Has the era of the “Big Four” really come to an end?
Judging from the four Grand Slams, the dominance of the Big Four has indeed reached its lowest point in ten years——
The four championship trophies of Wawrinka at the Australian Open, Nadal at the French Open, Djokovic at Wimbledon, and Gauvin at the US Open ultimately belonged to four different players.
What’s interesting is that the last time such a situation occurred was not that far away. It was two years ago, in 2012, when Djokovic at the Australian Open, Nadal at the French Open, Federer at Wimbledon, and Murray at the US Open were exactly the same four. The year when the giants officially establish their absolute dominance.
So, what does this time mean? Does it mean another new reshuffle?
From the perspective of the Masters, the Big Four are also facing severe challenges——
Djokovic in Indian Wells, Djokovic in Miami, Wawrinka in Monte Carlo, Nadal in Madrid, Djokovic in Rome, Tsonga in Montreal, Federer in Cincinnati, Federer in Madrid.
The last time the Masters champion fell outside the Big Four was in 2012 in Paris, when Ferrer reached the top.
And going back even further to 2010, Ljubicic from Indian Wells, Roddick from Miami, and Soderling from Paris.
It is obvious that Paris is undoubtedly the Masters where the Big Four have the weakest dominance.
If there is another dark horse in this year's Paris Masters, then 2014 will be the first time since 2010 that the winner of the nine Masters tournaments will fall behind the Big Four in three tournaments; coupled with the obvious loosening of the Grand Slam , maybe the "Big Four" era has indeed begun to decline.
Of course, paper analysis is just a bunch of data. Competitive sports still need to go on the court to compete to find out. The outcome is unpredictable.
But it is undeniable that 2014 is a magical year, and it is also a turbulent year. The slightest disturbance may trigger heated discussions.
On the one hand, Federer reached the top of the Magic Masters, and there was endless chatter. It is obvious that the Big Four are still competitive. Maybe the Australian Open and the US Open are just accidents.
On the other hand, all eyes are bustling towards the Paris Masters, hoping that this event can point the way for the professional arena in the coming year.
Witnessing the rise of legends, witnessing peak duels, witnessing the change of dynasties... Witnessing history is always the most interesting thing. This is also an exciting part of competitive sports. It is precisely because of this that when the latest world rankings are released, all eyes are on They all gathered together——
Don’t forget, entering the European indoor hard court season also means that the battle for finalists in the year-end finals has officially entered the bayonet stage.
The so-called year-end finals, as the name suggests, is the "peak showdown" at the end of the year.
Since 1970, the year-end finals have been held as scheduled in the first week of November every year. As the final battle of the entire season, there is a sword debate in Huashan and a decisive battle at the top of the Forbidden City.
The year-end finals are a best-of-three-set format with a total of eight seats divided into two groups.
First, a round-robin competition will be held within the group to determine the top two teams in the group to advance to the semi-finals.
Subsequently, a single elimination round will be entered, and the champion will be determined through the semi-finals and finals.
According to the ATP schedule, the level of the year-end finals is second only to the four Grand Slams, and its status is still above the Masters.
In terms of points, the championship points for the year-end finals are 900 points, but each victory in the group stage is worth 200 points. All these points are accumulated and superimposed. In other words, if you win the championship, you can win 1,000 points. Five hundred points is higher than the 1,000 points of the Masters and lower than the 2,000 points of the Grand Slam.
In terms of prize money, the prize money for the year-end finals is calculated based on the number of games. First of all, as long as you can qualify for the finals, you can get 93,000 US dollars.
Then, every game in the group stage, semi-finals, finals, etc., is all the same. If you play and win all games, the cumulative prize can be as high as 2.3 million U.S. dollars, which is equivalent to four Grand Slams. level.
Of course, the most important thing is that the year-end finals champion is equivalent to the "Martial Arts Leader". Unlike the year-end world ranking, this championship trophy has more important meanings.
For any player, winning a Grand Slam is a dream, qualifying for the year-end finals and reaching the championship is another dream.
So, how are the shortlists for the year-end finals drawn up?
It’s very simple. According to the championship points ranking each year, the top eight players are automatically shortlisted, and the ninth and tenth players are substitutes. If someone is injured and withdraws from the game, they can be substituted at any time——
This is why points and bonuses are calculated based on the number of battles played.
However, ATP also considered other possibilities and added a special clause:
Suppose there was such a player that year who won two Grand Slam championship trophies, but due to other reasons, the championship points were not able to enter the top eight, then he would be the eighth player to be shortlisted for the year-end finals; and the original championship points The player ranked eighth serves as a substitute.
However, so far, such a situation has never happened in ATP.
As for the WTA, the rules that were once established were that the champions of the four Grand Slams were directly shortlisted, and then the shortlist was compiled based on the ranking of championship points each year.
Later they discovered that the situation was very confusing:
Because the four Grand Slam champions are so easy to be upset, it is difficult for the year-end finals list to reflect the element of "the most stable and outstanding performance throughout the year". The quality is not enough, and someone like Serena Williams, who is not ranked high, can always reverse the situation. The existence of winning the championship always catches people off guard.
As a result, the WTA also revised the entry rules, which are now basically consistent with the ATP.
According to each year's schedule, September is the Asian season and October is the European indoor hard court season. The seasons in the two regions are four-week and three-week schedules respectively. Then, after a week of rest and adjustment, the year-end finals will sound. ——
The battle for championship points ranking ends at the last Masters of the year, which is the Paris Masters.
Therefore, after entering the Asian season, the points updates of the world rankings and championship rankings every week are particularly eye-catching, because there may be changes every week, and the results of each week's events may have a direct impact, just like the 100 meters in the Olympic Games General war between flying men:
Entering the sprint stage, everyone is doing their best, whether it is the champion leading the race or the other competitors following closely behind.
This year, it's even more so.
From the Grand Slams to the Masters, turmoil has been felt in all directions. So, can we see new faces in the year-end finals?
On October 13th, the latest ATP world rankings were officially announced. In an instant, all the attention of the world was focused on it, and the Chinese media could not restrain their excitement, because for the first time in history, they realized that their Players may also sprint for a spot in the year-end finals!
if! Just a hypothesis! If Gao Wen is shortlisted for the year-end finals, can this young player continue to bring surprises on the stage of Huashan Swordsmanship?
Just imagining it in your head makes your blood boil. Who can refuse it?
