Return to 2002: Freestyle Superstar

Chapter 123 "Difficulty" Breaking into the Top 32 (Please subscribe)
As night falls, Court No. [-] of the Australian Open becomes bustling.

The stadium was packed with enthusiastic Chinese fans.

It is obvious that Chen Ran's opponent is an Australian, but looking at the current situation, it seems that he is going to turn the tables.

During the period before the start of the game, Chen Ran seemed to be resting in the locker room. In fact, he was still practicing in the "simulated training field", hoping that he would be able to enter the game state as soon as the game started.

In the second round of the competition, not only were there more Chinese spectators, but also many more Chinese media came to interview.

"I really have a fate with Court No. [-]. I have been arranged here for two consecutive games." Chen Ran joked with his fitness coach Sergey in a joking tone.

"Haha, it's still a big stadium after all." Sergey said matter-of-factly. "Perhaps in the eyes of the organizing committee, you are already their box office guarantee."

Chen Ran stretched a few times and jumped on the spot a few times, trying to get his body excited.

Chen Ran hasn't made up his mind yet on how to play today's game.

But he must admit that Federer's match in the afternoon had a great impact on him.

After Federer dragged the game to a tie-break, he suddenly stepped up his game and won the tie-break 7-1.

Chen Ran clearly felt that Federer wanted to make a difference in this Australian Open.

In fact, in the first few rounds of Grand Slam games, there are many high-seeded players who want to play tricks on the board.

Of course, there will also be those who fail. When you are in control of the game, your opponent suddenly gets a boost, and it sometimes happens that you get an upset in one go.

The gap between professional players is not as big as the outside world imagines, especially in men's professional tennis. It is not uncommon for players outside the top [-] to defeat the top ten players in the world.

So when you play with the control board, it is equivalent to walking on a tightrope, where excitement and danger coexist.

"How to fight this game depends on the progress of the game." Chen Ran muttered in his heart.

At this moment, American supernova Roddick has successfully passed the first two rounds.

In this guy's words, he was already waiting for his arrival at Center Court No. [-], hoping that Chen Ran would not miss the date.

How much does that American want to compete with him?
But Chen Ran has to admit that if he wants to go further in the Australian Open, Roddick is a mountain he must overcome.

When Chen Ran walked into this already familiar stadium, his opponent, Australian Arthurs, was lying on the ground, and the medical staff arranged by the Australian Open Organizing Committee were massaging his legs.

What's happening here?Has this guy not recovered from the five-set match the day before yesterday?

But this is normal. It is said that the game lasted nearly 6 hours.

What's it like to play in a five-set match?
Chen Ran had experienced it in the "simulation training ground", but there, his physical fitness could be reset at any time.

A five-set match in the real world will be different after all.

Arthur seemed very gentlemanly. When Chen Ran was warming up, he took the initiative to apologize and said that his ankle also needed some massage.

“I didn’t even train after the game that day, and I felt a little uncomfortable in many places all over my body.”

Could this be a smoke bomb?
Chen Ran muttered in his heart.

But he also generously said that he could wait for a while.

In fact, there is no need for Arthurs to lie. After all, this guy didn't even warm up before the game.

On the contrary, Chen Ran seemed leisurely and contented, doing some serving and batting practice alone.

Chen Ran felt that he was in excellent condition and felt hot in his hands.

After finishing the medical massage, Arthur shook hands with Chen Ran and said seriously: "Although I am fighting with injuries, years of professionalism tell me that I must go all out. It is not my style to withdraw from the game."

When Chen Ran heard this, he sighed slightly in his heart: "Actually, you can completely withdraw from the competition."

The Chinese fans at the scene also discovered that Arthurs was in poor physical condition. They seemed even more excited and excited, hoping to see a hearty victory.

However, as the game progressed, everyone felt a little disappointed.

On the competition scene, although Chen Ran had a certain advantage, he was far from showing such a strong posture as in the first round.

Break points appeared several times, but Chen Ran failed to grasp them.

The score between the two sides was very tight. It was not until the 12th game that Chen Ran managed to break serve once and won the first set 7-5, almost entering the tie-break.

"Lao Zhou, Chen Ran's condition today cannot be said to be bad, but it is very ordinary." Zhang Sheng from CCTV said with some worry.

Zhou Yuan of "Sports Weekly" touched his chin and said thoughtfully: "Yes, I also discovered that the competitive state is far from the first game, and it is even far different from the previous tour."

"After all, he is still too young..." Zhang Sheng sighed, "You must know that Chen Ran is not yet 17 years old. It is our high expectations for him that make him feel huge pressure."

