"...Good morning, dear passengers, thank you for choosing Air New Zealand as your partner for this journey. Ahead is the final destination of our flight, Auckland, and I am your captain..."
In the cabin, the in-flight broadcast was rustling, the blue light slowly receded like a tide, and the sleeping flight slowly came back to life.
Those who stretch to relieve their sore waists, those who move back and forth in the aisles, those who stand in line at the bathroom door, those who wake up and look for breakfast supplies, those who are stiff and unable to move in weird postures, those who close their eyes tightly as if they are entering another world A world traveler...
A rustling sound surged in the air. Then, Gawain also woke up and stretched a lot. His knees and waist were still a little sore——
Although the business class seats can lie flat, the space is still too narrow for Gao Wen's height. He has to curl up like a baby every time, and it is inevitable to have back pain when he wakes up.
Just by slouching, you can feel the crackling of your bones, and every cell in your body is moaning happily.
etc!
Auckland?
What about Indian Wells?
All the bustling eyes are focused on Indian Wells, looking forward to Gauvin's next performance in the Masters, but it turns out that Gauvin is heading to Auckland?
Is there a mistake in the schedule?
of course not.
Everything is going according to plan. There is still a full week until the qualifying rounds in Indian Wells and a full two weeks before the main draw. And during this short window period, there is another event:
Davis Cup!
Today's professional tennis events can be divided into three parts: ATP/WTA, ITF, and the four Grand Slams. Among the three, they cooperate and coordinate with each other, but at the same time, there is also a certain degree of competition.
After a detailed and in-depth analysis, it is intricate and intricate, and can be simply understood:
ATP/WTA are responsible for the daily tour; the management rights of the four Grand Slams belong to the host countries respectively. The tennis associations of these countries jointly organize the four Grand Slams every year, but still remain relatively independent——
It is precisely because of this that the wild cards of the four Grand Slams often have their own special attributes.
So, what about itf?
itf, the International Tennis Federation, is responsible for challenges, hope tournaments and youth events. In other words, the youth competitions of the four Grand Slams are organized by itf. It should be noted that itf also has its own points ranking, but due to limitations So big that almost no one pays attention to it.
The youth world rankings are compiled by the ITF.
If it were just that, then the ITF would have almost no sense of presence in the professional tennis world. In fact, the ITF's right to speak is indeed subject to many constraints and it is difficult to move forward. It is almost a sandwich cookie-like doormat; however, there is only one exception:
Olympic Games!
The Olympic Games is an event that is participated by the country as a unit. Therefore, they will not and cannot contact the ATP and WTA as an individual unit. The ITF, which is also a country unit, has become the only possible partner.
This also means that the itf has the right to decide the qualifications for the Olympic Games, and players must participate in itf events to compete for qualifications——
Therefore, the men's Davis Cup and the women's team Confederations Cup, which itf is responsible for organizing, became the only way.
According to itf regulations, if a tennis player wants to compete in the Olympics, he must accumulate appearances in the Davis Cup or Fed Cup. A four-year cycle is used as a cycle. Regardless of winning or losing, only if the number of games reaches the standard can he win the Olympics. qualifications.
In addition, the number of participants from each country is also limited, which is the same as table tennis and badminton.
Of course, if a player does not have any interest in the Olympics, then it will not matter whether he participates in the Davis Cup and the Fed Cup.
However, looking at it from another perspective, there are no team events in the Olympics, only men's and women's singles, men's and women's doubles, and mixed doubles. This also means that the Davis Cup and the Fed Cup are the only team championships in tennis events, leaving aside the Olympic Games. Needless to say, this is also a special honor.
Moreover, ITF has reached agreements with ATP and WTA respectively. Players can also win ranking points when they play in the Davis Cup, giving players additional incentives——
Although, the points are really the level of mosquito meat.
For various reasons, almost all the top big-name players have appeared on the stage of Davis Cup and Confederations Cup.
The Davis Cup, with a history comparable to the four Grand Slams, originated at Harvard University in 1899.
At that time, four Harvard tennis players proposed the idea of a tennis match with Britain. Dwight-F-Davis, one of the four, planned the event and bought the trophy with his own money. In 1900, the first competition was held.
In 1905, an additional seat was added to the event, with a joint team composed of members from Belgium, Austria, France, and Australasia.
In 1914, Australia and New Zealand also entered the competition.
Initially, the event was named the "International Tennis Challenge", but it soon became known as the "Davis Cup", which it has developed to this day.
Now, the Davis Cup, like the Confederations Cup, is all hosted by the ITF.
After a century of development, the Davis Cup has become the only team championship in the individual sport of tennis, with a status comparable to the World Cup.
It is precisely because of this that qualifying for the Davis Cup is as complicated as the World Cup.
The World Cup is divided into two parts: qualifying and finals, and the same is true for the Davis Cup:
World Group and Regional Group.
The regional group is equivalent to the World Cup qualifiers; the world group is equivalent to the World Cup finals——
To put it simply, through the regional group events, the qualifying spots are determined and the world group competes for the championship. This is the core information of the entire competition system.
When it comes to details, the Davis Cup is much more complicated.
First, the World Group.
The rules are simple. Sixteen teams will draw lots to compete in a single elimination system, and the champion will be determined in the end.
Among them, specifically for each game, it is a best-of-five series, with three singles and two doubles games; a single game is the same as the Grand Slam, a best-of-five series.
Regarding the long-set tiebreaker, the Davis Cup still adopts the long-set tiebreaker, that is, there is no tie-break in the final set; but there is an exception. If one side has taken the lead in winning three games, then the remaining games need to continue, but the long-set tiebreaker is abandoned. The final set is a tie-break.
Here, there is a little special thing:
In the first round of knockout rounds, the eight winning teams will be able to stay in the World Group next year; while the eight teams that unfortunately lost will be relegated to the Regional Group. The winning teams in the Regional Group need to fight for the right to qualify again and win the World Group championship. Qualifications.
In other words, the sixteen teams in the world group each year are divided into two parts:
Eight teams are the top eight teams from the previous year; eight teams are the winners of the previous year's regional group play-offs.
Secondly, regional groups.
There are three regions in total: the European and African Regional Group, the North and South American Regional Group, and the Asian and Oceanic Regional Group. The rules for dividing the World Cup qualifiers by region are basically the same, but they are simpler.
In the World Cup qualifiers, multiple rounds are required, including qualifying rounds, the first round of the group stage, the second round of the group stage, and the play-offs. The same is true for the Davis Cup.
To explain it specifically, it is indeed complicated to say it is complicated, but it is also very simple to say it is simple.
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