Return to 2002: Freestyle Superstar

Chapter 241 The tax system that deceives people in British competitions

Sharapova was eliminated in the first round at both the Australian Open and French Open, so she didn't get much bonus.

Although she has sponsors and some endorsements, because she has not yet achieved any honors, she does not get much remuneration, and her father works several jobs at the same time, which is only a drop in the bucket.

So, she thought of participating in one more event to get more bonuses, and Mixed Doubles was obviously a good choice.

Because in the world of tennis, mixed doubles competitions are not taken seriously compared to men's and women's doubles matches. They don't even count as warm-ups to get a feel for their hands. They are basically there to win prize money.

Doubles competitions, especially some women's doubles players, often train and compete together in teams, but Sharapova has never had experience in women's doubles teams, and mixed doubles are basically temporary matches, so she thought of teaming up with Chen Ran. Team.

"Okay! There are so many opportunities to get bonuses, why let it go?"

"What's more, among the four Grand Slams, Wimbledon has the highest tax, and the prize money we receive is the lowest, these stingy British guys."

At tennis tournaments in the UK, whether it's a tour or Wimbledon, you have to pay 50% tax regardless of the prize money and appearance fees.Of course, other sports events are no exception, but football is the exception. This is also the reason for the prosperity of the Premier League.

In addition, your global endorsements will also have to pay a portion of taxes to the UK. The amount is determined based on the number of competitions you participate in in the UK. This is simply plucking your hair.

Therefore, players like the Big Three in later generations usually only go to the UK to participate in Wimbledon once a year, and then leave immediately after finishing the game.

Although Chen Ran has not yet grown into a giant-level player, he has never planned to participate in other competitions in the UK except Wimbledon to avoid being ripped off by these British guys.

According to the rules, there are only 32 mixed doubles draws in the four Grand Slams, and the organizing committee will decide based on mixed doubles points and personal rankings.

Neither Chen Ran nor Sharapova has points in mixed doubles, but Chen Ran is currently ranked No. [-] in the world, so getting a spot in the main draw is not a problem.

"Maria, how was your experience with the grass?"

"I have some, but not much. What about you?"

"So far I have never trained on a grass pitch, let alone played a game."

Sharapova was a little speechless, but then she comforted herself: "The fact that you can adapt so quickly to the clay court shows that your tennis talent is very powerful. It shouldn't take much time to adapt to the grass court."

This Russian girl obviously thinks of Chen Ran very much.

"On the grass court, in addition to the irregular jump of the tennis ball, another thing is that the ball speed is very fast, faster than the hard court, but this is the way I like to play."

"That's great, maybe our combination can go far."

But Chen Ran was still curious: "But Maria, why are you looking for me? There are too many grassland masters in this world."

"I'm not familiar with the other top players, and the age difference is too big." Sharapova said frankly, "We are about the same age, and you are one of the best players in the world."

"Oh, that's it." Chen Ran deliberately showed a bit of disappointment and joked: "I thought you found me to be your partner because you thought I was handsome."

Sharapova was stunned for a long time, then she was amused, and followed Chen Ran's words: "Okay, I admit that you are handsome. This is one of the reasons why I asked you for mixed doubles."

You see, the speaking style of this Mao girl is different from that of Chinese girls. The latter would probably lose their temper and deny it outright when they are shy.

"Didn't you lie to me?" Chen Ran said seriously.

"Why should I lie to you?"

"Because a great Chinese writer named Lu Xun once said that girls all like to lie, especially Russian girls."

"Why do we Russian girls prefer to lie? What a stereotype!"

"Because the more beautiful a girl is, the more she likes to lie."

After being in a daze for a long time, Sharapova finally came to her senses and was amused again.

It turns out that this guy was praising Russian girls for their beauty in a roundabout way.

"Okay, I admit that you are very good at making girls happy. Hmm...do you also make other girls happy in this way?"

The figure of the little fan girl Ivanovich flashed through Chen Ran's mind, but he said: "No, you should know that I don't have any scandals."

"Okay...my dad is urging me to continue training again. I have to earn more money and can't let him down. Let's...see you at Wimbledon."

"Okay, see you at Wimbledon."

Chen Ran hung up the phone. His cousin Zhu Xiaoli blinked and said with a smile: "Brother, which country are you from?"

"Russian……"

"Does aunt and uncle know?"

"..." Chen Ran spread his hands helplessly, "She's not a girlfriend. She plays tennis like me, but we will form mixed doubles at Wimbledon."

"You two have an unusual relationship!"

Chen Ran picked up the pillow on the sofa and hit it directly on his cousin's head: "Remember to keep it secret and don't tell anyone! Otherwise, I will fire you."

