Return to 2002: Freestyle Superstar

Chapter 116: Make a choice and break into the main competition (please subscribe)
After Chen Ran returned to the hotel, he met a few acquaintances.

There was a reporting team from CCTV C5 Sports, reporters from Sports Weekly, and sports reporters from some portals also followed.

In addition, Liang Hui, the director of the Tennis Management Center, also came to join in the fun. After all, he helped Chen Ran apply for the qualifying wild card.

But what surprised Chen Ran was that there was a woman about the same age as him accompanying Liang Hui.

It is unlikely that someone of this age is his secretary.

"Xiao Chen..." Liang Hui saw Chen and greeted him proactively, "Here, let me introduce you. This is Director Sun Jinfang. She will take over my job next month."

Is the director of the network management center going to be replaced?It seems to be much earlier than the original timeline.

Could it be that I caused the butterfly effect?
Chen Ran guessed correctly.

Because of the defeat of Huaxia Tennis in the Asian Games and the sudden emergence of Chen Ran, the leaders above had expectations for the tennis results in the Athens Olympics, so they adjusted the person in charge more than half a year in advance and asked Sun Jinfang to replace Liang Hui.

"Director Sun was the main player in the Chinese women's volleyball team that won five consecutive championships. He inspired an entire generation of Chinese people." Liang Hui introduced enthusiastically.

Sun Jinfang said with some embarrassment: "Okay, how long has it been? When I won the championship, Xiao Chen was not even born yet."

"Hello, Director Sun!" Chen Ran also shook her hand politely.

He had a good impression of Sun Jinfang.

In her previous life, Sun Jinfang led the solo career of tennis players, which was also a key reason for the subsequent take-off of women's tennis.

Compared with other sports, tennis may be the most free and least restricted in China.

However, Chen Ran's situation is even more special. He is self-employed and has less involvement with them. He doesn't even need to go through the step of "flying solo".

In fact, in later generations, many athletes who played tennis at their own expense would eventually be "recruited" by the state when they showed good results.

This stems from a very real issue, which is money.

The cost of learning tennis at your own expense is too great, especially when you transition from amateur to professional, the cost is even more staggering. Being "recruited" by the state is based on more realistic economic interests.

There are generous subsidies every year, as well as wider connections and stable jobs, which can allow many athletes to put down their worries.

The price is that when the country needs you to play, you have to come back.

The competition in professional tennis is so cruel, and there is only one like Li Na.

Many people still want to be "recruited", but it also depends on whether you are qualified or not.

After being "recruited" as a tennis player, you will only choose to fly solo if you are strong enough to gain a foothold on the cruel tour stage.

Because at this time, the bonus you earn can still have a surplus after paying the team's expenses.

However, Chen Ran won the championship for the first time in the tour, which means that he has directly skipped the "recruitment" step.

This also gave Chen Ran the absolute initiative when negotiating with these yamen.

You need me, not I need you.

"Xiao Chen, just call me Aunt Fang! It's too unreasonable for the director to not be the director."

Sun Jinfang seemed very polite, "We are here mainly to cheer you on today. As for you, don't feel pressured, just do your best."

Chen Ran smiled and nodded, knowing it well.

As the saying goes, when a new official takes office, he must first deal with the relationship with his top general.

The special nature of tennis and China's relatively weak talent pool leave the opponent with no choice.

The group chatted for a while, and Chen Ran ended the conversation first.

"Well, leaders, there is a competition tomorrow and I have to go back and rest."

Chen Ran paused and added: "There are three rounds in the qualifying round, so we can't be careless."

"That's right!" Sun Jinfang patted her forehead and said with a smile: "Aunt Fang is here to wish Xiao Chen a chance to enter the main round and make history."

After Chen Ran left, Sun Jinfang and Liang Hui were speechless.

After a short moment of silence, Liang Hui whispered: "Director Sun, you didn't mention the Davis Cup?"

"Didn't you say that Xiao Chen has promised to participate in the Doha Asian Games three years later?" Sun Jinfang glanced at Liang Hui and said lightly, "Also, is the Davis Cup important?"

"The Davis Cup is a men's tennis team event hosted by the International Tennis Federation! It is equivalent to the World Championships and World Cup in other sports." Liang Hui explained helplessly.

"The Davis Cup is as important as the Olympics and the Asian Games?" Sun Jinfang raised his eyebrows and asked, "Besides, the Davis Cup is a team competition. What's the use of relying on Chen Ran alone? It will increase his competition burden. .”

Normally, for most sports events, the Olympic Games are larger than the World Championships and larger than the Asian Games.

But tennis is too special. As a highly professional sport, the presence of the Davis Cup is very low.Fans' impression of tennis events is generally that of the four Grand Slams and major tours, and the Davis Cup is useless.

Even from the perspective of Asian athletes, the Asian Games is more important than the Davis Cup.

