Return to 2002: Freestyle Superstar

Chapter 213 Chen Ran’s “Patriotic Feelings” (4K)

In the four Grand Slam tournaments, if you can persist until the second week, it means that you are already a successful and outstanding tennis player.

This watershed is the fourth round, the top [-].

Chen Ran was in hot form and eliminated his opponents 3-3 in 0 consecutive rounds. In addition to leaving the anti-fans with no way to start, he also once became the second favorite to win this tournament.

But if you think about it carefully, after seeing Chen Ran eliminate his country's players, the French Open organizing committee seemed to intend to roast him in the stove with evil intentions.

At this moment, I have become the target of public criticism.

If you look carefully again, you will find that not one of the top [-] players at this French Open is a French player.

Grosjean, the only local favorite, was eliminated by Chen Ran.

This made French fans who have always loved tennis very dissatisfied.

However, although these French people booed Chen Ran, they still directed their greatest anger at the French Open organizing committee.

What lottery positions have you arranged?How can anyone meet the No. 4 seed in the tournament in the fourth round!

French fans have obviously forgotten that in the French Open, seeding is never directly proportional to the strength of the clay court.

Especially Chen Ran, who was participating in the French Open for the first time, was obviously regarded by the organizing committee as a soft persimmon among the high-seeded players.

If French fans observe carefully, they will also find that once Grosjean reaches the top [-], he will face Brazilian veteran Kuerten according to the draw.

The French Open organizing committee simply wants to send Grosjean into the quarterfinals.

French fans do not understand the good intentions of the organizing committee. Of course, such behavior is very French.

Now, Kuerten has been eliminated, and Chen Ran will meet a low-ranked seed player in the 8/1 finals, the No. 21 seed—Argentinian Gaudio.

It turned out to be this person!
Chen Ran was very impressed by this person.

Gaudio, who was born in 1978, has never been the best tennis player in Argentina. His fame and honor are far less than that of his other compatriot Nalbandian.

Even Gaudio has only reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam event once in his entire career, which was the 8 French Open.

But what is surprising is that in this year's French Open trip, this guy went all out and finally won the French Open championship, which Chen Ran still remembers.

Yes, according to the original timeline, the 1-meter-tall Argentinian will win the French Open next year and become the first Argentine to win a Grand Slam event in the past 75 years.

"Chen, you have to remember one thing." Zhang Depei stared at the match list and said seriously, "On clay courts, you can't underestimate any Latin player. They often perform far beyond their capabilities."

"Coach, I understand." Chen Ran nodded silently.

Future French Open champion?
Although this guy is not as famous as several other Grand Slam winners, since he can win the trophy, it means that on the clay court, Gaudio can win against anyone as long as he is in good condition.

When Chen Ran and Zhang Depei were discussing, they were also paying attention to the third round of the French Open.

Sure enough, after Roddick, another high-ranking seeded player was eliminated, the No. 5 seed-Hewitt.

However, Hewitt, who has never been good at clay courts, stopped in the third round, which was expected by many people. There is nothing surprising about this.

After three rounds, the No. 5 and No. 6 seeds all went home.

However, the player who eliminated Hewitt turned out to be another Spaniard named Robredo, which made Chen Ran feel a little strange and have a headache.

During the clay court season, so many Spaniards suddenly appeared, some familiar or unfamiliar.

He even felt like he was surrounded by Spanish players.

By the way, Chen Ran’s opponent Gaudio in the next round is Argentinian, but Argentina was once a Spanish colony, and Spanish is spoken throughout the country.

At this moment, as Chen Ran successfully advanced to the top 98, more and more Chinese reporters went to Paris, which was like the grand occasion of the [-] World Cup in France.

Chen Ran also met Dong Bing, the president of Nike China, who flew to Paris specially, and the other party also brought good news.

Nike went out of its way to successfully obtain a sponsorship contract for the Chinese national tennis team, including men and women, with a six-year contract period for 800 million Chinese coins and the provision of competition equipment other than rackets.

This also made Nike headquarters finally let go of its hanging heart.

