Return to 2002: Freestyle Superstar

Chapter 453 These are the last two stops of 2004 (4K)

According to CCTV's post-match statistics, the ratings of Chen Ran's debut at the China Open were no lower than the average of the previous Athens Olympics.

The two-set tie-break was exciting and intense, and the amazing fairy balls were played one after another, which made the audience excited.

Facing Golden Slam winner Chen Ran, Chilean Gonzalez, playing away from home, played the most exciting game since 2004 under the watchful eyes of more than spectators, making this China Open opening match exciting.

"Chen, I believe China will become a tennis power." Gonzalez said seriously when the two shook hands after the game, "I was really infected by the atmosphere at the scene."

"Oh, isn't it considered a powerful country in tennis now?" Chen Ran joked with a smile, "It's not just me, we also have the top ten players in the world on the women's side."

"That's true, but for the country as a whole, it still lacks some foundation. After all, it's only been in recent years that Chinese players have appeared on the tour stage." Gonzalez said very frankly.

Indeed, without Chen Ran's relationship, it would have been at least 20 years for men's players to appear stably on the ATP Tour.

Although tennis is very popular in South American countries, they are particularly good at clay courts.

However, due to the country's lack of economic strength, there are only three ATP3 tournaments and one ATP250 tournament in South America.

The total number of events is not as high as that of China or the United States.

Since 2004, in addition to Shanghai and Yanjing, Chengdu and Zhuhai have also hosted one ATP250 event each.

"Well, I wish you good luck in the Asian season." Chen Ran shrugged and smiled, "For many players, the emergence of the Asian season will bring more bonuses and points, which is a good thing."

"Haha, of course!" Gonzalez smiled heartily.

Although some top players, such as Agassi, will complain that the emergence of the Asian season will increase the burden on players and make them exhausted.

However, in the eyes of most players, this bald man can only stand and talk without pain in his back.

You, Agassi, are a big name, have earned a lot of money, and are well-fed, but most players are not financially strong, which makes the Asian season even more important.

Therefore, most players do not agree with Agassi's words.

They would rather be tired from running around and participate in the Asian season.

After the Chileans were eliminated in the first round, they would rush to Shanghai to participate in the next game.

Chen Ran also walked around the stadium and clapped his hands to thank all the fans who showed up for their support.

Call ~
He took a deep breath.

In the first round, there was finally no comeback in the gutter.

The ATP500 competition is fierce and cruel, and many players know it very well.

Being eliminated in the first round and entering the deep rounds are often the same thing.

In a competition of this level, the probability of an upset happening is too high.

Fortunately, there was no danger.

After the game, Chen Ran was surrounded by countless reporters, asking him how it felt to compete in Yanjing for the first time and how it was different from competing in Shanghai.

"Oh, actually there is no difference. They are all competing in our Chinese city."

“And the fans in both places are very passionate and I’m grateful for their support.”

Chen Ran spoke slowly while facing the criticism of countless reporters.

"It's getting late now. I hope everyone will pay attention to safety when they go back."

He then looked up and looked at the time. It was already past ten o'clock in the evening, and the game lasted more than two hours. Football games don't usually end this late.

"Then who do you think is your biggest opponent in this tournament? Roddick or Safin?" Someone else continued to ask.

Chen Ran smiled and replied: "I have only entered the top 500, and I have not considered that far. There are only 32 draws in the competition. I think every player participating is outstanding, and I must pay attention to every game. Contest."

Because this was the opening match, Chen Ran had no idea who his opponent would be in the next round.

After leaving the stadium, Chen Ran took a simple shower in the locker room and then went straight back to the hotel.

After a fierce battle, he needed a good rest.

In addition, the China Open schedule is very tight.

To be precise, the entire Asian season is very condensed.

Because the Asian season was added later, and it is sandwiched between the US Open and the European indoor hard court season.

In addition, after the end of the European hard court season, there will be a year-end competition comparable to the Huashan sword show in tennis.

The schedule after the US Open is still extremely heavy for tennis players.

"It's the end of the year..."

Chen Ran looked at the night sky outside the window and sighed softly, feeling some emotional ups and downs in his heart.

