Return to 2002: Freestyle Superstar

Chapter 388 Channel Derby

Chen Ran's opponent in the first round was Lu Yanxun from Chinese Taipei.

A rising Asian tennis star.

The reason why this first-round pick is unfriendly is because Lu Yanxun is particularly good at playing on grass, and his results are far better than those in other fields.

Since his debut, he has won two ATP grass court championships, and defeated the British star Henry Henman in the Queen's Cup not long ago, reaching the quarterfinals of the 500 event for the first time in his career.

It can even be said that Lu Yanxun's strength on grass may be better than that of Thailand's Sri Chaphan, Asia's second brother, and South Korea's Lee Hyung-taek, Asia's third brother.

This is a guy who lives on grass.

Chen Ran even knew that Lu Yanxun would defeat Roddick at Wimbledon a few years later and reach the quarterfinals.

You must know that Roddick, who was at his peak in those years, may only be inferior to the king Federer on grass courts.

The first round is a tough one!

This game was also hailed as the "Chinese Derby" by the Chinese media.

This is why Lu Yanxun is obviously one of the top 50 players in the world, but he still likes to hang out on the challenge stage. It is obviously due to the dual considerations of economy and points.

The last time the two met was at the ITF Hope Tournament held in Hangzhou, almost two years ago.

But don’t be surprised if Zeng Shaoxuan fails in the first round of the next ATP250 tournament. This is very normal.

For the first time in history, two Chinese players met in the four Grand Slams.

How cruel is the ATP Tour stage?

"Lu Yanxun..."

Take the current Chinese second brother Zeng Shaoxuan as an example.

Of course, it is unknown whether the other party agrees with it, but the mainland's official media can only describe it this way.

In fact, in the 250 tournament, those who signed up to participate are basically the top 100 players in the world, and they are basically all famous tennis players.

Chen Ran looked at this name and felt as if he was in another world.

In addition, Lu Yanxun maintained his nine-game winning streak against mainland Chinese players in the ATP Challenger League and Tour!

In other words, since Lu Yanxun last played against Chen Ran in the Hope League, he has maintained an unbeaten record against mainland Chinese players.

But this guy is a bit similar to his previous life, because the competition on the tour is too cruel, so in addition to the four majors, he would rather challenge the competition.

At this moment, Lu Yanxun's world ranking has entered the TOP50, and he has gained a firm foothold on the tour.

"He finally stepped onto the professional stage."

In the past two years, Chen Ran has made great progress and swept the entire professional tennis world. Lu Yanxun has also followed the trajectory of his previous life, passing through all the opponents in the ATP Challenger League and achieving a very good record.

When he was in hot form at the Masters, he once broke into the top 32. Logically speaking, Zeng Shaoxuan should have a certain degree of competitiveness on the tour.

"On the grass field, Lu Yanxun is a giant killer!"

For most professional players, there is no difference in difficulty between the 250 and the Masters, as well as the Grand Slam events.

You can earn points and get bonuses at the same time, killing two birds with one stone.

Even if you make it to the top 8 or even the top 4 in the Masters, you may still end up in the first round of the 250 tournament.

And he is not alone, players from other countries often perform this scene.

Chen Ran commented in his heart.

Skipping Lu Yanxun, Chen Ran's potential opponent in the next round is most likely to be his lifelong enemy, Spanish rising star Nadal.

Since Nadal, like Chen Ran, was absent from the French Open, his world ranking fell out of the top 30 in the world and was not listed as a seed player.

The whole world is curious about what kind of answer this clay-court super player from Spain will give in the grass-court Grand Slam event.

In fact, Nadal's performance on grass is not bad. Last year, Nadal, who was only 17 years old, achieved excellent results in the third round, which was much better than his results at the French Open.

The British obviously also gave Nadal a problem.

Of the two superstars, only one can make it to the third round.

then……

If Chen Ran wants to persist until the second week of Wimbledon, which is the top 16, he needs to defeat his potential opponent, Russian star Safin, in the third round.

