Return to 2002: Freestyle Superstar

Chapter 168 Coach, will I be surrounded?
When Chen Ran woke up from his sleep and slowly opened his eyes, it was already the next morning.

The sun was shining brightly, and the hot sunlight shone through the window.

Chen Ran just lay motionless on the bed, staring at the ceiling of the room with his eyes wide open, and pictures from the past flashed through his mind.

The physical fatigue has been swept away, but the unfinished excitement still flows through the body.

If someone asked Chen Ran, what do you want to do most now?
Chen Ran would answer this way: I just want to return to China with the championship trophy and enjoy the cheers.Then, refuse all commercial activities and waste it for a few days.

For example, he can put on a pair of sunglasses and a travel bag and go to a small town with beautiful scenery and beautiful environment to live for ten and a half months to appreciate the great rivers and mountains of the motherland.

Carefree.

He is not Yao Ming, so he will stand out among the crowd.

In late April, I will leisurely travel to Europe to participate in the clay court season.

In fact, for many professional players, when you win a heavyweight championship, your entire body and mental state will relax, and you may not even want to touch the racket again for a period of time.

This is a kind of fatigue brought by championship, which is called "championship sequelae".

Of course, another reason is that the time gap between the French Open and the Indian Wells Masters is too long to bring a sense of urgency to Chen Ran.

The four Grand Slam Opens are the Australian Open in January, the French Open in June, Wimbledon in July, and the US Open in September.

The next three Grand Slam tournaments are closely connected, and there is a full five months between the French Open and the Australian Open.

The "Sunshine Double" is a back-to-back Masters. Although the Miami Masters is imminent, Chen Ran has not considered this at this moment.

This is not to say that the Miami Masters is not important, but that Chen Ran needs to plan carefully after experiencing two weeks of high-intensity competition.

Chen Ran lazily picked up the phone and glanced at it casually.

Full of missed calls and unread text messages.

However, there was a text message sent by Chen Ran's agent Xue Peng, saying that he had booked a flight to Miami.

Have a day off today, and then fly to Miami in full swing tomorrow.

Across the entire North American continent from the west coast of the United States to the east coast of the United States, the distance is about 3700 kilometers.

Just as one challenge ended, another one followed.

Chen Ran immediately turned on his computer and logged into the ATP official website to check his real-time ranking.

After winning the Indian Wells Masters, Chen Ran scored 1000 ATP points in one breath.

His total points reached 2123 points, and his ranking suddenly soared to 15th, surpassing Thai Sri Chapan to become the highest-ranked player in Asia.

Sri Chapan's ranking is 16th after stopping in the top [-] of the Masters, which can be regarded as the highest ranking among Asian players.

However, this record did not last long and was immediately refreshed by Chen Ran.

What is even more unbelievable is that Srichaphan started to break out in 2002. He played in countless tournaments throughout the year before working hard to reach 16th place in the points.

But how many stops did Chen Ran take?

Auckland Tour, Australian Open, and Indian Wells Masters, the results were champion, semi-finals, and champion respectively.

In just three stops, his total points surpassed Sri Chapan's, who had racked up points for a whole year.

This soaring speed is simply incredible, and of course it is also very shocking!
In addition, Chen Ran also has a record of being undefeated in the tour.

Chen Ran has never lost in the Auckland Tour and Indian Wells Masters.

In fact, Chen Ran may be the last one to know that he is ranked in the TOP15, because he fell asleep after returning to the hotel yesterday, but the time in China was noon, and everyone was discussing this in full swing.

Many fans have already begun to look forward to Chen Ran's results in the next stop, and are wondering how many more points he can increase.

Since Chen Ran does not have to deduct points from the same period last year, theoretically, he only needs to reach the semi-finals of the Miami Masters to break into the top 10 in the world.

With the Australian Open and the North American hard court season, many first-class and even top players will have huge points deducted from the same period last year as long as their competitive status declines.

Even if Chen Ran lies at home and takes a nap, his ranking may surpass those in front of him.

It can be said that Chen Ran will have almost no pressure to maintain points before January next year.

Therefore, some more professional netizens suggested that Chen Ran should selectively give up the Miami Masters and concentrate on preparing for the upcoming European clay court season.

Of course, there are also clay court tournaments in Latin America, but in order to better prepare for the French Open, the masters will generally stay in Europe, and only those who are not strong enough will go to Latin America to improve their points.

"I will most likely be the target of public criticism at the Miami Masters, and may face a group of people's siege." Chen Ran muttered in his heart.

