Perhaps, the youth storm is indeed on the rise, not only those born in the 1990s, but also those born in the 1995s have begun to emerge one after another.
Perhaps, the tit-for-tat confrontation between the "Big Four VS Challengers" is indeed becoming more and more exciting, and even the Mesozoic generation has been inspired to complete their own transformation.
However, behind the noise of a hundred schools of thought contending and a hundred flowers blooming, the younger generation and the challenger alliance must face "growing pains."
Including injuries, including mentality, including state adjustment, including maintaining stability during a long tour, including facing the siege of social networks and media reporters, including the troubles and struggles of living under the spotlight, etc., competitive sports
Very pure, but in the era of commercial social networks, it is not so pure.
Back then, the Big Four had all gone through such a stage, and now it is the turn of the players from the "Youth Storm" and "Challenger League".
Dilemma is a challenge and an opportunity——
If it can break through, it will break out of the cocoon and become a butterfly; but if it cannot, it will be the beginning of disaster.
The changes in a world ranking list can indeed reveal many things, and the difficulties encountered by Youth Storm are only part of them.
There was a comparison between Raonic and Dimitrov before, and a comparison between Cilic and Wawrinka later——
Second, Wawrinka has made a full recovery.
He was eliminated in the first round last year and won the championship this year. Wawrinka successfully replicated the magical journey of Spaniard Albert-Costa who was eliminated in the first round of the French Open in 2001 and then won the championship in 2002. His ups and downs were in the points.
The level of competition ushered in a full-scale outbreak, which also brought his world ranking back to the top five.
After Cilic advanced to the US Open finals last year, his career fell into an abyss. In addition to injuries, his mentality and state have never been able to adjust. He has been declining. He does not even need to wait for the North American summer hard court season. The world
The ranking has already fallen out of the top ten.
Wawrinka also went through a period of struggle and adjustment after reaching the top of the Australian Open, and finally returned perfectly this season. Although he is still a little unstable, he can give his best performance with full firepower when he comes to the Grand Slam.
In the face of difficulties, the late-blooming "Four Eggs" have completed their transformation.
Not only the Youth Storm generation, players like Cilic and Wawrinka who have belatedly completed their transformation also need to face growing pains. Those problems, setbacks and obstacles are always there, and they must go through to transform from ordinary players to top players.
Threshold, no one can be an exception.
Third, Murray has completely gotten rid of injuries after offseason adjustments——
First, he hired French two-time Grand Slam women's singles champion Amelie-Mauresmo as his head coach, becoming the first top 100 player in the world to hire a female player as a coach.
A male player; then in April, he ended his ten-year relationship with his girlfriend and got married, regaining his concentration on the court.
Although Murray is still some distance behind Federer's world ranking points, he has fully established a foothold in the top five.
Here, it is worth special mentioning:
In the championship standings, Murray and Wawrinka have also returned to the top, currently only behind Gao Wen and Djokovic, ranking third and fourth respectively.
Third, Murray, 4480.
Fourth, Wawrinka, 4230.
It can be seen from the numbers that Murray and Wawrinka, who have reached the semi-finals of both the Australian Open and French Open, have similar overall performances in the hard court season and the clay court season. The score difference is very small. The competition in the second half of the season is still
The bayonet is red, and you can now predict the intensity of the attack.
In addition to the "battle for No. 1 in the world," the battle for No. 3 in the world is also equally eye-catching.
Or to put it another way, it is not a battle for third place in the world, but a battle for the "giants". Gawain and Wawrinka are launching a powerful attack.
From the four giants to the five poles to the six-dragon competition, the ATP has been in turmoil for a year and a half. There are indeed too many stories waiting to be discovered.
However, the gap between Murray and Wawrinka's championship points from the top two is still relatively obvious. It is more than 2,000 points, and it is still difficult to overtake them in a short period of time; but objectively speaking, 2,000 points is the number of Grand Slam champions.
The points may seem huge, but they are actually not that exaggerated.
Moreover, behind them, on the championship points list, Berdych, Ferrer, Federer, and Nadal are all very, very close in points. The performance of one tournament may lead to changes in the championship points rankings, and then step by step
The step is reflected in the order of the world rankings.
Perhaps, we don’t need to wait for the hard court season in the North American summer. The grass court season can give us a glimpse of some chasing competition, which is not inferior to the clay court season.
Finally, a new low for Nadal.
After a terrible clay court season and failing to defend his title at Roland Garros, his ranking points plummeted. After losing more than 2,000 points, Nadal's world ranking has slipped to tenth, even in the tenth position.
Precarious——
Since entering the top ten of the world rankings for the first time in his career in the third week of April 2005, Nadal has never fallen out of the top ten clubs. It has been ten years in the blink of an eye; however, he hit an iceberg this season.
, ushering in the lowest point of his career.
At this time, countless professionals believe that Nadal's career may be gone forever. After all, Nadal, who relies on physical combat, needs the support of a strong and healthy body. Otherwise, Nadal will be unable to stand on the court.
competitiveness will be greatly reduced.
Just look at this year's French Open. In the battle with Gawain, Nadal actually suffered from a very rare situation of physical exhaustion in the fourth set. It was not a normal physical limit, but a problem with physical reserves that made him unsustainable.
Dilemma, which was impossible in the past ten years.
"Maybe... this is the end?"
More than one or two professionals have questioned that the career of the Spanish God of War is indeed facing a new test, and it is also a test that thousands of professional players must face. Some people have fallen into despair and gradually withdraw from the stage of history, while others have been reborn and written miracles again.
——
In the final analysis, the essence of competitive sports is to challenge limits, challenge oneself, and challenge the impossible. This is also the true meaning of human pursuit of life and exploration of the unknown.
Nadal's fate is in his own hands.
In the Spanish Bulls' career, not once, not twice, but countless times, he was always able to overcome injuries and sound the clarion call for counterattack. From beginning to end, he was fighting and striving.
This time is no exception. The next step is up to him. Everything is possible.
This time, what Nadal needs to face is not surgery or a major injury that misses the competition, but a body that is scarred and exhausted even though he is able to compete. He needs to fight with his body and use his own strength.
He must have the will and spirit to fight, and he needs to get back into fighting shape.
but……
For Nadal, the situation is not good, because next is the grass-court season where he is least good at it.