"Yes!" Zhou Yuan bumped his palm with his fist helplessly, "Those basketball reporters always say that Yao Ming bears the pressure of the entire Chinese basketball. But besides Yao Ming, there are many outstanding players in Chinese basketball. "

"But tennis... Chen Ran is really the only one now."

He stretched out his head and looked far away.

Chen Ran was sitting on a rest chair drinking water. Although he won the first set, he didn't seem to see any joy of victory. His face was tense and solemn.

After the 3-minute break, Chen Ran walked back into the court carrying his racket.

But his steps seemed a little heavy.

"Even players like Agassi will have times when they are not in good form, let alone Chen Ran." During Zhou Yuan's career as a journalist, he has watched countless games, and he has witnessed many such situations. few.

But when this happened to a Chinese player, he felt a little uncomfortable.It was Chen Ran's previous unbeatable match that gave them the illusion that Chen Ran was like a machine, able to maintain a stable state.

"Hey!"

"I rely on!"

Zhou Yuan and Zhang Sheng slapped their thighs regretfully.

Chen Ran once again missed a break opportunity because a return ball went out of bounds.

Arthurs once again took the lead.

In the second set, Chen Ran's condition was still ordinary.

"Can you win?" Zhou Yuan glanced at Zhang Sheng and muttered softly.

"It should be possible..." Zhang Sheng thought for a while and said slowly, "At least Chen Ran was able to keep his own serve. There is little chance of the opponent breaking serve."

He prayed in his heart, Chen Ran, you must not lose.

CCTV has already prepared a special feature for the third round: Roddick vs. Chen Ran, a showdown between super rising stars.

If Chen Ran stops in the second round, then the special feature they painstakingly produced by CCTV will be aborted.

Also holding the same idea is Zhou Yuan. Their "Sports Weekly" has not only written the manuscript, but has even printed it in advance...

In fact, in this era when print media is prevalent, newspapers that do this are everywhere. After all, they have to compete for eyeballs and seize the market.

If the results are not in line with what they predicted in advance, they can only consider themselves unlucky and return to the factory for reprinting.

On the court, Arthurs saved another serve, and the score reached 4-4.

This time, when Chen Ran was leading 40-15, he missed two break points in a row, allowing Arthurs to struggle to hold serve.

"Fuck!"

Chen Ran pretended to hit the racket, but when the racket was only a few centimeters from the ground, he suddenly stopped.

He stamped his foot in annoyance, then wordlessly took the tennis ball from the caddy and prepared to serve.

Off the net in one go!
A look of anxiety flashed across Chen Ran's face.

In his second serve, he still used the same vigorous swing pattern as in his first serve, and the ball bounced out of the net.

Double miss!

This is Chen Ran's first double serve fault since participating in the Australian Open!
"Oh my God! This situation is getting worse and worse."

"I remember that Chen Ran's serve was very stable before."

In the C5 sports live broadcast room, Zhan Jun also covered his face helplessly.

As a die-hard fan of the Premier League giants Liverpool, Zhan Jun just commented on a Liverpool Premier League game last night, but Liverpool's recent state has been so bad that he is depressed.

He originally thought that explaining Chen Ran's game today would make him feel better, but he didn't expect that he was still worried.

"Oh~"

“Finally my hair is saved!”

After the score was tied at 40-40, Chen Ran's touch seemed to have recovered a bit, and he scored two consecutive points on serve, tying the score again.

In the No. 11 game, it seemed that Arthurs' physical condition had declined significantly, and Chen Ran struggled to break serve.

In the end, Chen Ran still won the second set with a difficult 7-5.

"not bad!"

Zhan Jun seemed to be relieved, "Two sets ahead. Even if Chen Ran is not in good condition, the possibility of the opponent coming back is already very small."

But Chen Ran is in such a state, how can he challenge the American super star Roddick in the third round.

Between the second and third sets, Arthurs called another medical timeout and asked the medical staff to massage his muscles again.

As for Chen Ran, he stood with his hands on his hips, looking up to the sky from time to time, as if he wanted to ask God: Why am I in such a bad state today?

In the third set, Arthurs, who took a short break and had a muscle massage, returned to the court again.

Although he was not very active, his mental state was obviously much better than at the end of the second set.

So the two men fell into a tug-of-war again, and the third set actually reached a tie-break.

"This game is too torturous! My heart can't stand it anymore." Zhou Yuan grabbed his hair in pain.

After watching the game for nearly three hours, he felt a lot more haggard.

Arthurs' performance cannot be said to be good. It can only be said that Chen Ran's state is very ordinary. Fortunately, he made few low-level mistakes.

Finally, Chen Ran relied on a beautiful smash from a wide angle to win the tiebreaker with 7:5, and broke into the top 32 with great difficulty.

……

(End of this chapter)