"I am an athlete myself, and I know that athletes are not robots, and they cannot perform at their best in every game. The Davis Cup will only increase Chen Ran's burden. For the sake of the Olympics and Asian Games, it is better to make appropriate choices. ." Sun Jinfang said eloquently. "The Davis Cup happens every year..." Liang Hui paused and said helplessly, "If Chen Ran doesn't even participate in this competition, in the future the national team's mission will be the Olympics and Asian Games?"

The Olympics and Asian Games were separated by two years.

This also means that Chen Ran will only need to represent the country in one competition every two years in the future, which is simply relaxing and enjoyable. Is there any athlete in China who is freer than Chen Ran?
"Actually...even if it is the Asian Games, Chen Ran may not be willing to participate in the Lower World after participating in the next one. The only thing that may be attractive to him is the Olympic Games." Sun Jinfang nodded, "Before I came to the Tennis Association, I also did a lot of homework.”

"I have to say that tennis is a bit special. So special situations should be treated specially."

In Sun Jinfang's view, it is difficult for Chen Ran to win an Olympic gold medal with his strength, but there is great hope for an Asian Games gold medal.

Her choice was to give up the Davis Cup and let Chen Ran pay more attention to the Asian Games and win the men's tennis singles gold medal for the country.

Sun Jinfang had also observed Chen Ran and knew that this young man was reasonable.

He showed his sincerity, so that Chen Ran did not need to participate in a useless competition like the Davis Cup, and the other party would do his best to fight for the country in the Asian Games.

……

After Chen Ran returned to the room, he actually had some doubts in his heart.

It stands to reason that these leaders should have important matters to discuss when they come here with great fanfare.

Since the other party didn't mention it, he wouldn't take the initiative to ask.

In Chen Ran's subconscious, next year's Athens Olympics is still too early. Even if the Tennis Management Center wants to prepare for a rainy day, it has little to do with him.

There are too many variables in a year and a half, such as the ups and downs of status and the impact of injuries.

However, Chen Ran has a principle. He wants to participate in the Olympics and will do his best to compete for the country. However, this does not mean that he will hold back or even have reservations at Wimbledon on the eve of the Olympics. .

After all, some female tennis players in the past life chose to withdraw from Wimbledon in order to prepare for the Olympics. Of course, there are also these players who feel that they are not strong enough and can only compete in one or two rounds.

After having a tour experience, Chen Ran's mentality has improved a lot, and his self-regulation ability has also become much stronger.

Regardless of what those leaders had in mind, he simply washed it away and went to sleep.

In the remaining three days, Chen Ran participated in the Australian Open qualifying match step by step.

I have to say that the qualifying tournaments for these four Grand Slams are a huge benefit to those young players from the organizing committee.

Like the Auckland Open and Magic City Challenge that Chen Ran participated in before, prize money and points accumulated gradually.

However, the points and bonuses from the Australian Open qualifying rounds are independent and will not be accumulated and calculated together with the main draw.

The qualifying round is a best-of-three set, with a total of three rounds.

Chen Ran's opponent in the first round was a player from Portugal. He faced almost no resistance and easily won the game 2-0 and advanced to the second qualifying round.

At the same time, Chen Ran received 8 ATP points and 1.5 Australian dollars.

Then the opponent Chen Ran met in the second round was from New Zealand. He continued to advance and swept the opponent 2-0.

Chen Ran's accumulated points reached 16 points, and the accumulated bonus was 2.5 Australian dollars.

Finally, it’s the third round of the final qualifying round.

Chen Ran's opponent was a Dutch player. He encountered some resistance, but he still won the game with two 2-6 scores, successfully locking in a spot in the main draw.

Players who can enter the main draw of the Australian Open, even if they only make it to the first round, can get 10 ATP points and 4.5 Australian dollars.

In three days, Chen Ran had already made a total of 7 Australian dollars.

There are a total of 128 main draw draws for Grand Slam tournaments. A total of 64 people were eliminated after the first round, while a total of 8 people entered the main draw through the qualifying rounds.

这也意味着这8人选手至少比直接参加正赛的56个选手多了16个ATP积分和2.5万澳元的奖金，而陈然ATP的总积分因此也达到了419分。

After Chen Ran successfully entered the Australian Open main draw, the Chinese media finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The manuscripts that had been prepared were sent out immediately.

"The No. 1 Grand Slam main draw is born!"

"Making history, the main draws of the four Grand Slams finally have Chinese players!"

"Chen Ran's first Grand Slam tour, so stay tuned!"

But here comes the problem. After Chen Ran broke into the Australian Open main draw, everyone's expectations for him began to soar, and they began to heatedly discuss how far Chen Ran could go to be considered qualified.

As a newcomer to the majors, how far you end up going depends largely on your draw.

As a result, everyone turned their attention to the lottery ceremony to be held tomorrow.

This should be the Australian Open draw that has attracted the most attention from Chinese media in history.

……

(End of this chapter)