Return to 2002: Freestyle Superstar

Chapter 270 The unexpected kick-off guest—James

Starting from the second half of 2003, many players from the Chinese Tennis National Team, both men and women, began to participate crazily in various ATP challenges.

The reason is that the Tennis Association has money!

Because of Chen Ran's relationship, the Chinese Tennis National Team received generous sponsorship from Nike, which also made their funds sufficient, allowing these players to frequently participate in various challenges around the world.

But these players quickly realized the cruelty of the professional arena. Let alone the tour, even low-level challenge matches are difficult to win.

Now only 18 years old, Isner has swept the challenge and has become an insurmountable mountain for many Chinese tennis players.

However, looking at the opening game of the US Open, Isner was beaten by Chen Ran throughout the whole game, and he only won 4 games in three sets combined.

This is also the reason why the C5 host just said this.

Although Chen Ran has achieved unprecedented success, the road for Chinese tennis as a whole is still long.

"Look at the gap between Chinese players and Isner, and then look at the gap between Isner and Chen Ran. This shows how cruel the professional tennis world is."

"So some people are dissatisfied when they see Chen Ran taking all the resources by himself, but the fact is that in competitive sports, the winner takes all!"

"Similarly, many Chinese players have also benefited from Chen Ran's relationship and have enough funds to participate in international competitions."

"We look forward to seeing our second male player on tour stages soon."

The C5 host babbled a lot excitedly, and Chen Ran, who was at Flushing Center at the moment, was enjoying the applause of the audience.

"Chen, I saw how frustrated Isner was. You seem to be beating our boy to tears!" the host at the scene pulled Chen Ran and joked.

"Isner has talent, height, and strength. I believe the future belongs to him!" Chen Ran replied with a smile.

"In the future...but you are obviously younger?" The host was speechless.

Even if you want to encourage our young man, you can at least come up with some reliable sentences. It's so perfunctory!

But Chen Ran had the attitude of "I can only say this, what can you do?"

Sampras, who watched the match live, had only one thought in his mind: If he had met Chen Ran last year at this year's US Open, would he still be able to beat him.

In the end, Sampras, who has always been conceited, believed that his chances of winning this match were only [-]-[-].

Fortunately, Chen Ran debuted a year late, otherwise his final performance would have been disrupted by him.

After this game, the US Open Organizing Committee directly ranked him and Roddick as the favorites in view of Chen Ran's fiery state.

They obviously also know how to cater to the media and create a "double pride" persona.

Chinese media even borrowed the name from the popular TV series "Two Prides" of the same name, a novel by Gu Long that was popular in the past few years.

Some other tennis players and high-ranking seed players also passed the test one after another. The only exception was the No. 10 seed French Grosjean who was defeated by a young Paraguayan player who broke through the qualifying round.

In addition, in the first "Fener Showdown" that Chen Ran paid special attention to, the young and immature Nadal was still unable to pose a threat to Federer, especially on the hard courts where the latter was good at, 0 to 3, without any suspense. Lost.

Swiss brother Wawrinka defeated the qualifiers 3-2 and passed the test in a thrilling manner.

In the second round, Chen Ran will meet Wawrinka for the second time.

When Chen Ran and Roddick attracted too much attention, Agassi, who had already come to an end, showed his tenacious side and eliminated the Spanish veteran Corretja 3-0 very simply.

三盘比分分别为6:1，6:2，6:2！

Agassi only allowed his opponent to win five games. In the first round, this record was only inferior to Chen Ran.

The veteran king seems to be declaring that I am not old yet, and you young people should be less complacent.

Then, shortly after the first round of the US Open, another piece of very explosive news broke out, which seemed to be deliberately targeting No. 2 seed Roddick.

The No. 9 seed at this year's US Open, Australia's No. [-] star Philippoussis, officially announced his relationship with American socialite Paris Hilton.

New York has always been her home, and Roddick's ex-girlfriend appears on the court at the US Open in all her glory every day.

Many excited reporters gathered around Roddick, wanting to ask his ex-boyfriend "what does he think" and whether he felt green on top of his head.

"Who do these stinky bitches have to do with me?"

Roddick was asked endless questions by these reporters who were full of gossip, and then entered oral pleasure mode.

"Philipsis?"

"I don't care! If that bitch's new boyfriend is Chen Ran, I might pay more attention to the news."

The reporter seemed to smell something and continued to ask: "Do you want something to happen between Chen Ran and Hilton?"

"You reporters have too many boring questions! I'm going to train!" Roddick began to drive away the reporters.

……

"What's this about me?"

