There was no way to fight back, and it was a fragile defeat.
A score of "6:0" or "6:1" occurs between any two male players. This is a huge disparity and an abnormal score.
But the problem is that this is the third time a similar situation has occurred on the stage of this year's year-end finals. Even if it is abnormal, it is too abnormal.
What's more, this happened between Federer and Murray. Looking at Murray's entire career, such a score is rare.
From a professional perspective, Murray has "run out of gas".
Since the end of the US Open, in order to compete for a seat in the year-end finals, Murray has entered a new high number of entries and maintained full attendance for six full weeks:
Two 250-point events, two 500-point events, and two Masters events. When they came to London, it was already the seventh consecutive week of participation.
Can be called a model worker.
This also means that his energy and physical strength have reached their limit, and Murray is no longer competitive enough at the level of year-end finals.
Of course, the essence still shows that after Murray returned from injury, he still has not been able to reach his best state. There is still a lot of work to catch up in the offseason.
A complete defeat, a rout.
The matches on the fifth match day have all come to an end.
At this point, the round-robin matches of Group B are all over. On the last match day, the two games still failed to break the "one-sided" curse.
For the audience, this is undoubtedly regrettable. Forget it, all six group matches were "2:0", but why do scores of "6:0" and "6:1" appear so frequently?
But for the people who eat melons, this is undoubtedly exciting and can be called a microcosm of the weird and chaotic situation throughout 2014.
In the end, Federer won all three games in the group stage and ranked first in the group.
So, what about second place in the group?
Kei Nishikori defeated Murray, Murray defeated Raonic/Gaowen, Gao Wen/Raonic defeated Kei Nishikori, and the winning-losing relationship between the three players formed a ring.
Therefore, small scores must be compared.
ATP has formulated detailed regulations to deal with such situations.
First, compare the "set winning percentage". If the winning percentage is the same, then compare each other's winning and losing games.
All three players won two sets and lost two sets, and their set winning percentages were all 33.3%. Moreover, the winning and losing fields formed a circle and were indistinguishable.
Secondly, compare the "game win rate". If the winning rates are the same, compare each other's wins and losses.
Kei Nishikori won 20 games and lost 32 games, with a winning rate of 38.5%.
Murray won 22 games and lost 32 games, with a winning rate of 40.7%.
Gawain won 27 rounds and lost 29 rounds, with a winning rate of 48.2%.
The answer is clear at a glance.
If the winner still cannot be determined in the second step and the three players are still tied, then the final rule is that the player with the higher ranking will advance according to the world rankings.
But here, there is no need to adopt the final rule, because in the second step, the winner has already been decided——
Gao Wen, qualified from the group and advanced to the semi-finals.
When he had the opportunity to appear on the year-end finals stage for the first time in his career, Gao Wen firmly grasped his shining moment and cashed in on the opportunity.
A glimmer of hope!
In a true sense, a glimmer of hope.
In the last game, whether Kei Nishikori wins a few more games or Murray wins a few more games, it may not be Gawain who advances from the group.
However, by chance and destiny, Gao Wen completed his O2 Arena debut with a flawless game, and with a little "help" from Federer and Murray, history was born.
Who could have thought?
Who would have thought!
The most incredible thing is that when the "Federer VS Murray" game ended, the first thing that topped the list of hot searches was not Murray's defeat, but Gawain's history of reaching the semi-finals as a substitute. It was like
It was the same as winning the Grand Slam title with a wild card three months ago.
incredible!
How did all this happen?
Whether in New York or Paris, Gawain relied entirely on his own efforts and hard work to fight his way out step by step. Even though people generally call Gawain the "dark horse", there is no way to deny it.
Gawain is spelled out one battle at a time, writing history.
But, London?
Kei Nishikori was at a loss in front of Gawain, and Murray fell apart in front of Federer, but they were cast in an indescribable sense of mystery.
The opportunity to create history is at Kei Nishikori's fingertips. Compared to Federer, who is standing opposite Murray, Gawain does lack a bit of intimidation.
However, Kei Nishikori watched the opportunity slip away from his fingertips little by little. The powerlessness and dullness were devastating.
In the end, Nishikori Kei "achieved" Gawain's historical moment——
Not only is he the first player in history to reach the semi-finals as a substitute, he is also the first Asian player in history to reach the semi-finals of the year-end finals.
The younger generation is indeed on the rise, and one has to lament that times make heroes. In the chaos of 2014, Gao Wen emerged from nowhere.
Jaw-dropping.
Speechless.
boom!
Boom boom boom!
It is almost visible to the naked eye that all the news media are crazy——
Because Gawain created history, and even more because of the way Gawain created history.
"Murray suffered a sweep and escorted Gao Wen into the semi-finals."
"Federer gave Murray the most painful defeat of his career and ensured Gowan's place in the semi-finals."
"Murray was like sleepwalking in the audience, watching helplessly as Gao Wen's group qualified."
"Kei Nishikori tried his best but hit the wall like a headless chicken, ending the season with a high start and a low start."
"History! It's history again! The year in which Gawain wrote miracles continues."
"Gao Wen and Federer entered the semi-finals, waiting for Djokovic."
"Asia breaks through again! The post-90s generation breaks through again! Witness the year of miracles."
"Strange situation, witness history."
A one in 10,000 chance, or even a one in 100,000 chance, actually happened!
The British media went crazy. Murray didn't even need to win a set. He only needed to win a few more games to advance to the semi-finals with a small advantage. What was the result?
The neon media went crazy. After Kei Nishikori defeated Murray powerfully, he became the favorite to qualify for Group B, but ended up fourth in the group?
The Chinese media went crazy, history! History! Make history! Come on as a substitute! Fire captain! Not only won a victory, but also advanced to the semi-finals! The magical journey belonging to Gawain is still climbing to the top.
In fact, not only tennis media, but also sports reporters from other sports have paid attention and are discussing this year's year-end finals with great interest.
Even reporters from other fields are starting to care about sports.
This is really a strange thing.
On the one hand, the continuous one-sided showdowns in the group stage were so drowsy that many spectators already cursed.
On the other hand, the incredible chaos is invigorating and everyone is discussing the year-end finals.
I have experienced New York, Paris, and this crazy year of 2014, but the surprises are still not over. When I come to London, the craziness continues.
If there is anything that can push this crazy journey to a new peak and make all reporters' heads explode into fireworks, it is -
