Match point

Many years later, someone once seriously discussed why Federer and Nadal have such a special status in tennis, while Djokovic and Murray have never been able to catch up.

If we just look at numbers, the number of championships, the number of weeks at the top of the world, etc., Djokovic has fully caught up and even begun to overtake him. But in terms of influence, the status of Federer and Nadal is still unbreakable. The reasons are very complicated but It's not that complicated either.

Michael Jordan.

Tiger Woods.

Michael Schumacher.

Diego Maradona.

Muhammad Ali.

In fact, just look at this series of names that have been recorded in history. Each name represents a sport.

Of course, their glory and success are indeed a series of feats, countless championships, countless history, countless records, etc., etc., this is their foundation; but their real legend lies in relying on their own influence to make this sport Complete qualitative changes and attract more and more viewers.

The success of a sport is inseparable from the support of the market. Success at the commercial level and influence at the social level can not only attract more viewers to appreciate it; it can also attract capital to join in and promote operations; most importantly, it can drive young people to Continuously absorb fresh blood.

And their existence has precisely completed this promotion, allowing more and more people to become familiar with and join their own movement in different ways at different times.

Tennis, same thing.

Once upon a time, the era of Sampras and Agassi was hailed as glorious, the era of Hewitt, Safin, Roddick Ferrero and others was hailed as gold, and tennis was also a widely loved sport; but compared with other sports He got up, but couldn't be ranked at all until Federer and Nadal appeared.

It is precisely because of Federer and Nadal that these two players have promoted tennis on a global scale. As a gentleman's sport and an aristocratic sport, tennis' advertising sponsorship revenue has ranked among the top three in the world, second only to It's just football, everything comes from Feiner Judgment.

Time and time again, Federer and Nadal have expanded their influence with their performances on and off the court, bringing attention to and impact on tennis.

This is the real key.

In 2013, the CEO of Nike was asked a series of questions during an interview with Forbes, and his answers were very representative.

For one, he doesn't regret missing out on Djokovic because Serbia is a small market and doesn't have much impact on their global strategy.

Because they already have Federer and Nadal, Nadal naturally does not need more. Spanish is the third most spoken language in the world after English and Chinese; and although Federer comes from another small market, Switzerland, Federer is the global home court.

Secondly, he regrets that Nike made a wrong decision and missed Federer. He firmly believes that Federer's brand "RF" should stay with Nike and become a brand branch comparable to Jordan. But unfortunately, after Federer left, this brand line remained. After five years in the hands of Nike, he returned to Federer and signed a contract with Uniqlo.

Thirdly, he is glad that they kept Nadal, and believes that Nadal should become another asset of Nike and continue to be passed down.

Complex is indeed complicated; but simplicity is indeed simple.

For these superstars, sooner or later their records will be surpassed, and their glory will be broken sooner or later, but their influence is unshakable.

Now, the same goes for Gawain.Why does ATP look at Gawain differently?Why do the four majors treat Gawain with special courtesy?Why has Gawain's status changed drastically in just one year?
Championships and victories are the premise, but the real key is that Gao Wen relies on the Asian market and single-handedly allows tennis to expand in Asia. Major sponsors have seen business opportunities, coupled with the strong network of Chinese Americans all over the world. , different regions have also seen the market potential.

Everything can be seen from the year-end finals——

A semi-final took place between Federer and Nadal. In the ATP, there is no match in the weight and popularity that can surpass their duel.

However, something quietly changed this time. The other semi-final between Gao Wen and Djokovic was also interesting and set off social networks.

So, when the semi-final matchup table came out, everything went crazy. Hot discussions and attention continued to gather, and it was unstoppably pushed to a new level. Both semi-finals were exciting. Both semi-finals were good-looking. It would be a shame to miss any of them. With the loss, the discussion easily overtook the four Grand Slams.

So far this year, the discussion of the semi-finals of any Grand Slam cannot be compared with the year-end finals at this moment, not even on the same level——

After all, this is the first time this year that the giants have met with the top four.

Gao Wen almost single-handedly moved the entire market, representing the Challenger Alliance, Youth Storm, and the fifth giant. Not to mention the Asian market led by China, even in other countries and regions. It's a hot topic and arouses high expectations.

With this influence alone, Gao Wen will undoubtedly join the ranks of giants, and has even surpassed Djokovic and Murray to some extent.

It’s not that the number of Grand Slam titles won by Gauvin has exceeded that of Murray, but that the name “Gavin” has surpassed Djokovic in terms of market influence and appeal to non-tennis fans. And Murray, especially the younger generation, symbolizes the future of the market.

Come out of the circle strongly.

Originally, no one cared about it in the group stage. Even after the death division of the Ilye-Nastase group came out, they were not able to get out of the circle; but now, after the wonderful game between Gao Wen and Nadal, the semi-finals The matchup also shows different expectations and goes directly out of the circle.

Those professional tennis reporters began to joke——

O2 Arena, happy worries, "How should the schedule be arranged?"

Although there are only two games in the semi-finals, both games are the absolute focus. Who comes first and who comes last?
Logically speaking, there is no suspense about the match between Federer and Nadal on the main axis. The box office appeal of the two superstars is definitely the best among the best; but Djokovic and Gao Wen compete for the world No. [-] at the end of the year. The showdown was also the sixth showdown on the Grand Slam and Masters stages this year. All of them took place in the pinnacle battles of the semi-finals and finals, and the discussion heated up.

So, what to do?
While everyone is concerned about how the semifinals will unfold and how they will appear, the four players are still preparing step by step and at their own pace.

Including the rookie Gao Wen, they all know that the schedule of the year-end finals is intensive, one after another. After the fierce battle in the sixth game, there will be no rest day. The semi-finals will continue on the seventh game day, and then The eighth match day is the final again, and there is no breathing time.

The schedule is as intensive as a [-]-point tournament, but it is as intense as a Grand Slam semi-final.

Preparing for war requires calmness and stability.

Especially Nadal and Gawain who just finished a fierce battle.

Gawain, who was resting and adjusting, unexpectedly welcomed a guest, an unexpected guest——

If it were not a real distinguished guest, Tobias would not disturb Gawain's preparations, but Tobias still brought this distinguished guest to the stage in person.