Return to 2002: Freestyle Superstar

Chapter 497 Breaking the stereotype of Chinese athletes
"I'm a little disappointed, but of course my health is more important."

"The grass court season is too short. Chen Ran has already won Wimbledon, so it doesn't matter if he doesn't participate."

"In China today, except for Sanya, there is no grass tennis court. How can ordinary people afford it? So I have no sense of involvement in grass court games at all!"

Even though Wimbledon, which has the longest history, exists, the presence of the grass-court season is not high at least in China, and is almost the same as the indoor season.

In China today, there are many hard-court tennis courts and clay tennis courts, but there are almost no grass courts, which gives everyone a sense of distance.

However, Chen Ran was visibly tired. He was holding the championship trophy and almost limping down with the support of his assistant coach.

This also made many fans fight against Chen Ran.

The men's competition is really much more brutal than the women's competition, but why are the prizes the same? This isn't fair, I'm so angry!

Indeed, although the match between Zheng Jie and Haining was exciting and intense, compared with the "Chen Na Showdown", the level of excitement was vastly different.

The pinnacle showdown between two clay-court geniuses ended in a draw.

But the bonuses are actually the same?

However, the four Grand Slams have a long tradition of having different jobs but equal pay. No matter how many fans complain and complain, it will not help.

After Chen Ran was asked this question, he laughed it off and did not choose to answer it directly.

He is not stupid. Although he feels it is unfair, he will not risk offending so many female tennis players by saying inappropriate things.

Perhaps only Kyrgios, a troubled Australian boy, would openly criticize this unfair system regardless of the risk of being fined.

However, Chen Ran also decided to take this opportunity to continue to put pressure on the organizing committees of the four Grand Slams by "changing the topic."

“It’s not easy for women’s tennis to become the number one sport for women, and it’s also the leading sport, so we should cherish everything that’s hard-won.”

At the press conference after Chen Ran won the championship, he once again showed his ability to create topics.

“We should not be thinking about grabbing more shares of a small cake, but we should be thinking about making this cake bigger.”

Chen Ran took a deep breath and continued: "First of all, I love clay and I love Roland Garros, but the prize money at the French Open is really too low, and the taxes are so high. Of course, I'm not talking about myself, but those who have stopped at the top. Round and second round players.”

He suddenly remembered an incident from the past. It must have been a few years later. Many professional tennis players were dissatisfied with the low prize money at the French Open and discussed going on strike together. In the end, because everyone had their own concerns, the matter ended without any problems.

It’s a rare event in a Grand Slam tournament where players can be forced to threaten to strike for this reason.

"You know, I'm also the vice president of the players' union."

Everyone suddenly remembered Chen Ran's identity.

"Safin has said before that the biggest problem in tennis is the four Grand Slams. They make too much and the players make too little. I also agree with this view."

"How much money can be earned from the four Grand Slams, and how much prize money is distributed to participating players?"

After thinking for a while, Chen Ran stretched out two fingers and said in a slightly sarcastic tone: "It seems that the bonuses distributed to the players are not even 20%."

So he feels that the key now is not to worry about the same bonuses for women and men. Even if you can get a bit of the cake from the women, how much will you get?
The bulk of it is with the event organizing committee!

Reject involution!

"Those who can participate in Grand Slam tournaments are the best tennis players in the world, but many of them have financial problems and cannot make ends meet! I am very sad about this phenomenon." Chen Ran shook his head helplessly: "Think about it NBA and the five major football leagues, those who can enter this platform are at least millionaires. The Grand Slam competition has always been against the NBA and the top European football leagues.”

"But you provide too little protection for your players!"

He unconsciously emphasized the last sentence.

Many Chinese reporters also looked at each other in confusion.

Chen Ran is really an outlier among Chinese athletes.

Having just won the French Open, you are so brave to say these words on someone else's territory.

Under normal circumstances, Chinese athletes rarely participate in these topics. It is those European and American athletes who like to make trouble about bonus issues.

This also led to a situation.

Even though some Chinese athletes have won many championships, their prestige in this industry is not high.

After all, in the impression of European and American athletes, Chinese athletes have nothing to do with themselves and care about themselves. Most of them are protected by the system and do not like to be in the limelight.

But Chen Ran is so different.

He has spoken!

"We always say that tennis is a global sport, just like football and basketball, but the situation of the players is really very different."

As soon as Chen Ran was speaking, he was interrupted by an American reporter: "Chen, there are also football and baseball!"

"..." Chen Ran cursed secretly, "Reporters from the beautiful country are here to cause trouble again!"

"Sorry... I'm Chinese! In our Chinese perception, that's how it is."

"The three major sports in our country are football, basketball, and volleyball, and the three minor sports are tennis, table tennis, and badminton. These are the six most popular ball sports in China."

"Don't tell me about football and baseball, we Chinese are not interested!"

So the only common points between the United States and China in popular sports are basketball and tennis. As for football, it can only be said to be barely considered. After all, football is not very popular in the United States today.

But think about it from another perspective. The level of American football ranks around 20 in the world, but the fact that the American Professional Football League has become the fifth largest professional league in the United States and can provide annual salaries of millions of dollars to those stars is enough to prove it. The charm of football.

Generally speaking, for arrogant Americans, if their country’s performance in a certain sport is not at the top of the world, don’t expect Americans to pay attention to this sport or pay for it, but football is the only one exception.

For example, volleyball is also considered a big ball, and American volleyball has very outstanding results, but there is no volleyball league in the United States, and even China has a volleyball league.

The American reporter was still reluctant: "We are promoting football and baseball to China. I believe that one day they will be as popular as basketball."

"Wish you good luck!" Chen Ran replied and ignored him.

After being disrupted by the American reporter, Chen Ran continued to get down to business: "Safin and Wawrinka approached me. If more top players are willing to speak out, we will try to form a players' alliance."

"Chen is not talented, but he is willing to be the leader!"

……

(End of this chapter)