Return to 2002: Freestyle Superstar

Chapter 352 Masters Tournament? How about perfect attendance this year?

How rich are the Saudi tycoons?

In fact, Chen Ran admired the French star Mbappe very much. This guy actually refused an annual salary of 7 million U.S. dollars, and it was still a two-year contract.

Since the turn of the century, these West Asian countries have been investing heavily in sports events, until the time when Chen Ran was reborn.

Not only football, but also tennis, which has middle-class attributes, has always been loved by wealthy people in West Asia.

However, for Saudi Arabia, the level of the 250 tournament is too low to be considered, while the 500 tournament and the Masters have already been fully booked. Unless a city voluntarily withdraws, they can fill the spot.

Saudi Arabia has been trying to persuade the ATP to set up the 10th Masters by spending heavily, but the latter has not let go and is in the wrangling stage.

This is mainly because after one year, there are so many ATP Tour events that many players have already been overwhelmed.

When there was no movement in the Masters, the Saudi tycoon launched an exhibition match plan, and the bonuses and appearance fees were even higher than those in the Masters.

These guys are determined to make the exhibition event even more grand than the tour event.

It's just that the time of the Saudi exhibition match is not very friendly. Although it has not been finalized yet, according to the original time and space trajectory, it will probably be arranged at the end of December every year.

"The end of December..."

Chen Ran looked at the invitation letter handed over by his agent and muttered to himself.

If he agrees to travel to Saudi Arabia to participate in exhibition games, then the entire winter training plan will need to be readjusted.

But the other party really gave too much...

On the other hand, the Saudi exhibition game is full of stars, and you only go there for about ten days, unlike Ronaldo who needs to stay there for the whole season.

It'll be over after a while.

After all, all the good players in the tennis world have gone. If Chen Ran didn't go, he would be too withdrawn, too maverick, and unsocial, which is not good.

Besides, if you can pick up money for free, why not go?

Of course, nothing is more important than staying No. 1 in the world.

Roger Federer of the original time and space maintained the world number one position from January 2004 to August 1.

It wasn't until Rafael Nadal won the French Open, Queen's Cup, Wimbledon, Toronto Masters, and the Yanjing Olympics that he struggled to snatch the world No. 1 ranking from Federer.

Chen Ran didn't think so far ahead that he would remain No. 4 in the world for such a long period of years.

But maintaining this ranking in 2004 is his bottom line.

"How about this……"

Chen Ran put away the invitation, "As long as I can maintain the number one ranking in the world this year and don't suffer serious injuries, I can go to Saudi Arabia to participate in an exhibition match at the end of December."

He gave the answer.

The reason why it is said that there are no "serious injuries" is because it is impossible for athletes to have no injuries at all. If they are just minor injuries, they can be dealt with.

After all, the exhibition match is not a real battle, and there is a lot of room for improvement.

Agent Xue Peng nodded and replied: "That's fine... After all, staying number one in the world is the primary goal at the moment."

Fortunately, there are still points for the current Olympic Games...

Chen Ran muttered something silently in his heart.

The current Olympic singles champion has 800 points.

However, in the future, due to conflicts between the ITF and ATP, ATP canceled points from the 2016 Rio Olympics, and it was not restored until the time when Chen Ran was reborn.

It’s good to have points!

Although the Olympic level competition without points is a dream stage for many players, if there are points, Chen Ran will be more motivated.

"The roster for the Sunshine Double Tournament in March has been announced, and you are included. You should be participating, right?" the agent continued to ask.

Because the ATP Masters is a mandatory event, the top 30 players in the world are registered by default. If a player is injured, he will withdraw at that time.

Since Chen Ran is not injured, he will definitely not withdraw from the "Sunshine Double Match".

"Of course!" Chen Ran nodded, "The Sunshine Double Tournament, it was a wonderful memory, and one year has passed so quickly."

For a professional player, he cannot only play Grand Slam matches. The Masters and the end of the year are equally important.

Especially if you cannot achieve the desired results in the Masters, it will be difficult to maintain the world's number one ranking.

"What happens after that? This is the key!"

After the Sunshine Double, another year of the European clay court season is about to begin.

For Chen Ran, the vacation after the Australian Open has come to an end. He must defend the glory of being the world's number one and meet the challenges of all the world's top players.

Clay court season...

Chen Ran muttered, his eyes twinkling.

Monte Carlo, Madrid, Hamburg, and Rome.

There are four clay court Masters tournaments.

Among them, this year will be the swan song of the Hamburg Masters, because next year the Hamburg Masters will be downgraded to a 500 tournament, and its Masters quota will be replaced by the China Magic City.

However, because the Magic City will host the year-end finals from 2005 to 2008, the ATP 1000 Masters during these four years will be hosted by Shenzhen.

Competition prize money is also at the first level among various masters competitions.

"Why don't you all participate!" Chen Ran's answer was somewhat beyond the agent's expectations.

This guy doesn't like to selectively participate in the Masters and then miss two of the events. He just has to guarantee seven of the events.

Why did you change your temper and become a model worker now?

"You know, if you only participate in seven stations, the year-end dividend will be too small!" Chen Ran joked with a smile.

ATP regulations stipulate that only the top twelve players in the world who meet the regulations can participate in the year-end dividends.

One of the hard and fast rules is that you must guarantee to participate in 7 Masters events.

Chen Ran did participate in the competition with the goal of completing the "guarantee".

But he found that if he only participated in seven stations, the dividend would be too small.

He won five Masters championships in one year, but his dividend was only more than 5 US dollars, while Federer received more than 50 million US dollars in dividends, even Roddick got more than him.

Because I was absent from two stations, while the other party was perfect attendance.

It’s not necessarily about winning the championship or reaching the finals anyway.

So Chen Ran changed his mind and decided to complete full attendance at the Masters at least this year. As for how far he played, he was fully capable of controlling the game by upshifting or downshifting.

This is his second tour season, and Chen Ran knows very well when to exert his strength and when to withdraw his strength.

But no matter what, at least on the surface, he has to complete the nine Masters tournaments without any injuries and become a model worker in everyone's eyes.

"After all, I'm only 18 years old, and I'm not old enough to lie down yet!"

When Chen Ran was gearing up for the "Sunshine Double Match" in the new season, another public opinion storm struck.

On a certain day in February, the first China Forbes Celebrity List was officially announced.

……

(End of this chapter)