Return to 2002: Freestyle Superstar

Chapter 153: Referee helps?Still have to sweep! (Please subscribe)
Indian Wells Masters, first match day.

When Chen Ran walked through the long player tunnel and strode out of the door, his vision suddenly opened up, and the entire stadium spread out before his eyes.

This court is really big, a bit bigger than the Center Court of the Australian Open.

The center court of the Indian Wells Tennis Garden is currently the second largest professional tennis court in the world, second only to the Arthur Ashe Stadium at the US Open.

This stadium can accommodate 6000 people, has a hexagonal shape and has three floors. It is more spectacular than the center courts of the other three Grand Slams, and further cements its title as the "fifth Grand Slam".

Chen Ran stood in the corner of the stadium, looking at the magnificence and vastness in front of him, and his blood began to boil in his body.

Sure enough, the stadium seen through the TV screen and the actual experience are completely different.

Chen Ran put his hands on his hips and looked around with high spirits.

He hasn't participated in any competition for more than a month, and he really misses that feeling.

"These Americans are really interesting. They not only arranged such a difficult lottery for me, but also arranged my game on the center court."

Chen Ran slowly walked into the arena amidst the cheers and shouts of a group of American fans.

Although he only has one tour title and one Grand Slam semi-final, Chen Ran has gained a lot of popularity among American fans because of his successive eliminations of Roddick and Agassi at the Australian Open.

He took a cursory glance at the stadium. The huge stadium was sparsely populated with thousands of spectators, including hundreds of Chinese spectators.

Indian Wells cannot compare with Melbourne, and there will definitely be fewer Chinese fans going to watch the game.

Not far away, Chen Ran's opponent Nalbandian was doing warm-up exercises, and then looked at Chen Ran with a particularly complicated expression.

I was obviously the runner-up at Wimbledon last year, why is the attention focused on that kid?
At the Australian Open that just concluded not long ago, Chen Ran's popularity may be second only to that of Ferrero, who won the championship.

In comparison, he, one of the top 10 players in the world, pales in comparison.

"So many journalists from China are here!" Nalbandian counted silently, and there were more than 30 of them.

God, is this kid a superstar in China?So many media came to the first round of a Masters tournament.

"Ladies! Gentlemen! Let us welcome the two players in today's competition, Chen Ran from China and Nalbandian from Argentina!" The host's voice came from the live speakers.

Suddenly, thousands of spectators burst into warm applause.

But after the applause, the audience became noisy again.

As expected of the American audience, some people have always described playing tennis in the United States as being in a vegetable market, which often caused players to complain that the audience was too noisy and affected their concentration.

But everyone also understands that the American audience has always had its own way of doing things, and no matter how you complain, they will not change.

Chen Ran and Nalbandian first waved to the audience, and then they shook hands in a friendly manner.

"The semi-finals of the Australian Open should make you a superstar in China." Nalbandian said with a smile.

Argentina is a football country, but tennis is also very popular in Argentina and is the second sport after football.

Athletes from China, Nalbandian could not be named before. After all, there is no Chinese football player who can leave a deep memory for him.

Chen Ran is now the first person whose name he can remember.

It seems that there are very powerful "table tennis" players in China, and Nalbandian occasionally plays, but he rarely pays attention to these games.

"Superstar?" Chen Ran was stunned, then shook his head and said, "It's still early. I haven't won any significant championship yet. We in China have many outstanding Olympic and world champions."

He acted very humble.

Nalbandian shrugged, somewhat disapproving of Chen Ran's words.

Although there are many sports in the world, the status of each project is not equal, especially Nalbandian, who is in Argentina, understands this deeply.

Football occupies almost all sports resources in Argentina, leaving very limited space for other sports.

The two were rivals in the competition and were not familiar with each other. They exchanged casual greetings and then turned around and left.

Both of them are determined to win this game.

The format of the Masters is actually more intense and cruel than the Grand Slams, at least on the surface.

Because there are only 56 draws in the Masters, it is a fierce battle from the first round, and if you are lucky in a Grand Slam tournament, you may encounter some rookies in the first few rounds.

"Boy, don't think that a Grand Slam semi-final is some amazing achievement."

Nalbandian patted the tennis ball gently, looking eager to try.

Not only did he want to defeat Chen Ran, he also wanted to watch the Chinese media return disappointed with a proud attitude.

The men's professional tennis world is so cruel!

"interesting……"

Chen Ran held the racket and vaguely felt the fierce momentum coming from the opponent.

Rumor has it that tour veterans love giving lessons to newcomers like him.

