Return to 2002: Freestyle Superstar

Chapter 170: Being a signature player for the first time

The next morning, the draw for the Miami Masters officially came out.

Sure enough, as Chen Ran expected, his draw seemed much easier than the one in Indian Wells.

Since three of the top 15 players were absent, Chen Ran was listed as the 3th seed.

In the first game, he faced a young American player who entered as a wild card.

But Chen Ran turned out to be very familiar with this guy. He was the super giant Isner who had fought against him in the Magic City.

How to describe it well?
In half a year, the situation between the two has become completely different.

Isner's strength has definitely improved compared to half a year ago, but it can't compare to Chen Ran's soaring speed like a rocket.

Nowadays, it is almost impossible for Isner to break Chen Ran's serve. As for his own serve, it is also difficult to maintain serve in every game due to Chen Ran's superb receiving skills.

The first round is almost guaranteed to be an easy pass.

It is not yet known who the opponent will be in the second round, but it is certain that it will not be a seeded player.

Chen Ran was placed in the lower half, and the top seed in this half was the Spanish star Ferrero.

But this guy probably won’t make it to the semifinals, right?
After the draw results came out, Chen Ran was also used as one of the player representatives to attend media events with several other star players.

This is the first time since Chen Ran participated in the tour that he has been invited by the organizing committee to attend the event as a player representative.

what does this mean?
In the eyes of the organizing committee, you can be regarded as the star figure of this competition, the target of sponsors, and the guarantee of box office and ratings.

The event location was a beautiful small garden. When Chen Ran arrived at the scene, he also saw other representative player representatives.

Although Chen Ran has been criticized by Sharapova before, his attention to the WTA is still limited.

It wasn't until he arrived at the scene that Chen Ran discovered that the top three women's seeds were all Americans, the two "female beasts" Serena Williams, plus the third seed Capriati.

A player who had almost no impression in Chen Ran's memory was very tough, tall and thick.

When the dominance of American men's tennis began to loosen, American women's tennis had already ushered in its most glorious era.

Chen Ran was quite impressed with Clijsters, the fourth seed. He is considered a representative figure of the WTA, nicknamed Ke Ma.

She is the second mother-level Grand Slam champion in WTA history
Clijsters and fifth seed Henin are known as the Belgian twins, and they can be regarded as a beautiful scenery in women's tennis.

Then there was a blonde beauty who stood out to Chen Ran, Hantuchova from Slovakia.

Before Sharapova grew up, Hantuchova should have been the representative of women's tennis in the WTA with both good looks and strength.

Especially when she stood next to the Williams sisters, the contrast was too obvious.

Men's players include Federer, Roddick, Agassi, Ferrero, Safin and others. Many players who are ranked among the top ten in the world were not invited. Instead, Chen Ran, who was ranked lower than his opponent, attended the event. press conference.

Therefore, the players who can come here are basically signed by the IMG agency.

At this time, another tall female player wearing an exquisite and gorgeous skirt entered the venue.

It turned out to be Maria Sharapova, who was not yet sixteen years old.

The appearance of this woman surprised Chen Ran, but he soon felt relieved.

Sharapova was only in the first round of the Australian Open and Indian Wells main draws, but she was still invited by the organizing committee.

In addition to the fact that she is also a contracted player of the IMG agency, another thing is her extremely high popularity.
Sharapova obviously saw Chen Ran's unexpected expression just now, and walked up to him angrily.

"Are you surprised that I appear here? Do you think my strength is not worthy of it?" This little girl once again showed her arrogant character.

She hates being looked down upon.

Sharapova is already 1 meters tall, which is a bit taller than Chen Ran, and because she wears high heels, she looks almost a head taller than Chen Ran.

"Maria, this is a misunderstanding..." Chen Ran immediately replied with a smile, "I just didn't expect you to be so charming when you put on a skirt. After all, when I saw you in the past, you were always wearing sportswear."

Sharapova was stunned, a little caught off guard by Chen Ran's words.

He can actually praise others?
Chen Ran took advantage of Sharapova's loss of concentration and took a few steps back decisively.The two stood opposite each other, staring at each other. The pressure brought by the other's height was too great.

If you could change your position, would the pressure be less?
"That's pretty much it..." Little Maomei put her hands on her hips, "Chen Ran, just watch, I will definitely break into the top 20 in the world this year, and the top 5 in the world next year!"

Chen Ran didn't know if she could achieve her goal this year, but next year she would really soar and win the Wimbledon championship in one go.

"Don't you believe it?" Sharapova looked at the silent Chen Ran and felt a little angry.

"Of course I believe it!" Chen Ran smiled slightly, "No one will doubt that Maria will become the brightest pearl in the WTA."

This is obviously a girl with strong self-esteem.

Sharapova has a paranoid and even crazy father who puts all his hope and energy into his daughter.

Sharapova grew up in a poor family and lived in the bitter cold of Siberia.

But the poor life did not stop Sharapova's father's ambition.

He often puts it on his lips: Maybe I can't get ahead, but my children can.

This Russian man is also crazy and arrogant. Because of his daughter's unprecedented success, and because he was poor and looked down upon by others since he was a child, he became arrogant when he suddenly became rich.

Sharapova's several relationships were all ruined by her paranoid father.

He even had a direct showdown with Sharapova in front of NBA player Vujacic: "Why do you fall in love with this loser who can only play as a substitute in the Lakers?"

This guy simply didn't save any face for Vujacic.

Thinking of the crazy father and the daughter with strong self-esteem, Chen Ran suddenly felt that it was better not to provoke them.

He suddenly regretted those few words of "praise" just now.

It's a pity that the words spoken are like water thrown out and cannot be taken back.

"You are quite good at talking. You are completely different from the dull Chinese men I saw in American movies." Sharapova smiled brightly, obviously enjoying Chen Ran's compliment just now.

"Chinese men in American movies... must have been shot this way on purpose, with bad intentions." Chen Ran said very seriously, "Just like the Soviet Union or today's Russia in Hollywood movies, they have always been villains. "

Sharapova nodded thoughtfully, seeming to think that what Chen Ran said made sense.

At this time, under the host's greeting, the male and female players were divided into two rows.

The female players sat on the chairs in the front row, while the male players stood in the back row, taking photos together. Several photos were taken, and then came the media interviews.

The final step is fan interaction.

Any sports competition is inseparable from fans, and the most commendable thing about American sports is that it attaches great importance to cultivating young fans, that is, friendly interactions with those children.

That’s how “Kids Tennis Day” was born.

The dazzling top players will come to interact with the children.

Not only did they sign autographs and take photos, but they also played tennis, talked, and shared a short happy time together, thus planting a tennis seed in the young hearts of these children.

In addition, Nickelodeon Online School and the Miami Masters are both owned by IMG.

Therefore, these Knicks Online School students also have the opportunity to take photos with these top players.

The dream of becoming a professional tennis player slowly grows and grows in their hearts, prompting them to keep working hard.

At this moment, around these top players, the turbulent crowds on the three floors inside and outside instantly filled the sight. These are young children with various skin colors.

Each of them was holding a pen and holding a tennis ball, hoping to get the players' signatures.

Each of these children forgot about themselves, cheering and screaming, resounding in the sky.

For them, there is only one precious opportunity every year to bring so many tennis stars together.

……

(End of this chapter)