Return to 2002: Freestyle Superstar

Chapter 437: Time to reach the top!

PS: After Golden Slam, the protagonist will go about his daily routine for a period of time. After all, everyone will probably get tired of watching repeated competitions, and I hope readers will stop calling me stupid.

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Golden slam!
Eighteen-year-old Chen Ran finally achieved this achievement!

What an anxious and maddening final!

The best-of-five-set Olympic men's singles final is definitely as tough as any Grand Slam final.

Chen Ran spread his arms and lay on the ground, breathing heavily.

Is there any better outcome than this?

In my previous life, before the rise of Djokovic, the one I admired most was Safin.

Not only because of his gorgeous playing style, comprehensive skills, but also his straightforward temper.

In his autobiography after his retirement, Agassi openly admitted that he had taken viruses during his playing career and played with ATP, looking very proud of himself.

At that time, Djokovic had not yet risen, and tennis giants including Federer and Nadal remained silent on this because their own interests were involved.

Only the upright Russian Czar directly bombarded Agassi.

This also made Chen Ran's impression of Safin skyrocket.

In the Olympic finals, defeating Safin and winning the precious and heavy men's singles gold medal, is there any more perfect result than this?

What's more, the two of them did join forces to create a classic game that could go down in Olympic history.

Chen Ran stood up with some difficulty, and then rubbed his sore thighs and arms.

Throughout the game, he didn't know how far he ran in order to mobilize Safin.

It should be no less than the distance run by some football players in the top leagues.

Pain~~
Chen Ran suddenly felt cramps in his thigh muscles and a feeling of muscle tearing.

In addition, he later discovered that his arm seemed to be a little weak, and he still felt some pain.

Chen Ran was so involved in the game just now that he didn't feel anything about it.

He raised his head and glanced at Safin. The big Russian man was not only covered in sweat, but also panting and looking exhausted.

Although Safin's technical and psychological quality are improved now compared to before the injury, his physical fitness is indeed not as good as before.

After four sets of the Olympic finals, he was indeed exhausted.

It can even be said that both of them were half-battered in this game.

Therefore, many foreign reporters who came to interview were muttering: This final was indeed exciting, and both sides played at the top level of competition. But the US Open is coming up in a week. Do they still have time to adjust?

Whether it is Chen Ran or Safin, after this tragic final, it is difficult to be in the best condition to face the US Open.

Damn ATP and ITF, what kind of schedule are they planning!

Many people were shaking their heads and sighing.

On the court, after Safin and Chen Ran calmed down a little, they shook hands with each other at the center line of the court.

"Chen, I must congratulate you." Although Safin lost, he still performed very grandly, "You finally achieved the Golden Slam with your own strength."

"The second person in men's professional tennis."

The reason why Agassi was the only one to achieve the Golden Slam before Chen Ran was mainly because professional tennis had never made it to the Olympics before.

It was not until the 1988 Seoul Olympics in South Korea that tennis was listed as an official event.

However, Chen Ran knew that until the time of his rebirth, there were only two men and two women in the professional tennis world who had achieved the Golden Slam.

The men are Nadal and Agassi, while the women are Graf and Serena Williams.

The two giants, Federer and Djokovic, tried their best but failed to win the coveted gold medal, which became the biggest regret in their careers.

And Sharapova also missed out on the gold medal and shed tears on London's Center Court.

Sometimes fate is so strange. Sharapova reached Wimbledon on that court and missed the Olympic gold medal on that court.

No matter how important the Grand Slam is to tennis players, if you want to achieve the achievement of the Golden Slam, the Olympic gold medal will always be the most difficult one.

It happens once every four years, but athletes can have several four-year periods, and they are still at their peak.

"Marat, I fought hard for this victory!"

Chen Ran joked to himself, "I even feel like this body is no longer my own. Fortunately, we didn't play the fifth set."

Safin also observed Chen Ran, shook his head and said with a smile: "Let's go to each other...Actually, my physical condition is not much better."

Indeed, the previous rounds had been a best-of-three-set format, but in the final it was suddenly changed to a best-of-five-set format, and the final set was still a long set.

It’s not easy for players to not only have to readjust and adapt, but also to risk injury.

"A week later, the US Open is here, what do you think?" Safin suddenly asked, "Well, it seems that the female player from your country who won the bronze medal has chosen to withdraw from the US Open."

"Uh...I did hear that."

Chen Ran nodded and acknowledged the news.

Zheng Jie, who won the women's singles bronze medal, was actually very, very tired after a lot of hard work in the first half of the year.

