The Indian Wells race, which has been on hold for two and a half years due to the epidemic, finally met in mid-October. The masters, which should have been the first to appear, were moved to late autumn, and Coachella's desert race was "colder" than usual. There are frequent cold spots on the field, and the enthusiasm of the audience off the field is not diminished. The following is an inventory of the hot topics of this year's IW.
Medvedev did not qualify for the top of the world
After being reversed by Dimitrov in the fourth round, Medvedev, the first men's singles Grand Slam player after 95 and the new US Open champion Medvedev, missed the opportunity to reach the top of the world. Among the new generation of high-seeded players, he and Zverev and Tsitsipas are all out.
That is, Djokovic will continue his world first week. Since Federer ascended to the top of the world in February 2004, for 17 years, the throne of the ball king has been monopolized only by the Big Four. If Medvedev wants to become a monopoly terminator, he must continue to work hard in the rest of the season, especially in the year-end finals.
Jaber first entered the top ten, creating arab history
Even if there are two famous tournaments in Dubai and Doha, when it comes to the Arab world, it seems that it is difficult to associate it with tennis, and Tunisia is even more "tennis boundary".
But that will all change because of Jabel. Affectionately known as "Jia Ling of the Tennis World" by Chinese fans because of her resemblance, she will definitely rise to 8th next week after her strong promotion to the IW Final Four, and she will also strive for a place in the year-end finals. In the past two seasons, she has won the quarterfinals of Wimbledon, the runner-up of two tournaments, and the final four of one tournament, and she has successfully established herself in women's tennis, and hopes to continue to create more records for Arab players.
Nori and Bashirashvili meet in the division final
A week ago, people would have envisioned the possibility of playing against each other in a men's singles final. And when Medvedev, Tsitsipas, Zverev and other high-ranking seeds were eliminated one after another, The final lineup of Nori and Bashirashvili was unexpected.
It is worth mentioning that since the birth of the Masters Series in 1990, Correll, Corsetga and Lyubishic are the lowest-ranked IW winners in history, and all three were ranked at 26 at the time. Tomorrow's men's singles final, which is also the first Masters final between the two sides, will be equalized or refreshed by Nori, who is now ranked 26th, or Bashirashvili, who is 36th, who finally wins the cup.
Azarenka is expected to win three races
Azarenka, who previously beat Sharapova and Serena Williams in the 2012 and 2016 IW finals, respectively, won the final ticket again this season. As long as she wins against Spanish adept Bardoza in her first showdown, she will become the first player in history to win the women's singles title three times in this game.
After advancing to the final of the US Open last year, Azarenka in the new season did not continue her "sword is not old" in the Grand Slam, and Roland Garros' round of 16 is her best record in this year's Grand Slam. The third round of the US Open was out early, causing her to fall sharply in the rankings. If it wins the championship at IW, it will return to 18th place.
Tomorrow, the 2021 Indian Wells men's and women's singles champions and runners-up will all be announced. As the penultimate Masters of the year, the end of the IW also means the season will come to an end. And set the alarm clock, and the wonderful final is not with you.