Return to 2002: Freestyle Superstar

Chapter 256 The Chinese season starts early

After the promotion of the Olympic Games ended, Chen Ran rushed to the Yanjing Tennis Center non-stop and served as the image ambassador of the "China Open".

As a result, Chen Ran serves as the image ambassador for all ATP tour events held in China's two largest cities, Shanghai and Yanjing.

Of course, this is reasonable. Today's Chinese tennis players are almost the same as Chen Ran, who fights alone and leads the way, so this is the only option.

This also means that starting from 2004, Chen Ran plans to participate in these two ATP events in China.

I only participate in one ATP250 tournament in a year, which is the Magic City Heineken Open; I only participate in one ATP500 tournament, which is the Yanjing Huaxia Tennis Open.

As a local tennis king, you cannot refuse local events due to emotions and reasons. This is also beneficial to the promotion of tennis.

However, here comes the problem. With the rise of tennis fever in China, many cities now want to apply to host the ATP Tour.

Hangcheng and Ningzhou in eastern Zhejiang Province have shown similar ideas, and even Chen Ran's hometown Dongzhou City wants to apply for an ATP Challenger Tour.

Yes, for many local governments, even if they cannot apply for a spot in the ATP Tour, they can still apply for a spot in the ATP Challenger League. After all, it is an international-level sports event.

If you can't apply for ATP events in these places, then simply settle for the next best thing and apply for WTA events.

Looking at the long list of invitations listed by the agency, Chen Ran rubbed his brows in pain, what a worry for happiness.

Chen Ran was very familiar with this scene.

It also happened in the previous life, but the timeline was delayed by about ten years. It was because of Li Na's victory.

Chen Ran carefully recalled the situation in his previous life. Every year, China's tennis season is very prosperous, second only to the North American and European seasons.

ATP includes Yanjing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Zhuhai, WAT also includes Yanjing, Wuhan, Ningzhou, Guangzhou, Zhengzhou, etc. It can be said that it is huge.

Now this scene has reappeared, about ten years in advance.

Any city that wants to apply for ATP events or WTA events wants Chen Ran to be its image ambassador.

Of course the reward is very generous, amounting to seven figures.

What made Chen Ran even more bitter was that although Dongzhou City was applying to host a low-level competition like the ATP Challenger Tour, it was hoped that he could also serve as an image ambassador for the sake of his hometown.

After all, there is only one famous Chinese tennis player today, Chen Ran.

When you look for other tennis players, it makes no difference whether you look for them or not.

Unable to refuse the hospitality, Chen Ran had to sign ambassador contracts with event organizing committees in one city after another.

In addition, the ATP and WTA also said they are very much looking forward to adding a Chinese season to the Tennis World Tour, which is very beneficial to the promotion of tennis throughout Asia.

The emergence of China's talented tennis player Chen Ran has also made the ITF, ATP and WTA confident in continuing to promote the globalization of tennis, of which the Chinese market is also a very important part.

So the ATP and WTA respectively announced that the Chinese season of the Tennis World Tour was officially established, which was several years earlier than the original time and space.

Compared with the confident ATP, the WTA seems a little anxious.

They urgently need to find a "female version" of Chen Ran among Chinese women's tennis players, but they seem to have no idea at the moment.

What should I do if there is no "female version" of Chen Ran for the time being?
Those cities that apply to host WTA tour events have their own small calculations. Just invite Chen Ran's rumored partner Sharapova. She should also be a box office guarantee, right?

In just a few days, Chen Ran had several more identities.

When the Chinese season was officially established, in addition to the China 500 and the Shanghai 250, the ATP Tour now includes the Hangcheng 250, Ningzhou 250, and Shenzhen 250.

Chen Ran has also become the spokesperson for the three new 250 events.

As for the championship bonuses in these events, they once again reflect the arrogant side of the Chinese people. They are basically the highest level in the same level of competition.

比如一般ATP250赛，冠军奖金在5-6万美金左右，而在华夏举办的250赛，冠军奖金高达7-8万美金。

The championship prize money for ATP500 tournaments in foreign countries is generally around 15-17 US dollars, while in China it is around 20 US dollars.

Of course, this is also a last resort.

The Chinese season is after the US Open, and because there are no Grand Slam tournaments, your prize money is not high, and those first-class players are not willing to participate.

Then there are WTA events.

The ambitious China Tennis Open aims to become the fifth Grand Slam, so in addition to ATP events, it also applied for WTA events.

In addition to the WTA500 tournament in Yanjing, WTA250 tournaments have also been set up in Chengdu, Wuhan and Zhengzhou.

Immediately afterwards, under the warm invitation of the local government, Chen Ran accepted the invitation "half-heartedly" and became the spokesperson for these WTA events.

Chen Ran couldn't help but sigh that tennis is indeed a winner-takes-all sport.