After the Olympics, my body also went through a period of slackness, which meant that I temporarily lost my passion for the game. In addition, due to some physical injuries, I chose to withdraw from the US Open.

More importantly, the first China Open will also be held after the US Open.

The China Tennis Open will start in 2004 and will be the first match of the Asian season. Although the current ATP and WTA tournaments at the China Open are both 500-level tournaments, they are held in China after all, and the wealthy organizing committee has given local star players very substantial appearance fees.

Both Chen Ran and Zheng Jieyou have to pay attention.

To be precise, with their current competitive status, the bonuses they receive from participating in the US Open are definitely not as good as the appearance fees given by the China Open.

"Chen, I should withdraw from the US Open and take good care of my health."

"But I should participate in the China Open."

"Um...you should know the reason."

Safin smiled, "Economic factors are also something I need to consider."

For him, although he is still a world-famous player, he still has not been able to return to the top 10 in the world rankings because of his one-year layoff.

Then the appearance fee is not very optimistic.

Fortunately, the China Open was very sincere and hoped that Safin would come to support him, and they also gave him a very considerable appearance fee.

"Perhaps we can still play against each other at the Chinese Open. I look forward to the next meeting." Safin waved his hand.

Chen Ran gave a wry smile, and he suddenly realized that Safin was more concerned about the Chinese Open than himself.

Frankly speaking, without Safin's reminder just now, he would have forgotten that there is still one China Open to play in September this year, which is also Chen Ran's 9 debut.

Damn!

After Chen Ran won the championship just now, he still wanted to relax throughout September, and didn't even consider the US Open.

But as a Chinese, he can refuse the US Open, but he really can't refuse this year's China Open, which is the first one.

Can you take a wave?

After getting so much appearance fee, if you really go to the first and second rounds, won't you be scolded by the Chinese fans?

While Chen Ran was in a trance, CCTV reporters showed unparalleled awareness.

They first pushed aside all the other reporters, and then without hesitation, they covered Chen Ran with the bright five-star red flag.

When Chinese athletes win a championship, the image of them wearing the national flag is definitely indispensable.

Therefore, Chen Ran walked around the stadium wearing the national flag and specially thanked the fans who cheered for him.

It really feels like a dream come true.

China's first Olympic tennis singles gold medal has arrived.

In this Olympic Games, the Chinese Tennis Corps won a total of two gold medals and one bronze medal.

Do you dare to imagine this in the Busan Asian Games where the entire army was wiped out two years ago?
If a screenwriter had written such a contrasting script, he would have been scolded by netizens as "a huge departure", which is almost as ridiculous as the national football team winning the World Cup.

But this situation does indeed happen.

After the circuit, the Olympic medal ceremony officially began.

"Chen, how many times do you think this is?" Haining joked after seeing Chen.

"What times?" Chen Ran was confused.

Haining smiled heartily: "This is the first time that the two of us have won the singles championship together."

"Wait a minute..." Chen Ran said in shock after returning to the Kingdom God, "Is this the fourth time?"

"Yes, this is the fourth time. We won the singles championship together." Haining was also happy.

The first time was the French Open in 2003, the second time was the US Open in 2003, the third time was the Australian Open in 2004, and this time the Athens Olympics is the fourth time.

In fact, Chen Ran couldn't remember whether he and Haining won the same Masters tournament, but Haining didn't seem to care.

It seems that in the minds of both Chen Ran and Haining, Grand Slam champions and Olympic champions are the ones worth remembering.

In fact, they won the championship together four times.

Chen Ran still felt a little emotional about the different fate between him and Haining.

It's just that although Haining has blond hair, her appearance is a bit ordinary, so the relationship can only be a relatively simple friendship.

But no matter what, this Belgian girl is still much more eye-catching than the Williams sisters.

According to the procedure, there will be the awards ceremony for the women's singles first, and then the men's singles.

So first Haining came to the podium wearing the Belgian flag, and then Zheng Jie, as the bronze medalist, stood to her left.

After the women's award ceremony, it was Chen Ran.

He draped himself in the national flag, jumped up hard, and then spread the flag with his arms outstretched, full of momentum.

Then the exciting national anthem started to sound!

The first Grand Slam win was in Paris, France, at Roland Garros.

The French Open awards ceremony also has the tradition of raising the national flag and playing the national anthem.

Chen Ran looked at this scene and recalled the scene at Roland Garros.

The first Grand Slam championship and the first Olympic gold medal, now and then, just like that!

……

(End of this chapter)