On October 20, 2014, the last ATP Masters event of the year, the War Drums and Khotan, was officially staged in Paris.
The Paris Masters is not only the only top-level event held in a Grand Slam host city, but also one of the oldest and most important top-level events in the ATP event calendar:
Since its first edition in 1969, the Paris Masters has been the highest-level ATP event.
In addition, due to various reasons, this is also one of the most difficult events in ATP events to win.
First of all, the schedule is at the end of the year and the players are exhausted.
Secondly, indoor hard courts bring greater uncertainty to the venue.
As of 2013, the Paris Masters has been held forty-three times in total, and only two players have won it three times, Becker and Safin.
There are only five players who have won the championship twice, Tom Okker, Brian Gottfried, Sampras, Agassi and Djokovic.
The most incredible thing is that this is the venue where the dominance of the Big Four is weakest. Since Federer's strong rise in 2004, the champions of the Paris Masters in the past ten years are listed in chronological order, namely:
After the data is listed, it is clear at a glance.
First, Federer did not conquer the Paris Masters until 2011.
Second, Nadal and Murray have never been able to reach the top.
Third, Djokovic’s dominance on fast hard courts is obviously inferior to that on slow hard courts, and he only won the championship twice in 2009 and 2013.
Fourth, the uncertainty brought about by the indoor hard court environment allows players of different styles to have the ability to reach the top of the Paris Masters. Players with balanced offense and defense like Berdych, Ferrer, and Davydenko can also compete in the Paris Masters.
Also won the championship.
Finally, so far, no one has successfully defended the title in the history of the event.
Among them, Safin is the closest to defending his title. His three championships came in 2000, 2002, and 2004. After all, he was still a little short of reaching the top the following year.
There is no doubt that various results prove that the Paris Masters is an event full of variables.
This year, the competition leading to the year-end finals has entered a melee situation where the best players compete for the title, and the uncertainty of the Paris Masters has further expanded.
Everyone is paying attention.
Smoke of gunpowder fills the air.
On the first match day, Gao Wen was still sweating hard at the training ground, while Sampras went to various venues to observe and start pre-match preparations.
Gawain's draw is a bit tough.
His second-round opponent is about to be decided between Janowitz and Querrey, and neither opponent is easy to deal with.
Janowicz, a Polish player, was also the first to emerge among the group of players born after 1990.
His playing temperament is very sharp and flamboyant. He dares to take risks and strikes. He has the vigor of a new generation. His ball path and style are very weird. His smooth attack is like a galactic battleship, but it is not a violent style, but a courage to break.
The conventional routine is impressive.
It's truly a feast for the eyes.
Many experts believe that Janowitz can become a leader of the new generation.
In 2012, it was at this venue of the Paris Masters that Janowitz emerged from nowhere. Starting from the qualifying round, he eliminated Cilic, Murray and Simon all the way to the final, becoming the first to reach the Masters final.
A player born in the 1990s, regrettably lost to Ferrer in the end.
In 2013, Wimbledon became the stage for Janowitz to make further breakthroughs, reaching the semi-finals with great success. He is also known as the first post-90s player to enter the semi-finals of a Grand Slam. He won one set first in the semi-finals.
Next, he suffered a reversal from the eventual champion Murray.
Carrying this strong upward momentum, Janowitz's world ranking has further set a new career high, reaching the 14th place. It can be said that the limelight is unprecedented.
Just when everyone thought that Janowitz was about to break into the top ten in the world, and then repeatedly appear in the top 16 and quarterfinals of major events, and further launch an impact on the Big Four, the new generation represented by him was about to fully compete.
On stage.
As a result, injuries struck.
First he suffered a back injury, then a foot injury, so that his game has been intermittent since the beginning of the North American season last year. The injury was not serious enough to keep him away from the game, but it always existed objectively, interfering with and affecting his game.
Moreover, after he was born, he became a conspicuous target. Everyone was studying his game and style and looking for ways to fight, which further restricted his performance.
In major tournaments, being eliminated in the first round or being eliminated in the second round no longer seems to be news.
Currently, Janowitz's world ranking has plummeted out of the top 50.
This year, Janowitz’s best performance in the tournament has a certain fate with Gao Wen and Querrey:
Winston-Salem.
There, Janowitz defeated many good players, including Goffin and Querrey, and reached the final. Finally, he missed two match points in the final and lost to Rossol, unfortunately finishing second.
It can be seen that Janowitz has been fighting injuries and has been trying to regain his peak form, although it is not easy.
Coming to Paris this time and returning to his blessed place, Janowitz also hopes to relive his old dream, especially in the first round facing the opponent he just defeated two months ago. Janowitz also looks forward to being able to overcome the French
In this test, Rey competed with the most popular fried chicken among the "post-90s generation".
However, the ideal is plump and the reality is skinny.
Three hard games.
Janowitz was eliminated.
After Janowitz ended the 2014 season with a first-round exit, Tennis magazine wrote a feature that discussed in depth the challenges faced by the new generation -
From Janowitz at Wimbledon last year, to Raonic and Dimitrov at Wimbledon this year, to Gawain and Thiem at the US Open.
The new generation of players born in the 1990s is indeed on the stage and giving more and more wonderful performances, but the key is that after they achieve great results, they change from challengers to challenged ones. Their entire mentality, temperament, and game
Wait, everything is different, this is the test.
Including Gao Wen, the current group of "post-90s" players can more or less feel the obvious impact of the "Grand Slam Syndrome". Not to mention facing top players, when facing the impact of other players
Sometimes, their performance is not stable. Obviously, they still need to continue to grow.
2014 was a turbulent year for men's professional tennis. The strength of the "Big Four" encountered a violent impact, and the new generation emerged in an all-round way. So, in the following 2015 season, will the new generation be able to continue the momentum of rapid progress and further subvert the trend?
The situation is undoubtedly worthy of attention.
It is precisely because of this that the performance of young players in the Paris Masters and the following year-end finals deserves more expectations.
His eyes returned to Gawain.
Querrey, Gao Wen's second-round opponent was officially confirmed. In a daze, he had the illusion of returning to the US Open.