Return to 2002: Freestyle Superstar

Chapter 496 Awards and Decisions

In the 2012 Australian Open final, Djokovic defeated Nadal 3-2 and won the championship trophy.

This may be the most thrilling final in Grand Slam history.

In this match, the two fought fiercely for 5 hours and 53 minutes, which was the longest match in the history of a Grand Slam final.

The two sides fought until two o'clock in the morning Australian time!

This led to both men jokingly opening their speeches with "Good morning everyone."

In addition, after the game ended, a scene of classic chanting was left behind.

Both of them could only sit on their chairs panting before the awards were presented, and at one point they even lacked the strength to stand.

In today's French Open final, the score between Chen Ran and Nadal was 3-1. Although they did not complete five sets, it took nearly five hours.

The clay court game is all about grinding, constant running, and a competition of willpower.

Therefore, the consumption of a four-set match is no less than a five-set battle on a hard court.

At this moment, the exhausted bodies of Chen Ran and Nadal proved this.

Although Nadal's physical fitness is slightly better than Chen Ran, this game also made him very tired.

In particular, the mental pressure he bears is much higher than that of Chen Ran.

There was a "crash" sound!
Nadal suddenly felt numbness in his thighs, the soles of his feet slipped, and he accidentally fell to the ground. Then he quickly got up and laughed at himself: "I don't even have the strength to walk now."

Chen Ran didn't seem to be much better, and he patted his thigh hard: "I feel like I can't stand up anymore. Rafael, are we going to have to play so tragically in all future games?"

The 19-year-old Nadal smiled greenly.

The process was painful and the result was bitter, but he had no choice.

"Maybe next time we will play five sets or even enter a long-set tiebreaker, so do my chances of winning become better?"

After hearing this, Chen Ran shrugged: "Although your physical fitness is better than mine, I still have a chance to beat you in a long-term final. I look forward to that day."

Deep down, of course he didn't want to have such a moment, but he couldn't even sound like he was giving in.

Chen Ran also saw that this Spanish young man would not admit defeat at all.

Of course, this is no surprise.

The young Spanish matador has an unimaginable tenacity.

A quarter of an hour later...

Nadal stood aside with a dark face while holding a plate.

That feeling of "I'm very unhappy" was palpable, even though this was already the best Grand Slam result ever.

No cover-up!

Chen Ran first delivered a high-sounding speech in English, and then got the opportunity to speak in Chinese.

"This is my second French Open title."

"For me, the difficult and long clay court season is finally over."

"I love clay, and I hope that more and more Chinese players will fall in love with and enjoy clay like me. I also hope to see more Chinese players step into Roland Garros with their dreams."

"When our country's female athletes took the lead in winning the championship, I withstood the pressure and did not let everyone down."

"Thank you all the fans for your support. The five-star red flag in your hands today is very beautiful!" As soon as he finished speaking, the Chinese fans at the scene let out deafening cheers.

After five hours of thrilling competition, this championship was much harder to come by than the previous Australian Open championship.

The more intense the competition, the more difficult it is to become a champion.

"Also, I have something to announce."

After Chen Ran looked around, he continued to speak slowly: "This year's clay court season, I gave everything for it and almost exhausted all my energy. Especially since the Dubai tournament in February, it has been almost 2 months. Have a good rest."

The Chinese reporters present looked at each other with a vague feeling of something bad, but Chen Ran's voice continued to be heard.

"I'm not 100 percent healthy."

"After experiencing such a difficult match against Rafael, I felt sore all over my body, and the discomfort in my arms and thighs was more obvious."

"I think my career is still very long. My goal is to play until the age of 35. There is no need to care too much about the immediate gains and losses, so I announced my withdrawal from the next grass court season!"

Chen Ran held the championship trophy in one hand and the microphone in the other, and very calmly delivered such earth-shattering news.

Defending champion Chen Ran announced his withdrawal from the 2005 grass court season, including Wimbledon.

Especially this guy actually chose the French Open awards ceremony to announce this matter, which is unprecedented.

Immediately, the audience at the scene began to chatter and discuss, and the level of noise was no less than that of the vegetable market.

But Wimbledon is still a month away, shouldn’t the focus now still be the French Open?

The organizing committee in Paris was really dumbfounded by this.

However, this guy Chen Ran really knows how to make a living.

Then, he added: "Although my current number of Grand Slams is 6, it will not reach 7 for the time being. You guys understand what I mean."

Everyone suddenly understood, and then burst out bursts of laughter in unison, as if to say: You cunning Chinese, we understand your subtext!
Among today's active players, Chen Ran's six Grand Slams still rank second, still behind Agassi's seven.

If this trend continues, Chen Ran will soon catch up with Agassi.

What's even more interesting is that not long ago, Chen Ran and Agassi had a minor dispute over when the latter should retire.

We are all adults and can smell the gunpowder in it.

One wants to retire as the number one active player, while the other wants to achieve a lead before the other player officially retires.

But Agassi didn't dare to retire too early, because his competitive status was pretty good, and he was burdened with a huge amount of advertising endorsements. He could delay it for a while, and he was even more worried about being criticized and ridiculed by the outside world because he was afraid of being overtaken by Chen Ran. Just retired.

Chen Ran said this to deliberately guide everyone to think in this direction.

In short, they all have their own agendas and are constantly scheming against each other.

However, as Chen Ran announced his withdrawal from the "turf season", it also means that Agassi can still secure his position as the number one active player this year at least. After all, even if Chen Ran can win the US Open, the number of Grand Slams between the two is still the same.

At most, he is tied for first place!
However, with the first-come, first-served principle, Agassi can still be half a step ahead of Chen Ran.

If Chen Ran wants to surpass Agassi at the earliest, he will have to wait until next year's Australian Open.

Therefore, the latter can get through 2005 with complete peace of mind, without having to be frightened every day.

……

(End of this chapter)