Return to 2002: Freestyle Superstar

Chapter 260 Chen Ran’s wolf-raising plan

It should be nice to have a strong American opponent.

Chen Ran suddenly thought of this.

In the original time and space, since Roddick won the 2003 US Open, men's professional tennis has entered an era dominated by the Big Three.

The United States is the world's largest sports market, and tennis is no exception.

But after Roddick, there has never been a male player in the United States who has won a Grand Slam championship. This has also led to a decline in the commercial value and attention of tennis in the United States.

Chen Ran glanced at Roddick casually, and an idea flashed through his head: the competition with Roddick should increase his popularity in the United States.

Although China's sports market is also huge, if it can still get a share of the even bigger American sports market, why not?

Frankly speaking, the arrogant American audience, in addition to those die-hard tennis fans, may occasionally come to pay attention to their future competitions with Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic, and they are basically concentrated in the United States. At local Masters and Grand Slam tournaments.

After all, there are too many mature and developed professional sports leagues in the United States.

Therefore, the quickest and roughest way is to have peak duels between the two Chinese and American superstars he and Roddick again and again, attracting all the picky American audiences.

Yao Ming VS O'Neal, Kobe VS Iverson, Ronaldo VS Messi, even Tyson VS Holyfield...

Then the duel between Chen Ran and Roddick will definitely make the Americans' adrenaline surge.

Roddick, you brat, you'd better extend my peak period so that I don't get premature aging like in my previous life.

slap~
  Chen Ran suddenly patted Roddick on the shoulder.

"Chen, what are you doing!" Roddick seemed frightened by Chen Ran and almost jumped up.

"Andy, I like the title 'lifelong enemy'!" Chen Ran said seriously, "In real life, we are friends, but on the court we hope we are competitors."

"Not one or two years, but five or six years, or even... nine or ten years."

"I don't understand..." Roddick shook his head, looking like a complete American.

He is indeed a guy who grew up under the happy education of American imperialism.

"Lifelong enemies, superstars versus superstars, isn't that what your American media likes to promote the most? Of course, our Chinese media are the same..."

"Wouldn't it be better for us to be in it?"

"The duel between us will allow both of us to gain huge prestige and commercial value in both China and the United States."

"Do you understand what I mean?"

Although Roddick was a little stunned, he had been involved in the highly commercialized men's professional tennis world for several years and immediately understood what Chen Ran meant.

"Yes, the media needs the gimmicks and the fans need to appreciate high-level competition."

"I think about it, if the US Open final is played between the two of us, then the ratings will set a new record and even break this year's French Open."

"Similarly, there will be a bunch of advertising sponsors coming!"

“It’s exciting just thinking about it!”

Roddick clenched his fists and showed excitement.

He is also looking forward to the showdown between himself and Chen Ran, which is as eye-catching as the "Yao Shark Showdown" in the NBA and can attract the attention of China and the United States.

Chen Ran gave Roddick a thumbs up, and your kid's head finally turned around.

Since Roddick won Wimbledon, he and Chen Ran have the highest commercial value and the most endorsement income in the entire men's professional tennis world. This is also due to the huge market behind them.

Although China's current GDP is only seventh in the world, China's economic growth will surge in the next few years, and it will reach the top three in just a few years.

More importantly, among the major economic countries of the UK, France, Germany and Japan, except for Murray, who will be born in the UK, there will be no top tennis players in the other countries in the next few years.

In fact, Murray can be called one of the Big Four because of his nationality advantage.

"Okay, lifelong enemy!"

"We are lifelong enemies!"

"Ha ha!"

"Chen, are you really only seventeen years old? You understand so well!"

After Roddick came to his senses, he laughed wildly, regardless of the crowd of reporters and fans watching him.

"Does this need to be studied for a long time? Now that professional sports are so developed, we only need to draw inferences from one example."

At this point, Chen Ran complained in his mind again about the Chinese Super League and CBA. There are obviously successful professional leagues that do not imitate them, but they must make them nondescript in order to show their characteristics. The result is nothing but chicken feathers.

"Andy, you must know that for us professional tennis players, the biggest enemy is always our own injuries. Once an injury occurs in any part of your body, it may cause a rapid decline in competitive status."

"We earn bonuses. This is not like your American NBA teams, which can use junk contracts to support injured players."