After the four Grand Slams and the Olympics, the end of the year is the only heavyweight event he has yet to conquer. Although the Masters is also important, he has already won several of them. Even though the achievement of "Golden Master" has not yet been achieved, Chen Ran doesn't care too much about it.

But I don’t know why.

Chen Ran's desire for the year-end championship seems to be no longer as urgent as last year.

Last year, he had a chance to win the year-end championship, but because of a misjudgment, he lost and stopped in the semi-finals.

What's more, the year-end events for the next five years will be held in Shanghai, and Chen Ran will have a better chance of winning this event locally. Is this more meaningful?

This year, he wants to take a good rest.

After a busy year, Chen Ran didn’t really want to go to Europe and the United States.

Now that he can even put aside his world No. 1 ranking, can the European hard court season and the year-end held in Houston, USA, be put aside for the time being?

Suddenly, an idea grew in Chen Ran's heart, and it became more and more intense.

The China Open and the Magic City Heineken Open will be his last two events in 2004.

This idea is a bit crazy!

If the outside world knows your inner thoughts, a flood of criticism will surely come.

However, Chen Ran was really tired.

Even after achieving great glory, it lost some sense of urgency and hunger.

He is different from others, he is a reborn person after all.

He wanted to be free and not have to compete day in and day out.

After the Magic City Heineken Open is over, it's almost mid-October, and it's time to give yourself a long vacation.

This year, Chen Ran found that he had hardly had a good rest.

Number one in the world, he has proven that as long as he is serious, no one can take it away from him easily.

Immediately, Chen Ran shook his head vigorously.

This idea was a bit crazy and a bit unrealistic, so he kept it deep in his heart for the time being, preparing to take it step by step and adapt accordingly. (It mainly depends on readers’ reactions, the European Indoor Season and the end of the year. I think it’s not interesting to write again. For example, when I wrote about the China Open this time, there were a lot less subscriptions. It seems that everyone is a little tired of it.)
"Play well, first of all don't let the first China Open leave any regrets!" Chen Ran thought to himself.

……

Chinese fans have become accustomed to Chen Ran's unfailing success. In their view, the young "Golden Slam" winner is definitely the biggest favorite.

But sports fans always have a habit of hoping that the more outstanding players from their country, the better.

For example, in basketball, after Yao Ming, fans across the country are also looking for the next Yao Ming, hoping to strengthen Chinese basketball together, so the young and handsome Yi Jianlian has entered the eyes of many people and has also attracted widespread attention.

Tennis.

There is no doubt that Chen Ran is still the focal figure occupying the center of public opinion, and then there is Zheng Jie. Since tennis has taken the lead in women's sports, Zheng Jie has also benefited a lot.

Grand Slam semi-finalist, Masters runner-up, and Olympic bronze medal.

Her commercial value is also at the forefront among all Chinese female athletes. Even those women's Olympic champions are far behind her.

Then, enthusiastic netizens also began to look for other potential Chinese tennis players.

This China Open will be the best touchstone.

However, the results were somewhat disappointing.

On the men's side, Zhu Benqiang in 79 and Zeng Shaoxuan in 81 still lost very cleanly after receiving wild cards.

0 to 2, no suspense.

The 500 race is too high-end for them.

In the first round, even if these two people can avoid the seeded players, no matter how they draw, they will still face around 30 players in the world, with no chance of winning at all.

It is said that the greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment.

Many Chinese fans even started complaining on the Internet: It's a waste to give them this wild card. You might as well give it to me. Whoever plays will lose anyway.

"It seems that on the men's side, except for Chen Ran, it is still difficult for others to perform well on the tour."

"With their level, they still want to partner with Chen Ran in men's doubles at the Yanjing Olympics? Stop hurting others!"

"Chen Ran...he is really a purple star descended from the sky, and he is here to save Chinese tennis!"

However, on the women's side, the results were very impressive.

Zheng Jie and Li Na both successfully entered the top 16 after three hard games. Another girl named Yan Zi also performed well and defeated a seeded player, thus luckily entering the top 16.

