groups is not clear. In fact, the situations in Group A and Group B are exactly the same.
In Group A, Djokovic won two games, Wawrinka and Berdych won one game, and Ferrer lost two games.
In Group B, Federer won two games, Kei Nishikori and Murray won one game, and Raonic lost two games.
All players, including Ferrer and Raonic, have the possibility of qualifying; at the same time, all players still have the possibility of being eliminated.
One, Federer and Djokovic, who have two wins, are eliminated.
Taking Group B as an example, if Federer loses to Murray in two sets and Kei Nishikori defeats Raonic in two sets, then Federer, Murray and Kei Nishikori will form a chain reaction: Murray defeats Federer, Federer defeats Kei Nishikori, and Kei Nishikori defeats Murray.
Therefore, it is necessary to calculate the small points to determine the qualification, and Federer may also be eliminated.
The same goes for Djokovic.
One, Ferrer and Raonic, who both lost, advance to the semifinals.
Taking Group B as an example, Federer defeated Murray in two sets and Raonic defeated Kei Nishikori in two sets, so Federer won three games and advanced as the first in the group.
The other three players all have one win, so Murray, Raonic and Kei Nishikori will need to calculate the points to decide the second qualifying spot.
The same goes for Ferrer.
Two consecutive wins do not mean qualifying; two consecutive losses do not mean being eliminated.
(End of this chapter)