Beijing time on April 8: After the end of the North American hard court season, the professional tennis world is about to enter the European clay season. In recent days, France's Tsonga said that he will hang up the auction at the end of his home stadium , the French Open this year, which also means that another 80 player is about to end his career.
For the post-80s generation of players, we always have special feelings, not only because this is the era led by the big three and the big four, but also because there is a group of strong and distinctive players. Although they have been suppressed by the giants in the same era as the giants, as challengers, they are still in the confrontation with the giants, bringing us a lot of classic games. Next, we will take stock of the three masters who have never had a Grand Slam champion in their lives, but have stood at the top of the Challenger Group.
Ferrell, born in 1982, career 2000-2019, highest ranking in the world, one Grand Slam final, one Masters title, record against the Big Four (VS Federer 0-17, VS Nadal 6-26, VS Deyo 5-16, VS Murray 6-14)
The Spanish celebrity will be the oldest of this generation of challengers, and arguably the least talented in this group, with a height of only 1 meter 75, but with his diligence, he has become an evergreen tree in the men's tennis world, known as a generation of "stable men".
Ferrell's record of nearly 20 years in his nearly 20-year career is 734 wins and 377 losses, with a total of 27 ATP singles titles. At the 2013 French Open, Ferrer reached the only Grand Slam final of his career, losing to his compatriot Nadal, and in July of the same year, the ranking reached the highest career in the world, and the year before he had won the only Masters title at the Paris Masters. At the peak of his career, Ferrell can reach the year-end finals for many years with his stable performance, but the talent gap makes him always unable to play against the giants in major competitions, and it can even be said that he is the least threatening to the giants among many challenges. On 6 May 2019, Ferrer finished his final match in Madrid, waving his hand at his home and ending his illustrious career.
Berdych, born in 1985, career 2002-2019, highest ranked fourth in the world, a Grand Slam final, a Masters title, a record against the Big Four (VS Federer 6 wins 20 losses, VS Nadal 4 wins 20 losses, VS Deyo 3 wins 25 losses, VS Murray 6 wins 11 losses)
The Czech's career failure to win a Grand Slam title is full of regrets, because his talent is really outstanding, 1 meter 96 tall, but has excellent running ability, whether it is serve, forehand or bottom line, he has no shortcomings, the only shortcoming may be his mental strength, he was once known as the "giant manservant".
During his 18-year career, Berdych has a combined record of 640 wins and 342 losses, winning 13 ATP singles titles. As early as 2005 in Paris, at the age of 20, Berdych won the Masters, but unfortunately he has not been able to achieve this achievement since. At Wimbledon in 2010, Berdychlian and Djokovic reached the only Grand Slam final of his career, losing to Nadal, and in this year he officially entered the top ranks, and in May 2015, the ranking reached the fourth highest place in his career. Berdych's career cannot be said to be unsuccessful, he has achieved goals that many players have not touched, but we have more expectations for his talent. But on the stage of the Grand Slam, there is some fragility in the key moments, so that the Czechs are always unable to break through the blockade of the giants, but even so, he has repeatedly defeated the big three in the quarterfinals of the Grand Slam, and has reached the semi-finals in all four Grand Slams. During the 2019 year-end finals, Berdych, who suffered from a hip injury, announced his retirement, ending his career.
Tsonga, born in 1985, career 2004-2022, highest ranking in the world, one Grand Slam final, two Masters titles, record against the Big Four (VS Federer 6 wins 12 losses, VS Nadal 4 wins 10 losses, VS Djokovic 6 wins 17 losses, VS Murray 3 wins 14 losses)
As the best performing player of the French golden generation, Tsonga's career has been very successful, his violent aesthetic of the shot, always makes people bloody, fully demonstrates France's advocating personality style of play, powerful serve and bottom line pumping, forehand is extremely aggressive, but also has a delicate interception and small ball, known as "tennis Ali".
In his 19-year career, Tsonga currently has a total record of 467 wins and 235 losses, with a total of 18 ATP singles titles. At the 2008 Australian Open, Tsonga, who played as a non-seed, defeated Nadal in the semi-finals and became famous, reaching the only Grand Slam final of his career so far, eventually losing to Djokovic, and in Paris in the same year, he also won the first Masters title. In addition, in the 2011 Wimbledon quarter-finals, Tsonga reversed Federer 0-2 behind and played his career masterpiece again. In the 2015 Rogers Cup, France's Ali defeated Djokovic and Murray in succession, and defeated Federer again in the final, winning the second Masters championship in a very gold-laden way. As one of the players with the best record against the giants in the post-80s generation, Tsonga's impact ceiling has played classic masterpieces in the competition many times, and now he is full of injuries and illness, and he is also leaving the field to open a new chapter in his life.
There are many famous players in the post-80s generation, and the Safine, Hewitt and Nalbandian in the early 80s are also the memories of a generation, but it is the post-85 generation that has really been fighting for a long time at the peak of the giants. Wawrinka, Del Potro and Cilic are Grand Slam winners, and the only post-80s generation who have reached the Grand Slam final, hold the Masters championship, and have been in the forefront of the world for a long time, but there are only the 80s generation who have never had a Grand Slam in their lifetime. But what about the Grand Slam champions, their careers are still wonderful, and they still give us a lot of classic moments. At the same time, with the retirement of Del Potro and Tsonga, it also means that the post-80s generation is really coming to an end, let's cherish it.