This girl is not even 20 years old now.

Seeing this name, Chen Ran was also a little dazed.

In their previous lives, Zheng Jie and Yan Zi were golden partners.

Their heavyweight honors are the women's doubles championship at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, and the third place in the women's doubles at the 2008 Yanjing Olympics.

However, in this time and space...

Because of his butterfly effect, Zheng Jie has begun to specialize in singles and hired Zhang Depei to be her personal coach.

Her performance in singles is so outstanding that it is unlikely that she will focus too much on doubles anymore.

After all, the difference between tennis and table tennis is that it is difficult for you to take into account doubles and singles at the same time.

In a previous life, some netizens predicted that if Zheng Jie focused on singles and gave up doubles, her results would be better and she would most likely break into the TOP10.

In this time and space, Zheng Jie, who started specializing in singles early, had already achieved the goal of being in the top 2004 in 10.

The trajectory of history has long been changed beyond recognition.

Then it would be almost impossible for her to form a doubles partner with Yan Zi again.

what does this mean?
The young girl in front of me will probably be mediocre throughout her career.

Whether it is singles or doubles, it is difficult for her to achieve much.

What's more, Li Ting and Sun Tiantian have already won Olympic doubles gold medals. But in comparison, the combined commercial value and attention of the two of them are far greater than Zheng Jie, who only won a bronze medal.

This also gave many Chinese female tennis players their own thoughts.

In tennis, the influence of doubles and singles is so different, and the huge difference in prize money has to be divided equally between the two.

Therefore, many golden flowers who think they have potential regard doubles as a last resort, and their first choice is always singles.

The young and energetic Yan Zi also has this idea.

This is different from the previous life. Because China's Olympic strategy finally "made it difficult for girls to be small," they chose to deliberately focus on breaking through the women's doubles event.

But now, some good prospects in women's doubles feel that they can achieve success in women's singles, which also affects their career plans.

Chen Ran figured it out and couldn't help but rub his eyebrows.

No wonder people often say that luck is balanced.

The rise of women's singles in Chinese tennis may come at the cost of the women's doubles being buried.

Li Ting and Sun Tiantian basically had an idea, but the combination of Zheng Jie and Yan Zi is unlikely to appear again.

In the Yanjing Olympics four years later, the results of women's doubles may not be optimistic.

……

The match at the China Open continues.

The Sino-US war that Chinese audiences are looking forward to will never break out again.

The second-seeded Roddick seemed to be affected by the brawl at the press conference, and was completely sleepwalking in the first game.

His opponent, the Swiss boy Wawrinka, barely broke a sweat and eliminated Roddick in two straight sets. In one of the sets, he even lost 6-1.

Of course, at the Chinese tennis court, the Swiss guy still wears his iconic floral pants.

Nowadays, this guy also has a high reputation in China and has a lot of fans.

After all, Chen Ran, Nadal and Wawrinka are the only three players born after 85 who are making a difference on the ATP Tour.

Among them, Wawrinka has better results than Nadal on hard courts. He has reached several finals and won the ATP250 championship.

"My expectations for the China Open?"

"If we can meet Chen Ran in the finals, it will definitely be the most dreamy result!"

Wawrinka also said very excitedly.

"This is my first time in China."

Then, he said passionately in broken Chinese: "I love China."

Damn, these foreigners have learned so much!

Not only those foreign players who come to China, but also tennis players are no exception.

Chen Ran cursed secretly.

He just got the news that Wawrinka actually got an endorsement advertisement from a Chinese businessman.

As for the product, it’s floral trousers.

It matches exactly what this guy is wearing and complements each other perfectly.

Based on the charm of RMB, Wawrinka also deliberately practiced poor Chinese.

However, Chen Ran was still amazed at the Chinese merchants' keen ability to explore business opportunities.

Just because his opponent likes to wear flowery pants, Chinese merchants found him.

What if he likes to wear women's clothes? Can't you also find him to represent you?

However, before Chen Ran's second round started, he also made up his mind: Yanjing and Magic City would be his last two stops in the 2004 season.

……

(End of this chapter)