Chapter 733: Sleepless Night
Breaking News——
"Djokovic VS Gawain", here it comes!
Buzz...
The world is on fire, at least the tennis world is.
Because I was too excited, too thrilled, and too happy, all the screams, all the applause, and all the shouts disappeared, condensing into a line, buzzing in my ears, and then I could see a silent fireworks show happening before my eyes, and my heart exploded.
The sixth day of the year-end finals was still lackluster.
Even compared with Group B, Group A did not even have suspense. Djokovic and Wawrinka advanced together. The only small ripple was that someone finally broke the two-set win-lose curse: in the match between Wawrinka and Ferrer, "6:3", "4:6", "6:3", although Wawrinka won, Ferrer grabbed the second set.
This also means that this year's group stage is finally no longer a one-sided "2:0" game.
However, the fact that even this incident could make the news shows how boring and tedious this year's year-end finals were. It was indeed disappointing.
At the same time, another match in Group A also ended in failure.
“6:2”, “6:2”.
Djokovic defeated Berdych without any difficulty, showing unparalleled competitive form——
In the three group stage matches, he lost two sets to Ferrer, three sets to Wawrinka, and four sets to Berdych. In total, he only lost nine sets in the three matches. All the matches took 191 minutes, with an average of less than 64 minutes per match.
The most terrifying thing is that Djokovic only gave away four break points in three games, saved three of them, and was only broken by Wawrinka in one game.
The world's number one entered hell mode, advancing triumphantly and sweeping away thousands of opponents. His absolute dominance made all his competitors despair.
At the post-match press conference, some reporters also asked Djokovic why he showed such a strong desire for victory.
Djokovic admitted that on the one hand, it was the motivation to be ranked No. 1 in the world at the end of the year.
The year-end ranking battle between Djokovic and Federer is still not over, but the situation is clear -
Djokovic only needs to advance to the final to ensure his year-end No. 1 ranking; while Federer needs Djokovic to be eliminated in the semifinals and win the final championship to overtake him.
Djokovic is very motivated about this.
On the other hand, there was the motivation from last week’s loss.
Djokovic obviously cared very much about the loss to Gawain in Paris.
Not only was that the first indoor hard-court match Djokovic had lost in two years, it was also his second straight loss to Gawain after New York.
"... I realized that I had to improve, I realized that I had to perform better, and I couldn't be satisfied with my current level."
“I’m looking forward to continuing to improve my form and performances and I’m also looking forward to playing against top players at the O2.”
Djokovic kept hinting but never said the key name until the reporter asked, "Are you talking about Gao Wen?"
Djokovic did not avoid it because all the group round-robin matches had been completed and the semi-final matchups had been decided, so there was no need to go around in circles anymore.
“Yes, I am looking forward to the next game against Gawain again. I am really looking forward to it.”
Djokovic used the modifying adverb "very" more than once, over and over again. Although his face was always filled with smiles, the world No. 1's eyes were shining, full of high morale. He was ready to go, looking forward to tomorrow impatiently, exuding positivity and enthusiasm from head to toe.
Facing Gao Wen with the most serious and solemn attitude, such treatment is at the level of the Big Four.
No doubt reporters and fans thought so too.
In Djokovic's career, he has lost two or three consecutive games to the same opponent. It's not often, but it's not rare. However, after he won the Australian Open in 2011 and completed his complete transformation, it has become less and less. Even the other Big Three find it difficult to do so.
Federer only won two consecutive titles at Wimbledon and Cincinnati in 2012.
Nadal achieved it twice, once in 2012 when he won three consecutive victories on clay in Monte Carlo, Rome and French Open, and once in 2013 when he won three consecutive victories in French Open, Toronto and US Open.
Murray only won two consecutive games in the 2012 Olympics and the US Open.
Obviously, it is very difficult for any player to achieve consecutive victories when facing a giant. On the hard court where Djokovic is best, the best record of the other three giants is only two consecutive wins.
The same is true for Djokovic himself.
If you are unable to find a chance to break the deadlock when facing the same opponent, losing once is an accident, losing twice is a coincidence, and losing three times is an unacceptable failure.
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Even when facing the other Big Three, Djokovic will go all out to win.
And now, there is one more person added to the losing streak, and Djokovic will do everything he can to prevent the losing streak from continuing.
Fighting spirit, burning.
It is precisely because of this that the semi-finals of the year-end finals are so anticipated.
Especially after the extremely disappointing group stage, London fans now place all their hopes on the semi-final which is about to begin.
Objectively speaking, the top four lineup couldn't be more perfect.
"Djokovic vs. Gawain", "Federer vs. Wawrinka".
In terms of championships, except for the French Open champion Nadal, the champions of the other three Grand Slams are all on the list; the same is true for the Masters championships. Except for Nadal and Tsonga who retired due to injuries, the top four players teamed up to win all the Masters championships.
In terms of ranking, Djokovic, Federer and Wawrinka are the top three seeds in the year-end finals, while Gao Wen is a monster newcomer who went from no ranking to breaking into the top ten in the world in four months. They are undoubtedly the four best performing players this year.
In terms of popularity, there is no need to say much about the two giants. Wawrinka and Gao Wen have attracted a lot of fans this year. They have become the vanguard of ATP's expansion of the fan market, completely disrupting the landscape of men's tennis. Even in London, they are the absolute focus of attention.
Most importantly, the semi-final matchup is also a microcosm of the "controversy" that has been going on throughout the year: the challengers represented by Wawrinka and Gao Wen have impacted the dominance of the "Big Four" with an unstoppable attitude, thus creating chaos in the entire professional tennis world and triggering countless discussions and heated debates.
So, is the era of the "Big Four" really over? Are the veterans led by Wawrinka and the new generation led by Gao Wen really ready?
In the year-end finals, Nadal is absent due to injury, and Murray is not at his best after returning from injury. So can Djokovic and Federer defend their status as giants? Or will Wawrinka and Gawain break through together? Or will the two semi-finals be one win and one loss, and the battle between the old and the new will continue to the finals?
What better opportunity to resolve the hot topics that have been debated throughout the year than on the stage of the year-end finals? From all aspects, it seems that the Huashan Sword Contest has only officially begun since the semi-finals.
Tonight is destined to be a sleepless night! (End of this chapter)