Return to 2002: Freestyle Superstar

Chapter 312 Serious misjudgment! Was it being targeted?

For American journalists who have always been petty, they even doubted whether Roddick's question about the authenticity of the moon landing was caused by Chen Ran, who was doing harm to his friends.

Yes, these Americans always habitually find outsiders to take the blame, and then wash the floor for their own people. Sometimes they don't even need evidence, just a bag of washing powder is enough.

It's a pity that Chen Ran didn't give them any chance to frame him.

He obviously knows how to flatter and kill.

"I watched a Hollywood movie not long ago. Didn't you even land on Mars? The moon is nothing."

"What, the movie is actually real? Why is it filmed like it's real?"

"Okay, I'm going to start the game. I won't answer this question again!"

Chen Ran said this as he looked at the American reporters surrounding him.

These American reporters always find something strange.

Why did the other party mention Hollywood movies and say that the movie "Landing on Mars" you made looks like a real thing.

Could he be implying that those realistic "moon landing photos" were produced by Hollywood?

These people think so, but they can only think about it without any evidence.

In this packed indoor tennis court, the match between Chen Ran and Ferrero officially began.

The honeymoon period between China and the United States, coupled with Chen Ran's wonderful and unparalleled performance in winning the US Open, and Yao Ming's reputation, made the Houston audience at the scene cheer for Chen Ran.

The first battle of what Chinese reporters call the "Huashan Swordsmanship" has begun.

Chen Ran was in good form. He broke Ferrero's serve at the beginning of the first set and then won the first game 6-4.

In the second set, Ferrero launched a strong counterattack.

The two had an extremely fierce confrontation at the net and at the baseline.

In this set, Chen Ran and Ferrero broke each other's serve once, and then the score kept rising anxiously, reaching a 6-6 tie and entering a tie-break.

From Chen Ran's perspective, he naturally hopes for a quick victory.

Five games must be played in seven days, especially since the group stage has games for three consecutive days, and they are all clashes between the top eight teams in the world. The difference in strength is minimal, which is a great test for the players' physical fitness.

So after entering the tie-break, Chen Ran once again showed his true qualities as the "king of tie-breaks" and won the tie-break with a strong score of 7-3.

On the first day of competition, Chen Ran got off to a good start.

In the Group B match that also followed, Roddick also defeated Hewitt 2-0.

In addition, Federer defeated Spanish No. 2 player Moya 1-2, and American star Agassi also defeated Argentine star Nalbandian 1-.

Then quickly came the second game day.

The focus battles are Chen Ran and Federer, as well as Roddick and Agassi.

One is the world's number one versus the world's number three, and the other is a battle between old and new American superstars.

This is the fourth time Chen Ran and Federer have met. The previous record was 3-0.

Federer really wanted to get his first victory from Chen Ran, so he was full of energy and full firepower in this duel.

At least judging from this game, Federer's desire to win is better than Chen Ran's.

He also knows very well that to become the best player, he must cross the hurdle of Chen Ran.

This exciting duel, with its breathtaking rhythm of attack and defense, was a feast for the eyes of all the spectators at the scene and in front of the TV.

Even the host of C5 Sports couldn't help but mutter: "The level of this Swiss guy seems to have improved a bit compared to the US Open."

The first two sets between the two sides were tied at 1-1, with no score.

In the third set, the score between the two sides was still tight, and finally they had to enter a tie-break.

In the tiebreaker, both sides still played hard and carefully.

Chen Ran was the first to complete the "mini break", and Federer immediately completed the breakback.

The two sides once reached a 9-9 tie.

Immediately after Federer completed a serve, at Chen Ran's serving point, he first used a realistic fake move to cause Chen Ran to misjudge, and then completed the winning goal with an exquisite ball that was like a fairy from heaven.

First win!

三盘比分分别为4:6，6:4，7:6（11:9）

Federer jumped in place excitedly.

He finally completed his first kill against Chen Ran in the year-end Masters Cup.

It’s not easy to win a game!

Even though he was in superb condition, he even reached 11-9 in the tie-break of the final set.

Federer burst into tears of joy, as excited as winning a Grand Slam.

As for Chen Ran, he congratulated Federer very generously when the two shook hands, and at the same time he couldn't help but sigh in his heart: King Federer, who had countless honors and great records in his previous life, was now so excited that he shed tears just for winning once.

Isn't this something to be proud of?

After this game, the head-to-head record between the two sides changed from 3-0 to 3-1.

Fortunately, among all tennis competitions, the year-end finals are the only one where you don't have to go home immediately after losing.

"I missed an opportunity to increase my potential." This was Chen Ran's most real feeling at the moment.

