"Match Point(
Valencia, the flames of war ignited.
Valencia, located on the southeast coastline of Spain, is far less famous than Madrid and Barcelona in the world, but in fact it is the third largest city in Spain, and it is also the largest granary in Spain, the center of agriculture and the new generation of technology industry Development makes the city exude vitality.
Although it is located in southern Europe, clay tennis courts can be seen everywhere in this area, but Valencia is a little special. The ATP events held here are not clay courts, but indoor hard courts.
At the same time, because the events of Valencia and Basel were held in the same week, and Federer signed a long-term playing agreement with Basel, coupled with his own venue reasons, he could not attract the participation of Spanish superstar Nadal. Valencia's event influence is very limited.
However, this year is an exception.
Thanks to the final sprint competition for seats in the year-end finals, ten of the top 20 players in the world have come to Valencia to compete. Although there is a lack of top superstars like Federer and Nadal, Ferre The box office appeal of Hall and Murray still guaranteed attention.
More importantly, the most eye-catching focus now is the competition for a seat in the year-end finals. Compared with Basel, Valencia's strategic position is even more prominent:
Cilic, Berdych and Murray, who won the championship in three different cities last week, all came to Valencia at the same time. This is an important point to watch.
A group of competitors will start a head-to-head contest in this land, and the focus of discussions on social networks will also quietly shift.
Facts, and it turns out—
Heavy pressure, running around, full attendance test, etc., etc., undoubtedly, this puts forward severe and even demanding requirements for the players.
Valencia's first round match was full of upsets.
Among them, Berdych and Cilic both lost out.
From the perspective of time, they only finished the final in the last city yesterday afternoon, and they came to Valencia today, and started the first round without stopping. The recovery of physical fitness, adjustment of state and invisible pressure are all uncertain factors. Even so, losing is still an upset.
In addition, the three players Youzhny, Isner and Simon also all lost in an upset.
Especially Simon.
Just broke into the final in Shanghai two weeks ago, showing incredible competitive state, not only defeated Gawain in the semi-final, but also pushed Federer to the extreme in the final, which makes people believe that he is on the right track.
This time in Valencia, Simon and Gawain were drawn in the same 3/4 zone. If all goes well, the two players will meet again in the quarterfinals, and they lost to Ukrainian player Alexander Dorgopolo Husband (Alexander-Dolgopolov), and swallowed a duck egg in the first set.
Eye-popping.
In comparison, Berdych still has some room for maneuver, and the current overall situation is still dominant, so Cilic's situation is very, very bad—
Although they won the championship in Moscow last week, it was a 250-point event. This week, they were eliminated in the first round of Valencia with 500 points, but they don't know how to calculate this account.
However, looking at the results of the first round in Basel, it is not so surprising.
Wawrinka and Gulbis also both lost, once again broke out shocking upset.
Judging from the experience of Gulbis and Cilic, even if they participate in full attendance, the negative impact of the intensive schedule is clearly visible, and the sense of emptiness after trying their best but getting nothing is inevitable.
In addition, Tim also lost in the first round to Goffin, who was on the ATP official homepage with Gao Wen in July this year.
In fact, last week in his hometown of Vienna, Tim also had an upset in the first round. Since his amazing performance at the US Open, he has only one win and four losses, and three of them were eliminated in the first round.
"Grand Slam Syndrome" is very obvious on Tim.
Whether it is Valencia or Basel, the first round of matches has just ignited the flames of war, and the battle for the final seat of the year-end finals can already feel the smoke of gunpowder. Every game may change the pattern.
So, what about Gao Wen?
Last week, I gave up the competition strategically, rested and adjusted, and started systematic training, trying to get back on the right track. Now it seems that it should be a correct decision.
Although he missed the fierce competition of 250 points last week, Gao Wen showed a good mental outlook in Valencia this week.
As the fifth seed, Gao Wen faced a qualifying player in the first round, Nobert-Gombos of Serbia, who is currently ranked 127 in the world.
In the opening stage of the first set, Gampos played proactively and advanced to the main match after going through two qualifying rounds. This gave him more time to adapt to the field, and at the same time, he played more freely and openly. This really created some difficulties for Gao Wen. trouble-
On indoor hard courts, the influence of ball speed and wind speed is still different after all.
However, after going through the trial stage, Gao Wen quickly gained a firm foothold, and the overall tactical thickness and on-the-spot response clearly gained the upper hand.
Gampos is the style of a typical player in the Challenger League. The whole offense is full of power and strength. On the fast court, his strength and speed are very good; The frequency of bombardment is frenzied, and the absolute power is slightly inferior.
Therefore, Gao Wen frequently disrupted the opponent's offensive routine by grabbing the rising point and changing the rhythm of the game, and kept Gampos in an awkward state all the time—
Not only has the continuity of the offense encountered severe challenges, but the accuracy of the offense has also suffered continuous damage.
Then, the game slowly entered the familiar pattern that Gao Wen was familiar with.
"6:4", "6:1".
With a score of two straight sets, Gao Wen easily advanced to the second round and took a solid first step in Valencia. Although it still takes some time to adapt to the venue, compared with the Asian season, his state and feel are both good. A certain degree of recovery is the best news of the game.
In the second round, Gao Wen is about to face a native Spanish "post-90s" new generation player:
Pablo-Carreno-Busta.
Busta's most well-known match later occurred in 2020, when he faced Djokovic in the fourth round of the US Open that year.
In the case of being "4:5" behind in the first game, and "0:40" behind in his unavoidable serve.
At this time, Busta played bravely and successfully secured his serve after saving three consecutive break points, and then broke Djokovic's serve, reversing the score and entering his own serve to win the game.
Djokovic lost control of his emotions and hit the tennis ball directly to the ball boy, but accidentally injured the line referee. As a result, he was directly judged by the referee and lost the entire game.
This game also entered the annals of history with an unbelievable gesture, which caused a sensation all over the world, but it was obviously not the way Busta hoped.