Even with certain top players absent from the Miami Masters, it is unlikely that he will be ranked among the top 8 seeds and earn the right to a first-round bye.

In fact, in terms of lottery, there is no difference between the No. 9 seed and the No. 16 seed.

After Chen Ran simply washed up, he walked out of the hotel room and met his coach Zhang Depei downstairs.

"Chen, do you still need to train today?" Zhang Depei joked, "I see you are in good condition."

"Of course, I need some restorative training!" Chen Ran nodded.

It seems that the joy of winning the championship has been diluted a lot on him.Zhang Depei hesitated for a moment and then said: "Miami Masters, what do you think?"

As a player of the previous generation with rich tour experience, he knows that behind the "Sunshine Double Tournament", the players also have their own thoughts.

A large number of top players often choose to participate in one event and give up another to ensure their health.

So often those players who achieve excellent results at the Indian Wells Masters will also have reservations at the Miami Masters.

The physical and mental challenges for players need to reach a new level. As long as they are not careful, they may suffer injuries during the heavy schedule.

So this is also a real crisis that the Miami organizing committee needs to face.

"Will I be surrounded and suppressed?" Chen Ran raised his eyebrows with a smile and asked his first question.

He did not continue, but the experienced Zhang Depei instantly understood what Chen Ran meant.

Despite his young age, that kid is very alert!

"It depends on what the organizing committee thinks." Zhang Depei shrugged, "How does your body feel?"

Chen Ran said very frankly: "Although I feel much less tired after a good sleep, I still lack the urgent desire to win when I think about the competition in three days."

"This is normal, the sequelae of a championship." Zhang Depei nodded.

"Don't talk about the champion, maybe the runner-up will slack off."

His eyes were indeed vicious, and even though he had never been in contact with Ferrero, he could still guess what he was thinking.

"Ferrero is good at clay and will definitely make appropriate plans."

The two of them walked and chatted before arriving at the training ground and doing some restorative training.

Many Chinese journalists immediately became aware of the news and knew there was news to write about.

"Continue training the day after winning the championship! Chen Ran is far from satisfied with the Masters championship!"

"Aiming at Miami? No, Chen Ran has already set his sights on Roland Garros!"

"Go forward, go forward, Chen Ran is going to attack the top ten in the world!"

"Some people in the national football team should learn from this. This is the example of professional players! Stop running to foot massage parlors every day!"

As a topical figure, Chen Ran never expected that just a simple post-match recovery training would lead to these reporters writing so many tricks.

"Coach, I think it's better to look at the draw."

After Chen Ran thought about it seriously, he said, "If the draw arranged by the Miami organizing committee is too difficult, I might just play a few rounds and go home."

"Anyway, I don't have any pressure to keep points now!"

"Okay!" Zhang Depei also nodded, "Don't overload your body."

"But based on my experience, the Miami Organizing Committee will not arrange too difficult picks for you in the first few rounds."

"Your challenge may start from the top eight, or even the top four."

"Oh, why is that?" Chen Ran looked puzzled, "Look at the lottery in Indian Wells, it's very tough."

"I was almost surrounded!"

"The situation is different." Zhang Depei gave his own analysis, "You came with the aura of the top four of the Australian Open, and they want to test your dark horse qualities."

"Especially when you eliminated Agassi and Roddick in the Australian Open, they deliberately wanted to give you some color."

Chen Ran seemed to understand something and joked: "Roddick is in good condition, but Agassi's condition seems to be very bad."

"This Masters championship has proven your dark horse quality."

Zhang Depei continued his analysis: "To be precise, when you participate in the Miami Masters, your role has changed."

"From a dark horse to a seeded player, maybe you are already the favorite in their eyes."

The semi-finals of the Australian Open made Chen Ran a dark horse, and a Masters championship turned Chen Ran from a dark horse into a first-class player.

This is change!
"I understand!" Chen Ran nodded silently.

The biggest change this championship has brought to him is the change in identity and status.

Before, he was the challenger, now he is the challenged.

"Another point is that you may be a guarantee of box office and ratings in the eyes of the Miami Organizing Committee. They must also hope that you can play more rounds."

In the back-to-back "Sunshine Double Competition", the attitude of the organizing committees of the two competitions towards Chen Ran has undergone earth-shaking changes.

From "testing the quality of the dark horse" to "passing the favorite to win the championship".

"Think about Yao Ming, the NBA has given him a lot of care." Zhang Depei smiled, "The Sunshine Double Tournament is two events after all, and there will also be a competitive relationship between them."

……

(End of this chapter)