Match point

Chain effect
On Friday, June 26, the annual Wimbledon draw ceremony was officially held, which also means that the new year's championship battle is about to sound the horn.

Two days ago, Wimbledon announced this year's seed rankings. Unlike previous years, which always caused a lot of controversy, this year there are almost no changes. The grass points calculated by the tournament committee are basically consistent with the current world rankings. The seed seats for men's and women's singles Basically in line with expectations.

The biggest surprise and the biggest surprise, all from the men's singles——

The biggest surprise was Kyrgios, who upset Nadal last year and advanced to the quarter-finals. His seed ranking income was No.30 in the world, while the seed ranking was 26, but he only rose by four seats, and the jump was limited.

The biggest surprise is "ATP super rookie" Gao Wen. Although it is hard to believe, Gao Wen has not entered the professional tennis world for a year, and has not had any grass court points in the past two years. Therefore, although he is ranked second in the world, his seed ranking is only No. [-]. five.

Therefore, the final ranking of the top four seeds in Wimbledon is Djokovic, Federer, Murray, Wawrinka.

To say it was an accident, it was indeed an accident, sparked a lot of discussions on social networks again, and netizens who didn’t know why expressed shock. In the past, a player who won two championships and a semi-finalist in the three Grand Slams turned out to be only the fifth seed in Wimbledon Is this normal?
But when it comes to serious discussion, it is not that surprising. After all, Wimbledon is Wimbledon, and the protection of grass-court events is always a major principle. Gao Wen has not had any grass-court points in the past two years, and there is no doubt that the seed ranking has declined. , Federer, Murray and Wawrinka are all worthy of such a seed seat, and the fifth seed is also appropriate for Gao Wen, so there is no need to make a fuss.

Rules are rules, and truth is truth. Even so, Gao Wen's seed ranking has become the focus of heated discussions——

It's not so much about whether Wimbledon's seeding rules make sense, but about the potential bombshell that Gawain will be when he is seeded fifth.

The reason is very simple. As the fifth seed, Gao Wen may meet the top four seeds in advance in the quarterfinals.

For the top players in the ATP, everyone knows that Gao Wen is definitely not someone who can be ignored casually. Maybe Gao Wen lacks grassland experience, but his ability, his state, and his fighting spirit are there. He is a dangerous opponent. Once Gao Wen can enter the second week of the Grand Slam and adapt to Wimbledon's grass rhythm, his combat effectiveness will definitely be improved. No one wants to meet in advance.

Last month, at Roland Garros, Nadal fell out of the top four seeds. He became the biggest uncertain factor in the draw, and everyone was afraid to avoid it; now, at Wimbledon, Gao Wen and Nadal play the same role and may become draw spoilers.

——First of all, Gao Wen is the fifth seed, and the top four seeds may meet early in the quarterfinals.

——Secondly, Nadal is the ninth seed, and the top eighth seed may encounter early in the round of sixteen.

The signing of the table is immediately full of variables, and naturally, countless possibilities arise.

For example, like the Australian Open, the three giants plus one Gao Wen are all crowded in one division, which is a real crematorium.

For example, like the French Open, Gao Wen and Nadal met in the quarterfinals ahead of time, but this time, Gao Wen and Djokovic met in the quarterfinals ahead of time?In other words, did Gao Wen and Federer meet in the quarter-finals in advance?So, can Gao Wen play the role of changing the pattern of the championship battle?
Possibilities, just like this one after another, the bustling heated discussions can't stop at all, and I deeply feel the fanaticism and excitement of the fans.

It is precisely because of this that the live broadcast of Wimbledon's draw ceremony this year has attracted more attention than ever before. From the side, you can feel the excitement and anticipation after the full opening of the ATP competitive landscape. More and more top players are competing to open up. Completely ignite the blood and passion of the fans.

Before the start of the draw ceremony, it is worth mentioning that Ferrer, who is ranked eighth in the world, has withdrawn from this year's Wimbledon competition with great regret.

Ferrer has an injury, an elbow injury. In fact, the clay court season has already affected his performance, but because clay court is Ferrer's best and favorite surface, he has been playing with injuries. As a result, he lost to Roland Garros Murray stopped in the quarter-finals, which resulted in further aggravation of the injury.

Although Ferrer raised the exemption card after Roland Garros ended, hoping to complete the recovery before Wimbledon, the grass season is still too short, and there is almost no adjustment time, and the cross-channel conversion from clay to grass has increased. It is difficult and poses a severe challenge to injury recovery.

This week, during the Wimbledon qualifying period, all the top players have arrived at Wimbledon to prepare for the game, but Ferrer chose to come back and went to Nottingham to try to find the touch of the grass court, and the result was an upset in the first round Lost to Baghdatis, the state is still not good.

Then, Ferrer arrived at Wimbledon to try a last-ditch effort, but in the end, before the draw ceremony, Ferrer still made the decision to retire -

Here, it is necessary to emphasize the difference between "retirement before the draw ceremony" and "retirement after the draw ceremony", which is a very, very important thing.

Withdrawal before the draw ceremony, the rules are very simple, and the seed seats will be replaced, that is to say, the No. 30 player in the world will be replaced as the No. 32 seed. , and then a regular draw, the range of players involved in the entire impact is limited.

Retirement after the lottery ceremony, the rules are not complicated, the seed will not change, the lottery will not change, and the lucky loser will be replaced directly to the lottery corresponding to the retired seed player, which is even simpler than the former Neat, but the point is that the whole aftermath could affect a large number of players.

Take the most typical and special seed seat of "No. [-] in the world" as an example——

Retiring before the draw, the top four picks at Wimbledon are Federer, Murray, Wawrinka and Gawain.

First, they won't crash early before the Final Four.

Secondly, Nadal can enter the top eighth seed and will not meet top players in the round of sixteen.

If you withdraw after drawing lots, the No. [-] lottery will be replaced by the lucky loser.

First of all, the matchup of the top players has not changed in any way, but the player who should have challenged for the world's number one may gain the upper hand.

Secondly, from the release of the seed ranking to the draw ceremony to the official competition, this time is usually three to four days. For players who are not high in the world, they need to rush between different competitions and participate as much as possible to ensure Income and points, naturally there is no time to wait patiently at Wimbledon, which also means that the later the seeded players announce their retirement, the greater the possibility that the lucky losers have already left.

The points and bonuses of the first round of Grand Slam matches may often be more than the challenge champions, which may not be a big deal for top players, but for blue-collar players who are not ranked high in the world, it may be a major factor affecting their livelihoods decision making.

(End of this chapter)