Return to 2002: Freestyle Superstar

Chapter 280 Semi-finals, celebrities gathered

When was the last time you met Federer? It was the French Open final, when Chen Ran swept it 3-0.

Laymen would use this game as a reference, but Chen Ran would not.

He knows how scary Federer was at the US Open.

In the original time and space, Federer was once known as the King of the US Open. He had completed five consecutive US Open titles. This record was enough to disdain the entire professional tennis world, including those famous players in history.

Not counting those before the Open, before Federer, the longest consecutive US Open record was three consecutive championships, set by McEnroe from 1979 to 1981.

From now on, even someone as strong as Sampras can only win two consecutive championships.

With five consecutive championships, Roger Federer has raised the difficulty to a point where it is almost difficult for latecomers to surpass it, just like Michael Jordan's two three consecutive championships.

The reason why the US Open is known as the most difficult of the four Grand Slams, and even known as a hotbed of upsets, is because it is the last of the four Grand Slam tournaments.

That's because after a long and arduous season, many top players have entered a period of fatigue, and the fluctuations in status are also very obvious, which is one of the reasons why the US Open is easily upset.

But in the season of Federer's five consecutive championships, he did not have any success in the previous games. On the contrary, his record was quite outstanding. Even so, he was able to complete this great feat. You can imagine how outstanding he has been in adjusting his competitive state.

Chen Ran didn't dare to be careless at all. He never even thought about the finals and devoted himself to preparing for the upcoming semi-finals.

Although the limit value of his technical attributes has reached 91, the remaining potential value is not so easy to realize.

Thinking about it, it took Chen Ran more than a month to improve his technical attributes from 89 to 90 points. He was not sure whether he could tap into the remaining potential at the end of the year.

Fortunately, the technical attributes of 90 points will not be at a disadvantage when facing Federer today.

"Chen, you are very good!"

As the coach, Zhang Depei showed relief during the training, "You are not lost in the praise from the outside world and think that you have made it to the finals."

Chen Ran did not answer, but continued to stretch.

Zhang Depei's voice continued to come.

"I know Roger. His style of play is very suitable for fast hard courts like the US Open, far better than the clay courts of the French Open."

Experts know the ropes, and Zhang Depei understands the differences very well.

"I wish you good luck in the semi-finals, but my instinct tells me that this game will be much harder than the French Open final, and you have to be mentally prepared."

Chen Ran raised his head and joked: "Coach, I'm even mentally prepared to lose."

Zhang Depei was stunned, and then he stopped laughing: "You have a good mentality. It seems that even if you lose, it won't have much impact. It's just that the external media is difficult to deal with."

Chen Ran said with some helplessness: "So far, I have only reached one Grand Slam final. But from those people's mouth, it seems that reaching a Grand Slam final is commonplace."

"Who do you think is more difficult to deal with, Federer or Roddick?" Zhang Depei suddenly asked.

Chen Ran was stunned, and then slowly said: "It's almost the same now, but it will probably be Federer in the future. The Wimbledon final cannot actually be used as a criterion. Federer was just defeated by his own pressure."

But as the saying goes, "One, two, but not three". When Federer reaches the third Grand Slam final, he may be able to overcome the psychological barrier.

"Yes, I also think that the Wimbledon finals should not be used as a criterion for judgment." Zhang Depei couldn't help but nod, "And when all the media focuses on you and Roddick, it will be a good thing for Federer. .”

Although Switzerland is a rich country, it is also a small country.

The attention that Swiss players receive is far from comparable to that of players from big countries like China and the United States.

Wawrinka, the Swiss boy, has won three Grand Slams, but his popularity and influence are not comparable to those of Murray, who also has three Grand Slams, or even Kei Nishikori, who has only won one Grand Slam runner-up. No.

Even if he is as strong as Djokovic, he will become the undisputed goat in the tennis world in the future. Due to nationality restrictions, his influence will always have limitations.

Chen Ran said nothing and continued to stretch.

Although he also showed a calm appearance, in fact, deep down he was extremely eager to win this game.

After all, the battle for world number one has reached a fierce stage, basically between Chen Ran, Roddick and Federer, and Ferrero also has a glimmer of hope.

……

China domestic.

Not only the sports media, but also other news media have focused on Flushing Park in New York, USA.

Chen Ran's name also frequently appears in the headlines of major media newspapers and in various reports on TV stations.

Compared to another basketball superstar Yao Ming, it is much more frequent.

Some viewers who don't usually pay much attention to sports also expressed doubts as to why this young man named "Chen Ran" was heard so often.

