On October 5th, the penultimate 1,000-point ATP Masters of the year officially kicked off in Shanghai.
Every year, entering the Asian season means that the season competition is gradually coming to an end. After more than nine months of long competition in professional competitions, players' physical strength and energy are facing severe tests, coupled with sudden injuries and unpreparedness
The unexpected incident added more variables to the game.
In addition, the national team competitions, the men's Davis Cup and the women's Confederations Cup, also usher in the finals at the end of the year, which also means that more schedules have been added to the regular events.
More stringent requirements are put forward for schedule arrangement, physical adjustment, state adjustment, etc.——
As a result, many top players have to miss team competitions, partly to avoid injuries, but partly because of their poor condition.
It is precisely because of this that the Magic City Masters in the Asian season and the Paris Masters in the European indoor season, as the last two top events at the end of the year, have a lot of upsets.
Among the "Big Four", Nadal's "acclimatization" is particularly obvious. Because of his own playing style and injury problems, his performance at the end of the year has never been optimal. Among all nine Masters, Magic City
and Paris are two territories that Nadal has never been able to conquer.
And Nadal is not the only player facing the test of a long season. All players, including the other Big Three, are facing the same situation.
In fact, the ATP and WTA players unions have met more than once to discuss and issue formal appeals, emphasizing that the season is too long, the events are too intensive, and most importantly, there are too many mandatory events——
The so-called mandatory participation, the ATP Masters and the WTA Crown are all events that are officially stipulated that all players must participate. Unless there is a formal injury certificate from a doctor, they must participate.
If you are absent, you will be punished with fines, warnings, and deduction of points. This is mainly for the organization of the event to ensure the player participation rate and the excitement of the game, but also for the sake of box office and ratings.
Even if it is not mandatory to participate in other competitions, because the world rankings are updated every week, fierce competition is refreshed all the time, and these ranking data are also related to the players' qualifications and daily livelihood, so that players who are in the middle stage of the world rankings
I have to force myself to compete every week, which is a vicious cycle.
The players union hopes that the season can be shortened and the offseason lengthened to give players more time to adjust and rest.
However, the commercial benefits brought by the professionalization of tennis are so huge, and the interests behind them are intertwined; and the events are held all over the world, which is different from the football league, basketball league, and rugby league that are based in one country.
The competition may represent the economic planning of a city or even a country, and the difficulty of negotiation and negotiation will naturally increase——
For example, the only ATP Masters tournament in Asia is currently held in Shanghai. So, aren’t other countries and regions eager for it?
Countries including Singapore, Neon, Kimchi and other countries have been working hard to win the right to host the Masters; but Magic City has been able to stick to its status of the Masters. In addition to the excellent quality of the event itself, there are countless invisible swords and swords hidden behind it.
Therefore, the schedule has never been shortened. Not only has it not been shortened, but a certain number of events continue to increase every year, forming a huge system.
Naturally, the challenges faced by the players in the Asian season and the European indoor season have not been improved. Coupled with the impact of the "Grand Slam syndrome", the upsets of the Imperial Open and the Magic Masters are often even more disappointing.
a bit more.
This year is no exception.
In the first round, because the top eight seeds had a bye, the upsets were all relatively low-ranked seeded players. It could not be called "shattering", but it was still a lot of topics.
"US Open runner-up" Cilic suffered an upset loss to Croatian compatriot Karlovic in the first round. After the US Open, he only won one of the two events he participated in.
Compared to Gauvin, it is obvious that the "Grand Slam Syndrome" is more obvious in Cilic. Although he lost to Murray last week and Karlovic this week, strictly speaking, the two games were bayonets that saw red.
, the game is very close; but the overall state and feel are still very different.
In addition, players who can still see the shadow of Grand Slam syndrome in them include Kei Nishikori and Gulbis, but the situation is slightly different.
Kei Nishikori, who was only one step away from making history at the US Open, worked very diligently after leaving New York. He went to Malaysia and Neon to compete in the competition, and reached the top of both low-level events, carrying a wave of winning streak.
I came to Shanghai, but in the competition on a higher stage, I had no feeling at all. I lost to the American rookie Sock who returned from injury in straight sets and was eliminated in the first round.
According to Gulbis, he was not able to perform at his best in the Imperial City last week, and he "retired due to injury" hastily. He also had a war of words with Gao Wen because of the injury, but obviously, the injury did not seem to have much impact.
, because two days later, he appeared in the singles arena of the Magic City Masters.
Unfortunately, facing "Gr." Youzhny, who was also in bad shape and was eliminated in the first round of the US Open, Gulbis only managed five games in two sets and was swept out.
After the game, Gulbis was full of lies about Youzhny, and broke out when reporters questioned whether the imperial capital had "faked an injury to withdraw from the game" last week. The innocent Gawain once again became Gulbis's target.
, but this time Gao Wen refused to give any response and just replied lightly:
"I have no interest in circus performances".
In addition, Isner and Fognini also joined the ranks of those who were eliminated in the first round, and Robredo, who was not seeded but was ranked in the top 30 in the world, was also upset.
In the end, a total of eight seeded players participated in the first round, and five of them dropped in the blink of an eye, with only three successfully making it through. It really made people feel the cold wind.
However, in the midst of the upset, local Chinese player Wang Chuhan, who played with a wild card, defeated Fognini in straight sets, which is undoubtedly good news. This also made him the fourth player in history to win in the Magic City.
The local players of the ball joined Gao Wen in advancing to the second round.
This young player born in 1992 is currently ranked around 400 in the world. He has not received any attention before. However, this time in the Magic City Masters, all the first rounds were played. Local players competed in singles and doubles.
Of all the players, only Gao Wen and Wang Chuhan were left, and their eyes naturally gathered in a bustling manner.
Moreover, Wang Chuhan’s opponent in the second round is qualifier Malek-Jaziri, who is currently ranked 75th in the world. This also means that the possibility of Wang Chuhan continuing to advance in an upset is very high.
The news media immediately became excited. If Gao Wen and Wang Chuhan advance to the third round together, that would be great! Maybe the Chinese men's tennis can really usher in more breakthroughs?