In addition, the grass-court experts in Chen Ran's half include Roddick, Agassi, Philippoussis, etc.

Relatively speaking, the other half of Federer's area is much easier.

Some media have even begun to joke: Roger can calmly wait for his opponent in the final.

……

"Chen Ran has not participated in any official competitions since Rome. His status is doubtful!" "If the opponent in the first round is a weaker player on grass, he will still have time to warm up."

"But Yanxun Lu, who is from Taiwan, is obviously a grass-court expert."

"The game two years ago has no reference value!"

Many Chinese media showed concern.

Although this is a "Chinese Derby" in name only, everyone naturally hopes that Chen Ran will win.

However, the media in the Bay Area across the Taiwan Strait were excited.

As always, these Gulf media outlets came up with wildly exaggerated headlines.

"After winning nine consecutive victories against Chinese mainland players, Lu Yanxun can conquer the last fortress?"

"Last year, he was in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon! Chen Ran on the grass is nothing to be afraid of. Lu Yanxun has a great chance!"

"There is nothing impossible about defeating the world's No. 1!!"

In their view, the grass court is Lu Yanxun's best chance to defeat Chen Ran.

So they started a crazy campaign.

For this reason, the media also wanted to attract artists from the entertainment industry to cheer for Lu Yanxun.

However, what disappoints them is that many Wanwan artists have avoided this opportunity that could have been a hot spot.

Because at this moment, Chinese netizens who like to compete, especially the huge number of Chen Ran fans, have opened their eyes and stared at all the troubles.

If any Wanwan artist dares to publicly cheer for Lu Yanxun, they will launch a boycott on the Internet, which makes those artists have to be careful.

So they all avoided this topic very wisely.

However, the Chinese mainland media still shows a very generous and kind tradition.

They will not be as exaggerated as the opposite media, and can only express implicitly that they hope this will be a wonderful derby match. No matter what the result is, it is a great improvement for Chinese tennis.

"If you lick like this, will people take advantage of you?"

"Even if Lu Yanxun wins the championship, what does it have to do with you?"

Compared with the Chinese media, which had to do superficial things, netizens did not buy it and criticized these media one after another.

The game hasn't started yet, but the Internet is buzzing with excitement.

……

Compared to the reporters from the Bay Area media who performed crazy shows, Lu Yanxun himself behaved very low-key.

He fully understands the importance of the Chinese market in the eyes of ATP and Chen Ran's status in ATP.

He is a player who has won three Grand Slams, so there is no need for him to follow suit.

Lu Yanxun knows very well that his strength is enough to be proud of other Chinese men's tennis players except Chen Ran, and this battle is also very likely to increase his popularity in the Chinese mainland.

Then it won't be a pleasure for him to go to China to make money in the future. Just like those artists, why should he be used by the media and reduced to a tool to gain attention.

"I respect Chen Ran very much."

"The experience of playing against him last time is still fresh in my mind."

"I have also witnessed his rapid growth in the past two years."

"There is no doubt that Chen Ran is the light of the Chinese people, and I am proud of his achievements!"

“It’s a huge honor to play against him.”

"I will give my all in this game, even if the chance of victory is very slim."

“I also very much hope that I can come to China frequently to participate in competitions and activities in the future.”

Lu Yanxun said a lot of things, and of course the most real purpose was the last sentence.

If you can drag Chen Ran into a tough battle, you will have the opportunity to go to China to make money in the future; if you can defeat Chen Ran in an upset, it will mean rolling wealth.

At this moment, Chen Ran's thought was that Lu Yanxun was indeed a difficult grass-court master, but for the sake of the next few rounds of competition, he had better resolve the battle within three sets without spending too much money.

At Wimbledon last year, he went five sets in four consecutive rounds.

The British guy wouldn't give him any extra money, but he earned a lot of money from the hard battles, which made Chen Ran feel very unhappy.

……

(End of this chapter)