Why does this name stir up public opinion in China every few months?

This is the characteristic and advantage of tennis.

Within a year, Chen Ran's participation in the Masters was like Yao Ming's participation in the NBA regular season, able to maintain basic popularity and maintain a certain degree of exposure.

But once the four majors started, especially when Chen Ran entered the quarterfinals, the popularity exploded, comparable to Yao Ming's participation in the NBA playoffs or even the finals, but the latter has not yet happened. So starting from the semi-finals or finals, the popularity is comparable to the national football team participating in the group stage of the World Cup.

As for the sensational scene of the national football team participating in the knockout rounds of the World Cup, everyone has never experienced it and can only rely on fantasy.

But the World Cup happens once every four years, the NBA playoffs or the Champions League knockout rounds happen once a year, and the four Grand Slams happen four times a year, which gives Chen Ran enough exposure.

As the last event of the four Grand Slams, the US Open, coupled with the huge voice that the American media already has, has made the competition soaring in popularity.

Chinese reporters have been flying to New York for interviews one after another, and American reporters have been flying to China, to Chen Ran’s hometown, and even to his alma mater for interviews.

In short, the whole of China is currently filled with a strong tennis atmosphere.

Even some recent film and television dramas in the entertainment industry have gradually begun to involve tennis themes.

“A year ago, could we have imagined what is happening today?”

Zhou Yuan, a senior tennis reporter from Sports Weekly, wrote excitedly in his column: "A yellow-green tennis ball can touch the hearts of hundreds of millions of people! We can't even imagine that our country can have a tennis player like Chen Ran. ."

“He brought this sport into thousands of households and thousands of campuses!”

"I believe that one day in the future, Chen Ran will be to China what Michael Jordan is to the United States, and will become a cultural symbol that the country exports to the outside world!"

"Of course, the most important thing for us now is to watch the upcoming US Open semi-finals!"

"We look forward to seeing Chinese players appear in the Grand Slam finals for the second time!"

Time flies and it’s game day.

September 2003, 9, Yanjing time, 6:7 in the morning.

Players from both sides have arrived at the stadium.

Both Federer and Chen Ran looked grim.

Federer wants to prove that he should not be underestimated by the outside world. He has the strength to defeat Chen Ran and Roddick and win the Grand Slam championship.

As for Chen Ran, he knows better than anyone how difficult today's opponent will be.

C5 Sports started the live broadcast early. Sun Jifang, director of the Tennis Management Center, and host Tong Kexin sat side by side and chatted from time to time.

As the head of the tennis management center, Sun Jinfang feels a lot of pressure. She urgently hopes that a second Chinese player will appear in the main draw of the four Grand Slams as soon as possible, regardless of gender.

In addition, Chen Ran's previous words also made Director Sun reflect.

Does she think these national team players are too leisurely enjoying the harvest brought by Chen Ran?

As Chen Ran's performance continues to soar, more and more businesses are looking for sponsorships for the national tennis team. Especially since many businesses cannot hire Chen Ran, they can only find other ways to sponsor the national tennis team. Chen Ran got involved.

Next year is the year of the Olympics. It is conceivable that every game Chen Ran plays in the Olympics will attract the attention of hundreds of millions of viewers.

The Tennis Association, which used to be the Qingshui Yamen, has now become a very rich hotpot, even compared to the Football Association next door.

"Chen Ran is right, we still need to formulate some incentive policies."

“We can’t just allocate funds to encourage them to participate in competitions!”

Facing the CCTV host's inquiry, Sun Jinfang also expressed her own opinion.

At this time, the C5 channel screen changed, and several figures with attributes appeared in the audience.

Oh my god, look who this is?

"The basketball god Michael Jordan actually came to the scene."

"He just retired for the third time this year and this time it's time to say goodbye forever."

"You see there is also Hollywood superstar Brat Pitt. He is a die-hard tennis fan. He even went to watch the Wimbledon final this year."

"Hey, who is the person next to Pete? It's Mr. Jackie Chan from our country!"

"As expected of the US Open, which has huge influence. There are too many big bowls coming to this semi-final!"

The CCTV host spoke excitedly and was obviously incoherent.

At this moment, Chen Ran, who was practicing, looked towards the stands and seemed to see someone waving to him.

He took a closer look and was slightly startled: Why is she here too? Could it be that she came to the United States to participate in an event.

The woman waving to Chen Ran was none other than the popular little diva Alijie from France.

However, in the US Open where the big bowls were gathered, she didn't seem so eye-catching.

Chen Ran also raised his hand and waved towards that position.

……

(End of this chapter)