Roddick heard this and nodded with deep understanding: "Chen, you are absolutely right. The ATP always wants us to play endlessly throughout the year, regardless of the load on our bodies, these black-hearted guys." "It doesn't matter, the decision is up to us. After all, we are not paid." Chen Ran shrugged and said disapprovingly, "My goal is to play until at least 35 years old, so maintaining the body is very important, and it will definitely be the same in the future. I won’t play with injuries.”

"Andy, if you want to enjoy tennis and extend your career, you have to do this."

Roddick continued to nod: "Yes, I often played with injuries. I thought I was still young and it was no big deal. But if I don't want to decline too obviously after the age of 30, I should pay attention to protecting my body from now on."

Chen Ran said with a smile: "I hired a yoga teacher and have been doing yoga training recently."

"How's the effect?" Roddick's eyes widened curiously.

"It's not bad. It should be able to avoid some injuries." Chen Ran introduced enthusiastically, "You can give it a try and see how it works?"

Roddick touched his chin and pondered for a while: "Since you said it is easy to use, it must be easy to use. I will try it after the Toronto game is over."

The two chatted for a while and then started practicing.

Chen Ran's current technical attributes are still 89 points, but he already feels that he has reached a critical point and may break through at any time.

Practice more with top players, I believe that day will come soon.

"Andy, let me try your cannon serve on a fast hard court!" Chen Ran said, holding the racket tightly with both hands and raising his eyebrows.

"Chen, please don't beg me for mercy later." Roddick clenched his fists with a somewhat provocative tone.

The main difference between the fast hard court and the slow hard court of the Australian Tennis Court is the bounce height of the tennis ball after it lands.

Generally speaking, on hard courts in the North American season, the height of rebound after landing is relatively low, and the forward speed after rebound is faster; at the same time, it is more beneficial to players who serve well.

This is actually extremely disadvantageous for players like Chen Ran who are good at releasing small balls, because if you show up even a little bit, the small ball you release will most likely become a fatal goal.

The US Open's court material also determines that there are more variables in the game, it is more difficult to control, and the competition is more intense.

In the original time and space, the 20-year-old Argentinian Del Potro defeated Nadal and Federer in the US Open to win his first Grand Slam championship trophy. At the same time, he broke the monopoly of the Big Three and blocked Federer's sixth consecutive US Open title.

This is the best proof.

boom!
  Chen Ran took a step forward, jogged a few times, and then the tennis racket was thrown hard like a whip.

The tennis ball hit the ground like a cannonball that shot through the air. After bouncing off, it immediately flew towards the billboard in the distance.

too fast!
  Roddick had no time to react and watched the tennis ball fly away.

"Chen!" he said in shock, "Why do I feel that your hitting point control has improved again?"

"Isn't this normal?" Chen Ran spread his hands and said matter-of-factly, "This is the hard court that I'm best at."

"Shouldn't clay courts be what you're best at?" Roddick immediately shook his hand and retorted, "The French Open is your best result."

"Okay, clay and hard courts are what I'm good at, and sooner or later the grass courts will be the same. What about you?"

"Damn it!" Roddick gritted his teeth. "I may never be able to overcome my dislike of clay courts in my life."

"Oh, that's good news for me, I lost a competitor!"

"Keep practicing!"

Roddick picked up the tennis ball and threw it directly towards Chen Ran.

But Chen Ran didn't even think about it, he just swung the racket and hit the tennis ball back.

"Andy, keep serving!"

"I need to use your cannon serve to continue to hone my return skills."

"You brat, you are treating me like a tool!" Roddick pretended to be angry, and then said "viciously", "I'm going to hit you to death with a cannon serve!"

The training between the two was extremely exciting. Whenever a good ball appeared, the fans watching continued to scream.

In these training grounds, the top 8 seeds of the Toronto Masters are practicing. However, the popularity of Chen Ran and Roddick is far ahead.

There are far more fans watching during their training than other players.

"I'm obviously No. [-] in the world." Federer looked at this scene and thought helplessly.

He was also helpless when he saw Chen Ran and Roddick stealing all the limelight.

After all, tennis is a winner-takes-all sport.

"I'm really bold..." No one knew what Chen Ran was really thinking at this moment, "The competition in professional tennis is already so fierce."

At this point in time, even the national table tennis team has not started the wolf-raising plan, but Chen Ran is so talented that he has the audacity to train Roddick as a competitor, hoping that he can have a more glorious career than his previous life.

……

(End of this chapter)