On the other side, Roddick and Agassi once again experienced a three-set battle.

Unlike the result in the Miami semifinals, this time Roddick had the last laugh.

But when he learned that Chen Ran unexpectedly lost to Federer, his first reaction was that we were going to meet early in the semifinals this time.

On the third match day, 8 master-level players continued to stage peak duels.

Three games in three days will indeed test the players' physical fitness, psychology and willpower to the limit.

After Chen Ran experienced a three-set battle with Federer, his competitive state was slightly affected, but his desire to win was unprecedentedly high. His opponent, Spanish star Moya, has also entered a physical bottleneck period.

Win this game and enter the semi-finals; lose this game and go home.

With no way to retreat, Chen Ran burst out with amazing energy.

Perhaps it was because he became more focused after losing to Federer; or perhaps it was because his technical ability completely suppressed Moya.

6 to 2 and 6 to 3!

Chen Ran used the autumn wind to sweep away fallen leaves, easily defeating Moya, and finally locked in the second place in Group A, and emerged from the group together with Federer.

Roddick won all three games and took first place in Group B, while Agassi locked in another spot.

The semi-finals are between Chen Ran and Roddick and Agassi against Federer.

The scene from the US Open final was played out in the year-end semifinals in Houston.

This makes fans look forward to it.

In addition, the players finally got valuable rest time after experiencing three games in three consecutive days.

Both the semi-finals and the final will be played over two days to allow players to prepare well.

Indeed, it is the end of the season.

Most tennis players have already started their vacation.

As long as the top 8 players in the world still grit their teeth and persist, for the sake of points and bonuses.

But these players are exhausted, and their physical strength and energy have reached their limits.

So this mentality is somewhat contradictory to when they participated in the four majors.

When these top players participate in the four majors, they always hope to go further. If they lose the game, they will definitely be disappointed and frustrated.

However, when participating in the year-end competition, the mentality of these players is somewhat complicated.

Granted, they want to win the game and go one step further.

The appearance fee for a game is equivalent to the semi-finals of a Masters, and after winning a game, the combined bonuses of the two are close to the finals of the Masters.

Just one game can bring such huge rewards.

High bonuses and considerable points motivate them.

But when they lose, especially when they are eliminated, they are not as frustrated as when they lost the four Grand Slams.

There is even a feeling that I am finally free and can take a good vacation.

This thought has always occurred to him, and he has also seen it from the players he eliminated.

However, this is Chen Ran's first year-end Masters Cup, and he will still cherish it and go all out.

The confrontation with Roddick is always exciting, and it also attracts the attention of sports fans in China and the United States.

The fifth match day arrived amidst much anticipation.

The first semi-final, Agassi and Federer.

With his comprehensive skills and rich game experience, Agassi, who is getting stronger as he matures, once dragged the young Federer into a tough fight and even forced the opponent into a desperate situation.

Perhaps due to bad luck in the four Grand Slams, goddess luck finally favored Federer once.

At the critical moment, he relied on a slightly lucky tennis ball to reach the match point first.

Federer successfully seized this match point and defeated Agassi in three sets, taking the lead in locking in a spot in the final.

As for who his opponent will be?

Chen Ran or Roddick?

Tens of millions of fans and hundreds of reporters have their sights set on another semifinal.

Since the US Open, the Sino-US war between Chen Ran and Roddick has been staged again.

Celebrities from the American cultural and sports circles also flocked to the Houston competition arena and appeared in luxurious boxes.

The second semi-final was exciting!

The battle between Chen Ran and Roddick is no less than the classic battle in the US Open final.

In the first set, both sides broke each other's serve. In the end, Chen Ran won 7-5 with difficulty after breaking serve for the second time.

In the second set, after the two sides battled to 5-5, Roddick became more and more courageous and once again used a fierce offensive to break Chen Ran's serve.

The score of the second set was exactly the same as that of the first set, 7-5, but the winner was Roddick.

After the start of the third set, both sides were extremely cautious, but they would also put pressure on the opponent's serve at the right time.

However, after the end of the 12th game, neither side was able to break serve and entered the tiebreaker again.

In previous games, Chen Ran won the "tie-break" against Roddick completely.

However, in today's game, something changed.

Chen Ran's wonderful shot was obviously on the baseline, but the referee insisted that it was out of bounds, and showed no doubt about it.

So, Chen Ran cursed a few times in Chinese, and also sent a "national curse". Although the referee could not understand Chinese, he still sent a warning to Chen Ran.

6: 5!

Because of this episode, Roddick got match point, and he also had the right to serve.

In the end, he won the game with a beautiful ACE ball.

The 2003 season is over.

……

(End of this chapter)