Chen Ran was a little speechless at Roddick's openness, but he did vaguely remember that Hilton had an Australian boyfriend, and he didn't expect that he was also a tennis player.

This girl especially likes to pick athletes, maybe only the athlete's piling rhythm can satisfy her.

However, Philippoussis's popularity is not bad. After all, this guy eliminated Chen Ran in the Cincinnati Masters not long ago, and he can be regarded as a well-known figure in the professional tennis world.

Chen Ran was very determined and unwilling to answer any topics that had nothing to do with the competition.

However, Chen Ran's next move made the reporters even more excited. He actually appeared in the stands of a women's tennis match, and one of the players in the match was Chen Ran's mixed doubles partner at Wimbledon - the beautiful Russian girl Sharapova.

The No. [-] seed in the tournament and the WTA’s most anticipated super star.

“Chen, are you here to support Maria?”

"Do you have a secret relationship?"

"Why didn't you and Maria form a mixed doubles team this time at the US Open?"

The reporters asked questions one after another.

"I was just bored and happened to pass by the stadium. I saw there was a game and came in."

“I don’t have to spend money on tickets anyway!”

The reporters still looked unconvinced.

"Anyway, whether you believe it or not, this is the truth!" Chen Ran said shamelessly and confidently.

An American reporter continued to dig holes: "Chen Ran, do you think the relationship between Hilton and Philippoussis has a positive or negative impact on Roddick's state?"

Won't you ask Roddick yourself?

"Andy was a pure man."

"His love for tennis went far beyond beauty."

The other party continued to ask: "What about you, which one do you love more, tennis or beauties?"

The American reporters dared to ask, and were not as reserved as the Chinese reporters.

"I don't know..." Chen Ran shrugged and said with a hint of humor, "I'm not yet a minor. So so far, I can't tell you whether I love tennis or beauties more. After all, I haven't experienced it yet. .”

"..." The reporter was speechless, but for some reason he felt as if he had "experienced" this tone.

At the same time, this women's tennis match went very quickly.

In just over an hour, Sharapova swept her opponents 2-0.

She also noticed Chen Ran in the audience. This little girl ran up happily and hugged Chen Ran first, and then gave him a kiss, which made the Chinese reporters click the shutter in excitement.

"Please..." Chen Ran looked at the excited Chinese reporters and had to remind him, "This is just international etiquette. It would be too embarrassing if you make a fuss about it."

The second match day of the US Open has officially ended.

Just like Wimbledon, only Chen Ran and Sri Chapan in Asia have advanced to the second round.

Chen Ran, a talented player who emerged from nowhere, still cannot change the relative backwardness of tennis in Asia.

Soon, the US Open ushered in its third match day, and many celebrities from the American sports and entertainment circles also came to the scene.

Roddick and Ferrero, who were in the bottom half, eliminated their opponents 3-0 and 3-1 respectively, taking the lead in locking in the top [-] spots.

If things go well for both guys, the Australian Open champion and Wimbledon champion will meet in the semifinals.

In the first half, No. [-] seed Chen Ran and Swiss star Wawrinka appeared.

A seventeen-year-old Grand Slam champion and an eighteen-year-old rising star. This is a collision between youth.

In any sport, those outstanding new stars will always attract the attention of many people because they represent the future of the sport.

In today's game, the US Open Organizing Committee also invited a high-profile super star to serve as the kick-off guest.

This guy is none other than the No. 2003 pick in the [-] NBA Draft—LeBron James.

Chen Ran looked at this tall guy in a daze.

The nearly forty-year-old man in my memory is still a young boy who is not yet nineteen years old, with a bushy short hair and a childish look on his face.

He has been hailed as one of God's favorites since his debut. Before he even played an NBA game, he was offered a seven-year, $7 million contract by Nike. He has become almost a household name throughout the United States.

James enjoyed the cheers from the audience very much, waving constantly, and patting his chest from time to time, as if he was here to compete today, and he didn't look like a guest at all.

"Old Zhan, am I obviously the protagonist today?" Chen Ran scratched his head with a wry smile.

After a while, Chen Ran, Wawrinka and James took a group photo together.

The host was very excited and pulled Chen Ran and James to interview.

"LeBron, what do you think of Chen Ran?"

"You know, I'm a fan of Chen Ran. I hope one day, we can become good brothers..." James showed his signature answering style as soon as he opened his mouth.

"Chen Ran, what do you know about LeBron?"

I don’t want to know too much! But there is no need to be brothers...

"You know, LeBron will definitely be the No. [-] pick that has attracted the most attention in recent years, and he is your proud son in the United States." Chen Ran also replied with words that made James "emotionally happy."

……

(End of this chapter)