To break it down, first first-tier cities such as Yanjing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, and then quasi-first-tier or provincial capital cities such as Hangzhou, Ningzhou, Wuhan, Chengdu, and Zhengzhou all invited Chen Ran to become their image ambassador.

The money came in faster than printing money. Chen Ran almost ate up all the resources by himself, and even he felt a little embarrassed. "Really, I really don't care if other Chinese tennis players take away some of my resources." This is Chen Ran's sincere words.

However, he was still complaining. During these days, he had to travel non-stop in major cities in China, treating it as travel to relax.

Chen Ran's agency also announced immediately that although the Chinese season has been established, Chen Ran's current plan is to only participate in two events in Shanghai and Yanjing.

After all, he has limited energy and cannot participate in every tournament in the Chinese season, even if you give him a million US dollars in appearance fees.

"The establishment of the Chinese season is definitely a huge opportunity for Chinese tennis."

At the press conference, Chen Ran faced the criticism of countless reporters and spoke eloquently: "Many Chinese players who usually don't have the opportunity to participate in the ATP Tour can take this opportunity to get a valuable wild card and win one round of the Tour. Dream."

"I believe that the entire Chinese tennis community will benefit from this, and I also look forward to more Chinese players appearing on the tour stage."

This is the press conference after the establishment of the Shenzhen WTA250 tournament, and it is also the last stop of Chen Ran's national tour.

At present, all Chinese men's tennis players, except Chen Ran, cannot even reach the threshold of the ATP Tour, and even the ATP Challenger League can only make it to the first or second round.

Although they can sign up for the ATP Tour qualifying tournament, they must apply for a visa, book flights, and book hotels, and the prize money for the qualifying tournament is so meager that it is insignificant compared to your expenses.

What's more, it's almost impossible for you to break through the qualifying rounds because of your strength, so why go all the way and work so hard to compete abroad?
However, the establishment of the Chinese season has greatly reduced the cost for Chinese players to participate in the competition.

In addition, the organizing committee can also send out several wild cards, giving many Chinese tennis players the opportunity to directly participate in the main draw.

It is foreseeable that the overall level of Chinese tennis will continue to improve over a period of time.

"Chen Ran, hello!"

"From your perspective, which Chinese tennis players are you more optimistic about growing up in the next few years?"

The reporter from CCTV asked with great anticipation.

Chen Ran pondered for a while, then smiled and said: "Other tennis players... I am currently more optimistic about Li Na and Zheng Jie. As for the male players, fellow men, you have to work hard, but at the moment I really can't see who has more potential."

With his current status, he can tell the truth without worrying about offending anyone.

If you don't accept it, you can only hold it in your heart.

"How long do you think it will be before you win a second Grand Slam?"

"Of course I hope it will be as soon as possible, but I can't rush it. What I need now is to continue to hold the number one spot in the world."

"Do you think the current Chinese female tennis players have a chance to win a Grand Slam?"

After Chen Ran thought about it, he said very seriously: "Don't be too ambitious. They should first win a tour championship, the 1000 Crown Tournament or the 500 Top Tournament. They don't even have the 250 Tournament Championship at the moment."

"Do you have any other suggestions for the newly established Chinese season?"

"Suggestion?" Chen Ran paused, then smiled, "If the ATP or WTA are watching my press conference, they should really consider setting up at least one Masters tournament in the Chinese season."

After all, the establishment of a Grand Slam requires negotiation with the ITF. The ATP or WTA alone cannot make the decision, but the Masters can.

If China needs someone to stand up and appeal, Chen Ran is the most qualified.

There are three Masters tournaments in the United States, one in Canada, and five in Europe, but currently there is none in China.

"The 2003-2004 year-end finals will be held in Houston, and the four years from 2005 to 2008 will be held in Shanghai. This is a good thing. But the year-end finals are a world tour and there is no fixed place."

"What's more important is that only the eight best players in the world can participate in the year-end finals. The number of players participating is too small."

"There is no Masters 1000 in the current Chinese season, which makes the entire season seem a bit unworthy of its name."

"I hope that the ATP or WTA can set up a 1000 tournament in China as soon as possible."

If Chen Ran opens his mouth, the Chinese media will also build momentum, and the Chinese organizing committee will continue to fight for it.

The Chinese season has indeed entered the historical stage early, but the Chinese season without the Masters also has the disadvantage of not being attractive enough and having low gold content.

Yes, the Chinese season cannot be without the Masters 1000, whether it is ATP or WTA.

As the king of Chinese tennis, Chen Ran has already issued an appeal.

The reporters present were also emotionally aroused and applauded Chen Ran's cry.

"Chen Ran, what's your next plan?"

"Back to my hometown, I have one last stop." Chen Ran showed a helpless look, "This time I am the image ambassador of the ATP Challenger Tour."

They gave him too much. With double the remuneration and the fact that he was from his hometown, Chen Ran could only accept the invitation, and they even called it "discovering new talents for Chinese tennis".

……

(End of this chapter)