Indeed, clay soil is still unfamiliar to Gao Wen; furthermore, the professional arena is still full of freshness for Gao Wen. It is obviously not that easy to maintain the stability of the state and high-frequency output throughout the long season.
, the test is staged.
But at the same time, Gao Wen is still learning and growing. All tests will become nourishment and gradually shape Gao Wen as a top player. Therefore, whether it is clay soil or a long schedule, these challenges will become Gao Wen's different stages.
Brand new topic, stay hungry.
Against Ferrer, he was in a desperate situation in the second set and was about to lose the game in straight sets. However, Gawain still found a way——
Just like the Australian Open final at the beginning of the year.
Gawain once again proved with practical actions that strong nerves and unyielding will are his hallmarks, which are even more important than talent or technology.
Then, the game entered the final set.
but!
Clay is not a hard court, and Monte Carlo is not Melbourne. The most important thing is that these are two completely different games. Everything is different.
In the decisive set, Ferrer once again proved his "stable man" character. He was not affected by the second set at all and his performance was still conscientious.
Standing on the clay, Ferrer was at ease, and his physical and mental impact was relatively limited. He quickly gained the upper hand during the third set.
It was Ferrer who was the first to break serve, which also meant that in three consecutive sets, Gawain's serve was the first to fall and he was in trouble.
Such a small detail is more intuitive than those technical statistics. On clay, the stability of Gao Wen's serve is obviously not as good as that on hard courts. The reason is comprehensive, not just a deviation in one link, but
The adaptation and adjustment of the overall red soil is still ongoing.
For example, the tactical combination of serving, the choice of route and placement point.
For example, shot selection after serving, offensive tactical layout.
For example, the impact of the return ball from the opponent, and adjustments on the spot.
Etc., etc.
At the same time, another detail also proves this point——
Break success rate.
In the deciding set, despite being the first to suffer a break of serve, Gawain was not without a chance. Subsequently, he got five more break points and looked for opportunities to reverse the situation in Ferrer's serve.
However, it is a pity that all five break points were not realized, which directly proved that Gawain's performance in key points was not as good as Ferrer.
Of course, Ferrer has been able to firmly hold the top ten or even the top five positions in the world in the era of the Big Four, and has repeatedly performed at the Masters and Grand Slam. He has proven his ability; but it can still be seen from the side.
, red soil is still difficult for Gawain.
In the end, in the whole match, Gao Wen got a total of 13 break points, but only succeeded twice, with a break success rate of 15.38%, which is very fatal.
"6:2", "5:7", "6:4".
Ferrer defeated Gauvin, advanced to the semi-finals with his head held high, and gave Gauvin his first loss of the clay court season——
In other words, the Spanish stable man gave Gao Wen a good training lesson on clay.
This defeat means a lot.
Not only does it mean that Gao Wen has stopped in the quarterfinals in the first clay court event of his career, creating his worst result in the Masters; it also means that Gao Wen's winning streak in the Masters has come to an end, and finally ended at 18 consecutive wins.
Unfortunately, I was not able to further improve my historical record.
Grief.
However, this is true for any record. Where it begins, it will end. After setting a benchmark, it must wait for future generations to break it. This is always the case.
The very existence of records is meant to be broken and surpassed.
Perhaps Gawain's winning streak in the Masters has stopped, but he still wrote a series of miracles——
From Paris to Indian Wells to Miami, he won three Masters championships in a row; and, so far, he has played in the Masters five times in his career and has never been eliminated in the first game.
But I don’t know when the next player who can create such a feat will appear; in addition, Gao Wen’s footsteps of setting records in the Masters will continue.
When the quarter-finals of the 2015 Monte Carlo Masters ended, the results were more or less disappointing.
After Gao Wen and Dimitrov stopped one after another, Raonic retired from the match due to injury after falling behind 2:5 in the first set against Nadal.
The injury is still to the quadriceps.
Since the second half of last year, Raonic has been suffering from a muscle strain in his right thigh, and was even forced to withdraw from the year-end finals competition; after examination, it was not too serious, so Raonic adopted conservative treatment
, but in the past few months, there has been some repetition.
Moreover, facing the most severe challenge in Monte Carlo, when facing Nadal, Raonic was not even able to finish the first set. The same injured part became more and more serious, so that he could not finish the first set.
Saidu is no longer possible.
The situation is not good.
This also means that the "youth storm" has all stopped in Monte Carlo, and the younger generation has come to the clay court and their power has been reduced.
Actually, this is not surprising.
As mentioned before, the current younger generation of players basically grew up on hard courts. The overall playing style is still suitable for hard courts. After coming to the clay court, they are obviously not accustomed to the climate. They have to wait until the "post-95" generation of European young players.
Only when you grow up will things change——
Although Zverev Jr., Medvedev, Berrettini, Hurkacs, etc. are all typical hard court players, they also perform well on clay courts; and, outside of them, Tsitsipas
, Ruder and other players performed better on clay than on hard courts, showing the potential of clay court experts.
So far, the three protagonists of Youth Storm have all stopped in the top eight of Monte Carlo and have not been able to go further. In addition, Wawrinka, Thiem, Puy and other challengers who have been eliminated before have gradually begun to emerge. In the end,
The top four in Monte Carlo are all familiar faces:
Top half, "Djokovic VS Nadal".
Bottom half, "Ferrer VS Monfils".
Four people, all born in the 1980s——
Ferrer was born in 1982, Nadal and Monfils were born in 1986, and Djokovic was born in 1987. They are also the mainstays of today's professional tennis and are in their prime.
After experiencing the turmoil of the new generation in the first quarter of 2015, when the clay court season came, the Mesozoic generation roared collectively at the first Clay Court Masters, strongly declaring their presence as more than just the "Big Four"
VS Challenger" and "Mesozoic VS Cenozoic" battles are also ongoing.
Especially considering the existence of Monte Carlo as the French Open weather vane, does the top four lineup mean that the Mesozoic will fully counterattack in the second quarter?
But, is this really the case? Is Youth Storm really disappointing? Is Challenger Frenzy really hitting a wall head-on?
Obviously, people have not forgotten the most important thing in Monte Carlo this week -
The world rankings have been turned upside down. Things that have been looked forward to and looked forward to and discussed hotly have already happened without even waiting for the clay court season to go further.