Whether it is the 2004 Athens Olympics or the 2008 Yanjing Olympics, which attracts national attention, Chen Ran will wear Nike jerseys to compete.

However, these 800 million Huaxia coins are indeed a lot of money. This amount exceeds the basketball national team and is second only to the football national team. It is also beyond the reach of the table tennis country sponsored by Anta.

In today's China, because of Chen Ran, tennis has become more popular than table tennis for the first time.

However, there are only a few tennis matches held by the national team in a year. Nike has promised to contribute to China Sports.

Of course, the fact is that rival Adidas seems to know that Nike is bound to win, so it has been raising prices, causing Nike to have to increase its offer.

After all, in today's China, domestic sports brands have not yet grown up. It is basically a fight between these two giant companies. Both sides regard their opponents as mortal enemies.

"I not only watched the Nets, but also watched the World Athletics Championships held at the same time." Dong Bing said slowly and pointed at Liu Xiang not far away, without mentioning that Yao Ming's contract renewal negotiations had reached an impasse.

She obviously didn't want Chen Ran to be affected by any off-site factors.

This was an interview organized by CCTV, and Liu Xiang, who was preparing for the war, was called.

"Xiao Liu, your Nike sponsorship contract is about to expire, right?" Dong Bing joked to Liu Xiang, "If you run well in this World Championships, your next one will be a big contract."

Liu Xiang, who had just turned 20, was still in the ignorance of youth. Listening to Dong Bing's words, he clenched his fists and nodded solemnly.

Not to mention compared with top tennis players like Chen Ran, even the income from men's football and men's basketball makes Liu Xiang envious. As a track and field athlete who can only earn a basic salary, he is really too hard-working. .

Chen Ran looked at Liu Xiang and suddenly joked: "If you play tennis with Brother Xiang's height, he must be a cannon in serving."

Liu Xiang's height is 1 meters, which has a great advantage in the serve game in tennis matches.

"Hehe..." Liu Xiang smiled bitterly, "It's too late to regret now. If there is a child in the future, I will definitely not let him practice track and field. Let him learn tennis. It is suitable for boys and girls."

Dong Bing also chimed in: "There are a lot of kids in Shanghai learning tennis now. Especially after Xiao Chen came out, more and more young people are playing tennis. There are successors to China Tennis!"

The popularity of tennis in China is obviously what Nike wants to see most.Liu Xiang seemed to have thought of something and said: "There is a football player in Magic City who asked his son to learn tennis. He also said that tennis is an individual sport and is not as complicated as football or as deep as football."

Chen Ran's face moved slightly when he heard this.

Could it be that the son of a Shanghai football player is Zhang Zhizhen, the future No. [-] brother of China?

He is almost 7 years old now. This is indeed the best age for tennis enlightenment.

"Mr. Dong, maybe this kid is a good prospect and you can start early." Chen Ran said with a bit of a joke.

"The son of a football player... his physical fitness should not be too bad. I will draw attention to him." Dong Bing thought for a while and said.

After a while, CCTV gave Chen Ran a short interview.

This exclusive interview is closely related to Nike’s sponsorship of the China National Tennis Team with a record amount of money.

The person responsible for interviewing Chen Ran this time was not a sports host, but the famous Yang Lan.

Unlike the more than ten years when her reputation has become mixed, Yang Lan is now at the peak of her career and is also the most famous female host in China.

From the perspective of CCTV, many issues cannot be circumvented by the Olympic Games.

The Olympic Games is the top priority for Chinese sports, and CCTV had already communicated with Chen Ran before the interview.

Today's interview was actually planned by the brokerage company, allowing Chen Ran to "cooperate" with CCTV to perform a scene to highlight his "patriotic feelings."

"Chen Ran, first of all, we congratulate you for entering the top [-] of the French Open. We also wish you a better performance in tonight's game."

"Thank you."

"Then please allow me to ask a question that fans across the country are concerned about. You should participate in the Athens Olympics next year, right?"

"Of course I will participate in the Olympics, but why do you ask this question?" Chen Ran asked with a smile and according to the arrangement in the script.

