On July 14, 2014, the Binghamton Challenge officially opened.
This small challenge with 64 draws has no place at all in the US Open series. It is not worth mentioning. Logically, no one should pay attention to it, but it is attracted by the players with the top two seeds.
It attracted a lot of attention and was even officially reported on the home page of the ATP official website.
A total of eight seed seats are set up for the tournament.
The top seed, Alexander Zverev, just last month set a series of records in the Challenger League and the Gold Medal. He is so popular that it goes without saying.
The second seed, Serigy-Stakhovsky, is a 28-year-old player who has been playing professional tennis for eleven years, but still comes to participate in the challenge. Press
Logically speaking, he should be a Green Leaf player who is not worth paying attention to.
However, Stakhovsky attracted the attention of the world at Wimbledon last year. In the second round against defending champion Federer, Stakhovsky, who was ranked 116th in the world at the time, performed well.
With a total score of "3:1", Federer was upset and eliminated.
This also created an embarrassing record. Following Hewitt's upset loss in the first round in 2003, Federer became the earliest defending champion to be eliminated from the Wimbledon men's singles event.
It is precisely because of this that Stakhovsky became famous in one battle!
Unfortunately, in the past year, due to injuries, Stakhovsky's world ranking has not been high, and his game status has been ups and downs. After breaking into the third round at Wimbledon for the second consecutive year last month,
He moved to North America and chose the Binghamton Challenge to start his North American season.
To put it simply, Stachovsky also came here to find feel and build confidence in preparation for the US Open.
With little Zverev in front and Stachovsky behind him, Binghamton became hot in an instant.
After the draw ceremony, Zverev Jr. guarded the top half and Stachovsky guarded the bottom half. Both players were the focus of the press conference——
In fact, judging from the scale of the Challenger League, there was originally no press conference. Only the ATP official website and event media released news announcements themselves.
However, because of the top two seeds, Binghamton was also very lively. The appearance of more than a dozen reporters gave the players the reputation of having experienced a press conference.
When answering reporters' questions, Zverev Jr. said, "The championship is my only goal." The youthful spirit is evident.
Stakhovsky was more low-key, "I still need to adjust my condition and hope to go as far as possible." However, he changed the topic and said, "Of course, if I have the opportunity to compete for the championship, I will naturally try my best."
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The two favorites are both aiming for the championship.
But for other players, there is no time to think about the championship for the time being. Instead, they need to focus on the game in front of them and make steady progress step by step.
For example, Gao Wen, his opponent in the first round——
Tanasi-Kokkinakis.
Jilong:……
Macdonald:…
It’s really... It’s not that enemies don’t get together, how on earth were the draws drawn? It even makes people doubt the extent of the mastermind behind it, how could it be such a coincidence?
Overall, the fortunes of Macdonald and Geelong are much better. Both are in the top half, and only Gawain is in the bottom half.
MacDonald's opponent is a Hispanic youth player from the United States who is under the age of 18 and has not entered the NCAA. He has received vocational training since childhood and has just transferred from the youth arena to the professional arena this year.
Geelong's opponent is a Zimbabwean player who turned professional in 2008. He is already 25 years old and has rich experience. However, he is still playing in the Challenger League in the sixth year of his career, which shows that he is not the type with outstanding talent.
From the analysis of paper strength, both MacDonald and Geelong have the upper hand, but Gawain is different.
Kokkinakis is currently ranked 297 in the world, which means he is in the top 300. He is also the highest ranked among unseeded players. He is a tough nut for any player, even if we put aside the grudges off the court.
Not a good one.
Back then, Gawain played against Kyrgios and beat Kyrgios "5:0". Not to mention that it was a charity exhibition match, Kyrgios was indeed caught off guard; just talking about the score, it was only five points.
If it were a complete game, I'm afraid it would be a different situation.
Now, Gao Wen will face Kokkinakis in the first official game of his career. It is indeed a severe challenge. It is more difficult and dangerous than any of Gao Wen's games so far. Coupled with Kokkinakis' provocation, the situation will be
It is even more dangerous, because they all know that Kokkinakis will definitely go all out and gear up to ravage Gawain.
So, how should Gawain respond?
"Ah, another wild card is given to Sean. Ruan and Hanfman both came through the qualifying rounds."
Gao Wen is paying attention to the situation of his NCAA opponents. He can see at a glance how they got to the main game, but that's not the point, okay?
"Gawain, aren't you worried that your opponent is deliberately making things difficult for you?" Macdonald's eyebrows frowned, and you could clearly feel his worry.
Gawain shrugged easily, "He wants to teach me a lesson, but he also wants to see who his opponent is. I'm also a tough guy, okay?"
Looking at the calm Gawain, Macdonald and Gillon also felt a little more relaxed.
Gawain patted the two friends on the shoulders, "A little challenge is a good thing. This is why we came to Binghamton, remember? Don't be afraid of the strength of your opponents. If you treat those opponents who are difficult to defeat as
With training and growth, everything will become interesting."
Gawain is not blindly confident. He knows how powerful Kokkinakis is, and he also knows how powerful Zverev and Kyrgios are, but it is precisely because of their strength that Gawain is even more looking forward to fighting with them.
Fight——
This is the most interesting and moving part of competitive sports.
So, let them see how powerful this genius Kokkinakis is. Gao Wen can't wait to get on the court.
Then, there was a burst of cheers in the ears, "Oh yeah", everyone looked over according to the sound, and at a glance they could see Kokkinakis who was clenching his fists in celebration, twisting his waist and dancing, cheering and jumping, no need
Words can make people feel his excitement.
Others don't know why. No one knows why Kokkinakis is celebrating. Is it because he got the top lottery?
But Gawain knew.
Kokkinakis also saw Gawain in the crowd, did a space slide, raised his chin proudly, stared at Gawain with stern eyes, and smiled broadly.
Gawain didn't say much, he folded his hands on his chest and watched Kokkinakis' performance with great interest, as if he were watching a circus performance.
Kokkinakis understood the deep meaning in Gawain's eyes, his movements froze, and he cursed secretly:
Damn it! I'm not playing monkey tricks, okay?
Gawain gently raised his chin, showing a satisfied smile, a child can be taught.