Barcelona is a little "cold" this year.
Although the participating lineup is very good, there was a lot of heated discussion after the draw was announced, and everyone is looking forward to seeing a high-quality showdown this year.
However, the actual progress of the game was a series of upsets, one surprise after another, which was disappointing, and the draw changed beyond recognition.
Cilic, Tsonga, Gulbis, Thiem, Kyrgios and other players were all eliminated in the first game.
There are the Mesozoic generation who have returned from injury, and there are the high-profile new generation. However, they either lost in an upset in the first round, or after a bye in the first round, they were embarrassed and eliminated in the second round just after they debuted. The third match day is not over yet. , the attrition rate of seed players has exceeded 25%.
Objectively speaking, the clay court has always been a hotbed of upsets, and the French Open is the event with the most dark horses reaching the top among the four Grand Slams.
However, the large-scale elimination of seeds was still spectacular and caused a lot of exclamations.
Later, it turned out that Barcelona seemed to be suffering from "cold air" this year, and this wave of unpopular storm did not end there:
In the round of 16, Anduar defeated Felipe in an upset; Fognini defeated Nadal in an upset, and there was a cold wave in the second half, and there was a cry of exclamation.
By the way, Nadal faced Fognini. In the first four encounters in his career, Nadal maintained a perfect victory, but every game was very difficult. Fognini's playing style was precisely what Nadal was very uncomfortable with and uncomfortable with. A kind of rhythm that cannot be said to be a nemesis, but it can also be regarded as a pain in the ass.
Come this year, Fognini defeated Nadal for the second consecutive time in Barcelona after Rio de Janeiro, and both times were on clay.
It can be seen from this detail that Nadal, who is in a sluggish state, is still having a bad season and has not been able to get out of trouble.
After that, the upset was still not over.
In the quarterfinals, Krizan upset Robredo and Anduar upset Ferrer. Unseeded players took over this year's event.
With the continuous cold wave passing through, Barcelona this year is indeed unusual, and the final top four lineup is full of surprises——
Top half, Gawain and Krizan.
In the lower half, Kei Nishikori and Anduar.
Amid the shock of upsets one after another, No. 1 seed Gawain and No. 3 seed Kei Nishikori finally stood firm and defended the glory of the seeded players.
Having said that, both Gawain and Nishikori Kei also broke expectations. Neither player is a clay court expert, and hard courts are their best surface. When they came to Barcelona, despite being ranked high in the world, everyone before the game They didn't expect that they would actually stay in the cold wave.
In comparison, both Krizan and Anduar can be regarded as clay court experts. Their promotion is more convincing. There are some clues behind the upset, but they were able to defeat the two Spanish clay court masters and advance to the semi-finals. , after all, it is still a result of breaking the glasses.
This also further proves that this Barcelona event is full of surprises and surprises, repeatedly breaking conjectures, and obviously cannot be treated with common sense.
So, in this year's unusual tournament, which player will win the championship in the end?
then--
The two seeded players both defended their glory and successfully blocked the judgment of the non-seeded players from reaching the finals with their strong performance.
Gawain and Kei Nishikori meet for the final.
At this point, Barcelona has completely lost the messy and dilapidated draw, and surprisingly it has returned to normal. The final lineup of "No. 1 seed VS No. 3 seed" has gone around in a big circle and gone through countless detours, but it has returned to normal again. Getting to the right track has definitely been a roller coaster ride.
Perhaps, the "Gawain VS Nadal 3.0" that local fans were looking forward to could not be staged, but the "Battle of Asia's No. 1 Brother" is also interesting.
Since their encounter at the US Open last year, Gawain and Kei Nishikori did not expect that their rise together would actually change the entire tennis landscape. The two Asian men's players both ranked among the top ten in the world and firmly occupied a place, successfully changing The global layout of tennis forces.
Now, Gawain and Kei Nishikori have become the two flags of Asian men's players, writing a new history.
However, there is also competition between the two players. They both have their own battles ahead and their own careers riding the waves.
So far, Gawain and Kei Nishikori have met three times in total, once in New York, once in London, and once in Indian Wells. Gawain won all three matches without losing a set——
Especially London.
On the stage of last year's year-end finals, "6:1" and "6:2", Gawain showed top competitive status and swept Kei Nishikori to win without any blood.
However, Gawain will never take it lightly when they meet again.
First of all, Kei Nishikori is still on the rise. Under the guidance of Zhang Depei, he continues to be reborn. Every game and every encounter is brand new.
Secondly, although both players are more suitable for hard courts, clay soil is a good thing for Nishikori Kei because the containment caused by the serve is weakened.
Rather than saying that Gawain's serving power has been weakened, it is better to say that Nishikori Kei's serving shortcomings have been hidden. The characteristics of clay slightly spread out the weakest link among all Nishikori Kei's technical links, and gave Nishikori The situation is slightly different when Gui's bottom line layout gives him an opportunity to start the round.
Although Kei Nishikori’s best performances were at the Australian Open and the US Open, a closer look reveals that there is a slight discrepancy between the facts and imagination:
The event where he performed the worst was Wimbledon; and the event where he performed most consistently was the French Open. His average performance in two quarter-finals and two fourth rounds was basically the same as the Australian Open, or even better than the US Open.
The progress of the game also proved this.
"6:2".
The first set was uneventful, with Gawain winning quickly and once again showing his firm confidence. On the contrary, Kei Nishikori seemed a little impatient and urgent.
At this time, almost everyone believed that Gawain would successfully defeat Nishikori Kei again and expand his lead against Nishikori Kei without any suspense.
But Kei Nishikori said "no".
In the second set, Kei Nishikori saved two match points, "7:5", and succeeded in a comeback at the last moment, relying on his tenacity and tenacity to continue the game.
This is also the first set Kei Nishikori won against Gawain. It not only proves that Kei Nishikori can also perform well on clay, but also proves the infinite possibilities of tennis. Every encounter and every confrontation is a new beginning. In the past The battle record can only be used as a reference and does not count.
At the same time, it can also be clearly felt that on clay court, Gao Wen’s dominance is obviously not comparable to that on hard courts. The more key points he performs, the more he can see his background. The shortcomings of his lack of experience in clay court events are also reflected in the clay court. Ori Kei's continued oppression and efforts were exposed.
More importantly, missing the match point means that the belief in victory will be further shaken, and the shortcomings of lack of experience will be further amplified.
The balance of victory and defeat will also undergo subtle changes.
Therefore, the 2015 Barcelona champion will be decided in the final set.
(End of chapter)