"It's like this. The timing of the Athens Olympics is not friendly. Its closing ceremony is on August 8, and the US Open is on August 29."

"and then?"

"The difference between tennis and other sports is that professional tennis players do not regard the Olympics as the most important stage and the highest glory. They seem to pay more attention to the four Grand Slams and the year-end finals." Yang Lan, who has already been fully prepared, said talk.

"So you are worried that the interval between the Olympics and the US Open is too close. In order not to affect my status at the US Open, you think I will have reservations in Athens?" Chen Ran raised his eyebrows slightly, his tone a bit serious.

In an instant, the air suddenly became quiet.

Yang Lan smiled and continued to ask: "No, I am just asking you this question on behalf of the fans across the country. Although you are a member of the national team, you are an outsider who is responsible for your own profits and losses after all, and the country cannot force you to participate. Olympic Games."

Chen Ran said sincerely: "Indeed, after the schedule came out, I knew that some top players were already considering withdrawing from the Olympics, but I am definitely not that kind of person."

"I want to promise the fans through today's interview that next year's focus will be on the Athens Olympics. This is also my first time representing the Chinese Tennis National Team in a world championship, and I am personally looking forward to it."

"Any other competition would give way to the Olympics."

"While for many professional players, they may place more emphasis on the four Grand Slams, for me personally, the importance of the Olympics is irreplaceable."

Yang Lan asked again: "So you don't care if the Olympics will affect the subsequent US Open?"

"I don't care, I'm very sure." Chen Ran said firmly, "I think I will definitely miss the North American season before the US Open, including the two Masters tournaments!"

"For this reason, my world ranking may drop, I will lose a lot of points and bonuses, and I may not be able to get a good seed draw after the US Open starts, but I think it is worth it for the Athens Olympics. After all, the four Only once a year.”

"I also believe that this is the dream of every Chinese athlete. It is the highest honor to represent the country in the competition."

This guy is so good at talking!
Yang Lan clapped her hands with some emotion, seemingly moved by Chen Ran's "patriotic sentiments."

She knew that if she didn't cooperate better, the picky netizens would definitely blame her. Why don't you feel it and are so indifferent?
"Then let's talk about the Yanjing Olympics in five years. Are you looking forward to it?"

"Of course I'm looking forward to it." Chen Ran's face revealed a look of yearning and a bright smile, "This may be the game I'm most looking forward to, and it's also the most important moment in my career!"

"Is it your ultimate dream to win the championship in Yanjing?" Yang Lan blinked and asked a topic that fans across the country are concerned about.

"Yes." Chen Ran said very frankly, "Which athlete doesn't want to win the championship in the Yanjing Olympics?"

I have to admit that the Yanjing Olympics may be the most classic Olympics in human history and will become an indelible memory.

If Chen Ran couldn't personally participate for a while, his rebirth would be in vain.

"So whether it's Athens or Yanjing, your goal is to win the championship?" Yang Lan asked a more "bold" question.

"Dreams are dreams, as for the specific goal..." Chen Ran pretended to ponder for a while, and then slowly spoke, with a bit of a joke, "What is the goal of our Chinese table tennis, then what is the goal of tennis."

After Yang Lan heard this, it took him a while to react.

This guy is so good at talking, he even took the opportunity to tie himself up with the national football team.

The goal of the Chinese table tennis team is to win all world championships.

The competition in men's professional tennis is so fierce that no one expects Chen Ran to be as competitive as the Chinese table tennis team, but Chen Ran's dare to say this also reflects his confidence and courage.

"Okay, I wish you can achieve your goals."

In fact, only Chen Ran knew that the Chinese table tennis team would lose the most important men's singles gold medal in next year's Athens Olympics.

When this CCTV interview was broadcast on Channel C1, even the most picky fans on the Internet could not find any fault with Chen Ran's performance.

"Giving up the North American season for the Olympics has even affected preparations for the US Open. Chen Ran's patriotic sentiments are touching!"

When the outside world praised Chen Ran, he once again stepped onto the court of Roland Garros.

……

(End of this chapter)