"Don't worry, I will keep it secret!" Zhu Xiaoli immediately covered her mouth and promised.

Chen Ran added: "It's almost time to rest. We'll go to Shanghai to stay for a few days, and then we'll fly directly to London."

The time interval between the French Open and Wimbledon is too close, which makes it impossible for Chen Ran to rest for a few days.

In addition, since the end of the French Open, Chen Ran has not even touched a racket. It is time to find some form again.

Even though he was surrounded by flowers and applause, Chen Ran was very sober. All his glory and wealth came from tennis.

Although there are tennis courts in Dongzhou City, they are all open to the public and the confidentiality is not good enough. It is not like Chen Ran was crowded with onlookers during training.So he will first go to the Tennis Hall in Shanghai to train for a few days, and Zhang Depei will fly directly from the United States to Shanghai.

In addition, if Chen Ran wants to hire a few people to practice with, it is much easier to find them in Magic City than in Dongzhou City.

After he finished explaining some things and waited for his cousin to leave, he locked himself in the room, then turned on the computer and checked some information.

There is an interesting thing about Wimbledon. Among the four Grand Slams, it has the greatest influence and makes the most money, but the prize money received by the players is the lowest.

Later generations, both Djokovic and Wawrinka, criticized the four Grand Slam tournaments for making too much money and giving too little to the players. This allowed only the top 100 players in the world to support themselves in men's professional tennis.

But criticism is criticism, and the organizing committees of the four majors still go their own way.

Of course, these things are still far away from Chen Ran today, and it is not his turn to worry about them.

Drop~
At this time, he received a text message from that guy Roddick.

"Man, I won the championship!"

"First championship on grass court!"

"When will you come to England? Let's have a good fight!"

"I admit that I'm not as good as you on clay, and we're on par with each other on hard courts, but I can definitely beat you on grass!"

Are we really equal on hard courts?
Chen Ran muttered, this guy is really confident, but it seems that he has won too few times.

"Andy, which station did you win?" he replied.

"..." Roddick suddenly felt very speechless.

Is it possible that you don't pay attention to the grassland season at all, and you are so happy in China that you enjoy playing every night, right?

"What I got is the Queen's Cup!"

"This is the most valuable grass-court championship besides Wimbledon!"

It seems so?But Chen Rancai doesn’t want to participate in the Queen’s Cup, and will not participate even in the future.

After deducting the taxes you have to pay, there is not much left of the meager bonus.It can even be said that if Chen Ran goes to play the Queen's Cup and is unlucky enough to be eliminated in one or two rounds, he will have to pay extra to play the game.

This is by no means alarmist.

Although Chen Ran earned a lot of money and didn't care about the little money, why should he give it to those British guys for free?Might as well donate it to the western region of the motherland.

"Congratulations, I hope you can continue your good form at Wimbledon."

After Chen Ran replied to the message, he opened the computer web page and clicked on Sina Sports.

Because of his relationship, the popularity of tennis has indeed increased a lot.

The news that Roddick won the Queen's Cup appeared on the homepage of Sina Sports, but netizens' comments were basically related to Chen Ran.

Some people complained about why he didn't go to the Queen's Cup.

Some people also ridiculed that Chen Ran, as a Grand Slam winner, no longer despises ordinary tour events.

Of course, there are also some insiders who say that the special tax system for competitions in the UK has deterred Chen Ran, so he tried to reduce the number of competitions in the UK.

In addition, netizens also started a very heated discussion on how far Chen Ran can go at Wimbledon.

However, almost one-third of people believed that Chen Ran would stop in the first round.

The reason is that Chen Ran took a rest after the French Open, and he has no experience on grass, so he is not favored.

Even Chen Ran's fans admit that Chen Ran should focus on the US Open in early September.

"It seems that everyone is not optimistic about my performance at Wimbledon."

Chen Ran looked at the computer screen and muttered silently.

That's fine!
At the French Open, Chen Ran's goal was to surpass the Australian Open, and that was the final.

What are the goals of Wimbledon?I haven’t thought about the finals, but at least it must be an achievement that has never been achieved by an Asian player.

"It's time to put your mind away."

The next second, Chen Ran appeared at the "simulation training ground" and adjusted the training ground into a grass court.

"Coach, I'm going to train."

"Okay." The virtual coach "Zhang Depei" nodded, "But you have to understand that I am not good at grass courts, so my help to you is limited."

This is exactly the same as Zhang Depei in the real world.

During his playing career, Zhang Depei basically specialized in clay courts and hard courts. His best result at Wimbledon was the quarterfinals, which was a bit shabby for a player of his level.

"I understand." Chen Ran turned his eyes and pointed at Djokovic, "King of grass, come and practice with me."

……

(End of this chapter)