5 minutes later……

Nalbandian easily won the first serve and led Chen Ran 1-0.

In this game, Chen Ran only scored 1 point.

When the two exchanged places, the guy looked at Chen Ran with a somewhat provocative look, as if he wanted to anger the other person.

In Nalbandian's view, Chen Ran is so young, not even 17 years old, and should be easily angered.

"Are Latin American players so fond of making small moves and playing psychological warfare?" Chen Ran shook his head secretly.

It's the same in football matches. Latin American players are famous for their little tricks.

Throw the ball, bend your knees, kick the ground, and swing the racket!After Chen Ran hit the tennis ball, he just glanced indifferently and walked straight to the other side of the serving area.

ACE!

Nalbandian squatted on the spot, looking at the flying tennis ball without making any movement.

It’s so damn fast!

Especially Chen Ran's movement made him feel a bit of a critical blow, as the opponent was so sure that he couldn't catch the ball.

Want to play psychological warfare?Are you still afraid that you won't succeed?

On the second ball, Chen Ran directly suppressed the opponent's forehand, causing the opponent's return ball to go out of bounds.

In the next two serves, Chen Ran still used the autumn wind to sweep away the fallen leaves and directly scored two points.

love game!

In Chen Ran's first serve, he didn't make any mistakes and maintained the serve in a relaxed and happy manner.

Nalbandian shook his head in an attempt to calm himself during the second pitch change.

The opponent's serve was actually easier to hold than his own!

When Chen Ran participated in the Australian Open, it seemed that he did not have such a strong serving level.

Whether it is the precise control of the landing point or the speed of the serve, it seems to have improved.

If Chen Ran's serve state continues, even if it slips a little, it will still be difficult for him to break serve.

Soon, another 30 minutes passed...

After Chen Ran completed a diagonal smash from a wide angle, he immediately went to the net and completed a beautiful volley.

40: 30!

After the first set reached 4-4, Chen Ran took the lead in getting a break point in the ninth game.

Nalbandian's face looked a little grim. He felt that in the ninth game, the opponent seemed to suddenly exert his strength, constantly exerting wave after wave of overwhelming pressure on himself.

He continues to serve.

One shot wipes the net and goes out of bounds!

"FUCK!" Nalbandian cursed angrily and let out an angry roar.

However, the referee stole the show!
"Press the line and try again!"

What?

After Chen Ran came to his senses, he showed a look of dissatisfaction.

"Referee, the ball just went out of bounds!" He was also a referee who did not want to suffer a loss and immediately complained to the referee.

"No, it's over the line, I'm very sure." The referee also spoke harshly.

Spanish?

Both Spain and Argentina speak Spanish, which means they share the same language and language.

When the first set reached a stalemate, the referee saw Nalbandian passive and took the initiative to help.

Because the flying speed of tennis balls is so fast, many balls that land near the sideline are ambiguous and difficult to judge, resulting in frequent misjudgments.

It was not until the advent of electronic eagle eye that this misjudgment was greatly reduced.

According to the original historical trajectory, the introduction of Hawkeye into professional tennis competitions will have to wait until 2006, which is still three full years!

After the referee signaled a restart, Nalbandian fell into ecstasy.

After all, for male tennis players, the first serve is much more important than the second serve, and the scoring rate is also higher.

Chen Ran was very dissatisfied, but there was nothing he could do.

He shook his head secretly and walked back to the bottom line.

Second district, inner corner!
Chen Ran narrowed his eyes, and his motionless body tilted slightly. At the same time, he adjusted his small steps, used a small but quick forehand to lead the racket, and immediately pushed the ball back.

return ace!

A beautiful return of serve and a direct score!
Break success!

Nalbandian looked at this blow with some confusion, not expecting that the opponent could make such an incredible return of serve.

Chen Ran clenched his fists, roared at the audience, and glared at his opponent fiercely.

His eyes seemed to say: Look, it’s useless for the referee to help you.

In the subsequent serving game, Chen Ran easily kept serve without any suspense and won the first set 6:4.

By the second set, Nalbandian seemed to have fallen into a mentality of wanting to win but afraid of losing, and acted very impatient.

The rhythm of the game was firmly under Chen Ran's control.

Even though Nalbandian used the psychological warfare that South American players are best at and used various small tricks to interfere with Chen Ran, it was still to no avail.

At 6:3, after Chen Ran broke serve in the eighth game, he easily won the next service game and took the game away with a total score of 2-0.

The game lasted only 1 hour and 20 minutes. The process seemed easy, but Chen Ran only broke serve twice. Fortunately, he kept all his serve games.

……

(End of this chapter)