In professional tennis, the year-round schedule is carefully designed and coordinated with countless events. It is centered around the four Grand Slams and runs throughout the entire year.
Summer belongs to North America and the US Open.
In 2004, the United States Tennis Association officially launched the "US Open Series". The purpose behind it is not difficult to understand:
On the one hand, it really paves the way for professional players to adjust their form, and finally show their top form at the US Open and contribute to the wonderful event.
On the other hand, it is for ratings and sponsorship fees, because the US Tennis Association has also set up a separate "US Open Series Points" to encourage players to participate.
"US Open Series Points" are limited points that are calculated and accumulated based on the different results of different levels of competitions in order to attract top players to participate in those small tournaments. The ratings, attendance, sponsorship fees, etc. will all increase with the tide, and then the points will continue to rise. Accumulated until the end of the US Open.
In the end, the top three players in the series points and participating in at least two US Open series events can also win additional bonuses provided by the US Tennis Association on the basis of the bonuses of the US Open; and as long as the players in the top three in the series points Even if you lose in the first round of the US Open, you can still win additional bonuses.
The additional bonuses for the top three teams in the series are US$1 million, US$500,000, and US$250,000 respectively.
It is precisely because of this that the attraction of the "US Open Series" has skyrocketed, and the North American season is very lively every year. This is a scenery that cannot be seen at other times.
Of course, top players will participate selectively and formulate their own schedule around the US Open, and not all of them may participate.
As of this year, only four people have truly achieved the feat of double crowning the US Open Series and the US Open and pocketed one million in prize money five times:
Federer in 2007, Kim Clijsters in 2005 and 2010, Serena Williams and Nadal in 2013.
Leaving aside the top players, thanks to the promotion and organization of the US Tennis Association, there are countless professional players who are willing to come to North America to participate in the tour in the summer. Compared with the European season and the Asian season, which travel to different cities in many countries, the North American season Organizational unity clearly prevails.
It can be said that the North American season is the most dazzling time of the year.
As mentioned before, the USTA has always attached great importance to the cultivation of the next generation of young players. They have a series of close cooperation with the NCAA to jointly help college tennis players explore their careers and look forward to the emergence of more outstanding players.
Naturally, there is no reason for them to miss the opportunity to play in the US Open series.
According to the cooperation agreement, the two singles champions and the two doubles champions of the NCAA National Championship can all win wild cards for the US Open.
But that's not all.
The two singles runner-ups and the two doubles runner-ups in the NCAA National Championship can each choose one of the two Masters tournaments in the US Open series and get a wild card.
In addition, the top four players can also get a chance to showcase and win a wild card to the gold medal game of the US Open Series.
To put it simply, the USTA provides wild cards, and then based on the results of the U.S. Championship, the level of events corresponding to the wild cards gradually decreases.
Some people may be curious, what's so great about being a wild card in the Golden Game? Isn’t the Five Hundred Race an event that everyone can participate in?
In fact, it's really not.
There are entry thresholds for professional tennis. It’s not like just anyone can play with a racket. There are thresholds for signing up to participate.
Simply take the Grand Slams as an example.
The Grand Slam singles competition has 128 draws. For reference, the Masters, Gold Medal and Tour all have 64 draws.
Qualification for the singles competition is divided into three parts.
The first part is to automatically qualify for the main draw based on world rankings, that is, the top 104 players.
If one of them cannot participate due to injury or other reasons, he will be automatically replaced according to the ranking order, and the 105th player will be substituted, and so on.
The second part is sixteen qualifying places.
The qualifying round will be held one week before the main draw of the Grand Slam. After three rounds of competition, the last sixteen winners will be determined and qualified for the main draw.
The third part is the wild cards, eight in total.
It is often issued by the tournament organizer according to its own rules and regulations, and is often awarded to domestic players, rookies, or famous players who cannot automatically enter the main draw due to injury and loss of points; there are also tennis associations in the countries where the four Grand Slam tournaments are held. Enter into a reciprocal agreement and grant several quotas to the other party.
In addition, Grand Slam events will also hold special wild card matches. For example, the Australian Tennis Open holds a separate wild card match in China. The final champion can win a wild card and enter the main draw. In this way, the influence of the Australian Open in the Chinese market will be expanded.
It should be noted that not everyone can participate in the qualifying competition.
There are a total of 128 draws in the qualifying round of the Grand Slam. After three rounds of competition, 16 winners will be determined to enter the main draw.
Here, the competition that also relies on ranking to enter the qualifying round will be postponed from the 105th place. Taking into account the impact of injuries and other reasons for absence, that is to say, it is often necessary to rank in the top 300 to participate. Grand Slam Qualifying Tournament.
Of course, the qualifying rounds also have a wild card system, which is often awarded to young players or rookies.
The Grand Slam is the highest level of professional tennis. The thresholds for qualifying, wild cards, etc. are obvious, and the Masters and Gold Tournament are no less.
The qualifying rounds for the Masters and Gold Tournament are both two rounds, and they also need to be shortlisted based on ranking. However, due to the circumstances of the Masters and Gold Tournament, some high-ranking players may miss the game even if they are not injured, so the qualifying rounds, foreign competitions, etc. The competition for cards is relatively not that fierce.
But despite this, the qualifications for the Masters and Gold Tournament often require the top five hundred in the world.
NCAA players are currently not ranked in the world, not to mention the top 500, not even the top 800. This means that they cannot even participate in the qualifying rounds of the Gold Game, and they will participate in the tour with wild cards. There are not many opportunities to compete, and I am usually active in challenge competitions.
They all accumulate points through challenges, improve their world rankings, and then qualify for the competition step by step.
It can be seen from here that even a wild card for the Gold Tournament is very precious, because they can directly participate in the main draw without participating in the qualifying rounds.
It can be seen that the US Tennis Association has indeed put a lot of thought into encouraging its young players.
So, how should Gao Wen arrange his participation plan this summer?
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