Since the Open era, the history of tennis' world rankings is actually not as long as imagined. Although the four Grand Slams are about to reach their 100th anniversary, the ATP and WTA have introduced world rankings for a relatively short period of time, only 40 years.
As of 2022, in the singles arena, the ATP has a total of 27 world No. 1s. Coincidentally, the WTA also has a total of 27 world No. 1s.
The latest world No. 1s for men and women were both reached one after another in March 2022:
In terms of ATP, the 27th world number one is Medvedev; in terms of WTA, the 27th world number one is Iga-Swiatek.
Asian players have always been relatively weak in the tennis arena. Not to mention the number one in the world, even top players are rare. Although the doubles arena has produced many Asian world number one players, the singles arena still faces many challenges.
On the women's side, Li Na's highest world ranking was once as high as No. 2. Later, Naomi Osaka completed a historic breakthrough and became the world's No. 1 player for the first time as an Asian player, filling this gap.
As for men, there is always a vacancy.
In the nearly half-century history of the ATP world rankings, the highest ranking among Asian players is Zhang Depei.
This famous Chinese player's world ranking has reached the height of second place; moreover, his feat of winning the French Open title at the age of only 17 has long been the youngest record in men's tennis to win the four Grand Slam titles.
Other than that, it's blank.
Thailand's Sri Chaphan is the first player to rank among the top ten in the world.
Neon's Kei Nishikori set a new high in the ranking of Asian men's players last year. He once reached fifth place in the world and continues to set new records.
A feat that was already extremely difficult has become exponentially more difficult in the era of the Big Four. It is extremely difficult to break through the shackles of the top four.
Then Gawain appeared.
Last year, after only competing for half a season, Gao Wen rode the waves and entered the top ten in the world, becoming the twin stars of Asia with Kei Nishikori.
This year, as soon as the season kicked off, Gao Wen continued to make history.
With the points gained from winning the Australian Open, Kovan surpassed Kei Nishikori in one fell swoop and became Asia's new No. 1 brother, truly changing the current landscape of Asian tennis.
At the same time, Gao Wen continued to advance into the top four, surpassing Nadal and ranking third in the world, only one step away from Zhang Depei's record.
Third in the world!
All-time high!
Since Murray's strong rise and completion of the last piece of the puzzle of the "Big Four Dynasty", they have firmly controlled the top four positions in the ATP world rankings.
Any player who wants to be among the top four or even the top three in the world is an extremely difficult task. There are only a handful of players who have been able to accomplish such a feat over the years:
Ferrer, Wawrinka.
That's all.
Even if we add later, until the "Three Little Giants" fully mature and rise in 2020, this list will only add four more names at most:
Raonic, Del Potro, Dimitrov, Tim.
The above is all.
Now in 2015, Gawain has joined Ferrer and Wawrinka, becoming the third player in the past ten years to reach the third highest ranking in the world.
Everything seems familiar.
Last year, Wawrinka successively topped the Australian Open and Monte Carlo in the spring, and his world ranking reached the peak of his career, No. 3, sounding the clarion call to shake the dominance of the Big Four.
This year, Wawrinka stopped in the semi-finals of the Australian Open and missed the opportunity to defend his title. However, Gawain took over the scepter, won the championship with an unparalleled performance, and rushed to the third place in the world.
boom!
The crowd surged.
Impassioned.
Considering that the person who accomplished this feat was an Asian player from China, it is even more exciting. This once again proves Gao Wen’s words:
Dream, everything is possible.
Last year at the US Open, Gao Wen suddenly appeared. His dark horse appearance triggered a lot of discussions. The unfamiliar face made tennis fans full of questions.
However, Gao Wen took one step at a time and established a firm foothold in the professional tennis world.
When the latest ATP World Ranking was released, some fans on social networks asked, "Who can tell me why Gao Wen is ranked third in the world?"
Immediately afterwards, a professional tennis reporter responded, "I think that in the Masters, there will be one semi-final and one championship; in the year-end finals, there will be four semi-finals; in addition, five finals, four wins and one loss... these results should be a little bit helpful.
"
It's understated but with a little bit of humor.
Netizens applauded.
Gawain's rise is really too fast, and it is precisely because it is so rapid that it gives people the illusion that his foundation is unstable, like a meteor streaking across the sky. What's more, what Gawain is challenging is a full ten years.
The fans' discomfort with the Big Four dynasty is bound to continue for some time.
However, in competitive sports arena, actual actions and competition results are always more effective than words, and that is the most powerful and efficient counterattack.
What's more, compared to those anti-fans, the rapid increase in the number of Gao Wen's fans is truly jaw-dropping.
Tobias registered several different social networking platforms for Gawain, including Chinese and English. Furthermore, Tobias listened to Gawain's opinions and made a bold decision, instead of hiring a professional team to manage these accounts.
Instead, Tobias and Gawain managed it themselves.
In other words, these social network accounts may not be updated frequently, but they must be authentic and all are first-hand information released by them personally.
In just six months, the number of fans of these accounts has continued to grow, and has reached a new level after the Australian Open.
On multiple social networking platforms including scarves, Twitter, photo walls, etc., Gao Wen’s total number of followers has soared like a rocket to nearly 90 million.
The distance of 100 million seems not that far away anymore.
Compared to the fanaticism of the fans, those comments from anti-fans are just drizzle.
so--
Third in the world.
So, the next goal is to be second in the world, or even... first in the world?
Just imagining it in my mind makes me uncontrollably excited.
Of course, it's close at hand, but out of reach.
In March 2004, Federer reached the top of the world; in July 2005, Nadal rose to the second in the world.
After that, for a full ten years, the top two in the world rankings were firmly controlled. From the two dragons playing pearls to the three pillars to the formal formation of the Big Four, no player outside the Big Four was able to break the shackles.
In fact, more than ten years.
According to the original historical trajectory, the top two in the world dominated until May 2021, with the rise of Medvedev and the world ranking to second, breaking the "top two blockade" of the Big Four for seventeen years; and in
In March 2022, Medvedev further climbed to the top of the world.
In other words, being third in the world? You can see many players achieving breakthroughs one after another; but being second in the world? It’s hard! It’s hard to reach the sky!
No matter how you look at it, being third in the world seems to be the ceiling.