The 2015 Monte Carlo Masters officially kicked off.
To be precise, the clay court season started last week, and the two events in Houston and Casablanca were the first shots of the court transition as always.
However, the Masters is different after all, because it means that the top ten players in the world have come out to officially join the clay court season.
so--
In this year's clay court season, will Nadal still rule the roost? Can Nadal, who was obviously in poor condition in the first quarter, recover quickly on clay courts?
What about Djokovic, who has won two runner-ups and two semi-finals at the French Open in the past four seasons? Can he finally realize his dream in Paris? Federer finally defeated Nadal in the fourth year after losing to Nadal for three consecutive years and finishing second.
Soderling reached the top of Paris, while Djokovic is in his fifth year.
Where is Murray? Where is Federer? Where is Wawrinka?
What about Ferrer, Berdych, Kei Nishikori, etc.?
In the past few years, due to Nadal's absolute dominance, the terms "clay court expert" and "clay court expert" seem to have disappeared from the ATP. No one dares to call himself a "clay court expert" in front of Nadal easily. Come to the clay court season
No matter how brilliant players shine, they cannot compete with Nadal.
So, will we be able to see the wonderful performances of some clay court experts again this year?
What about the new generation led by Raonic? What about the new generation led by Gao Wen? The "Sunshine Double Crown" has already seen more "post-95s" figures. Will more fresh people emerge in the clay court season?
Face and bring surprises? After all, the possibility of an upset on clay is greater.
All kinds of things, all kinds of things, with the opening of the Monte Carlo Masters, all the mysteries will be revealed, and it will be another exciting clay court season.
The first ones to bear the brunt are naturally Gawain and Federer——
In the Monte Carlo Masters, the top eight seeds enjoy a bye in the first round, so they directly enter the second round and wait for their opponents.
On that side, French player Chardy and "post-90s" player Schwarzman, who has passed the qualification test, competed for a chance to compete with Federer.
Unfortunately, Schwarzman, who represented the Youth Storm, still did not fully adapt to the rhythm of the ATP. He lost in two sets and Chardy became Federer's first-round opponent.
Here, Tim, who was born in 1993, and Puy, who was born in 1994, met in the first round. The winner will face Gao Wen in another youth showdown.
From Indian Wells to Miami to Monte Carlo, more and more young players are emerging and starting their professional journey with Gao Wen as their goal.
There is no doubt that the "youth storm" is getting more and more intense, and it is slowly taking the stage. This time, it is not the "post-95s", but more "post-90s".
Thiem and Puy are only one year apart in age, but Tim has already made a name for himself last year, while Puy's rise has been a little slower. This time in Monte Carlo, he failed to enter the main draw just relying on his world ranking, and Puy won.
Got a wild card from the organizer and entered the draw.
Obviously, Tim is the more favored side; and the friend battle of "Tim VS Gawain 2.0" is also more valuable for discussion by the media.
However--
Things went counterproductive.
"6:4", "6:4".
Puy had the last laugh.
The game was very, very close, and Tim tried his best, but unfortunately, he was still a little lacking in the end and missed the opportunity to play against Gawain.
In fact, it can be said that Puy and Tim have competing styles of play. According to history, Tim lost against Puy twice in his career and did not win a set; of course, this
The two encounters took place before Tim's comprehensive transformation and rise, and the reference value is not great. However, it can still be seen that Puy's playing style is just right to restrain Tim.
As mentioned before, Tim plays in a wide-open and comprehensive way. Therefore, for Tim, footwork is very important. He needs to use footwork to gain time and space for himself to take the shot and exert his strength. Once
Without enough space and insufficient power, his competitiveness will drop sharply.
And Puy is exactly a baseline player with a fast-paced and connected style of play. To put it simply, he suppresses his opponents by constantly increasing the rhythm of rounds.
Therefore, when Tim and Puy played against each other, Puy always continued to increase the rhythm, compressed the hitting time and movement space, and compressed Tim's opportunities to exert force, so that Tim was full of energy but could not use it, even if his footsteps were faster
It is too fast to keep up with the gradually shortening rhythm of the rounds, and is very passive.
The style of play is incompatible, which is indeed very difficult.
As a teenager, Puy was unknown, with a highest world ranking of only twenty-three. There were no highlights in the youth competitions of the four Grand Slams. Therefore, in front of the star-studded player lineup in France's golden era, Puy, the "
"Post-90s" are far from attracting attention.
After turning to the professional arena in 2013, Puy never had many outstanding results. It was only in 2015 that he entered the top 100 in the world rankings for the first time.
However, such an ordinary Puyi ushered in a full-scale explosion in 2016. He defeated Del Potro at Wimbledon, defeated Nadal in the US Open final set tie-break, and entered the quarterfinals of two Grand Slams in a row; in 2018
In 2019, the world ranking broke into the top ten for the first time; in 2019, the Australian Open entered the semi-finals.
What's the reason behind it?
The first is the maturity of his technical style. He is a typical player who hits the ball. Every time he hits the ball, he needs to grab the ball. It is not necessarily the rising point. He adjusts the rhythm according to his own tactics. Compared with the strength,
, it is more about forming a dense attack through the connection of rhythm.
Therefore, this places strict requirements on game reading, shot selection, tactical awareness, etc. He needs enough games to accumulate experience.
The second is the strength of the body. When I was a teenager, my body was very thin, and I had no advantage in youth competitions that relied on talent. After entering the professional arena, I continued to gain weight, lose fat, and improve my muscle content, and my ability to fight against the ball was improved.
Improve and change the situation.
Although Puy does not rely on initiative to score points, strength is a necessary condition in a confrontation.
In addition, muscles also help Puy improve the offensive power of his forehand and serve, which are also basic and necessary abilities for the new generation of top male players.
From a certain perspective, Pui can be seen as a stronger but slightly less spiritual Kei Nishikori. Of course, his serve is stronger and his good serve is a guarantee; but equally, because of grabbing the hitting point,
He has a unique style of controlling the rhythm, so injuries are particularly frequent.
After entering the top ten in the world in 2019, Puy has been plagued by a right elbow injury for more than three long years and has not found a path to recovery.
For Gao Wen, neither Thiem nor Puy are easy opponents to deal with. After all, these two have better clay court experience than him——
Thiem, of course, needless to say; Puy, he grew up in the Roland Garros tennis training camp set up by the French Tennis Association. Obviously, their understanding of clay soil is far better than Gao Wen.
Anyone who faces Gao Wen who sets foot on clay for the first time has the ability to upset him.