Return to 2002: Freestyle Superstar

Chapter 506 The Invincible North American Season (4K)

Why did you mention the bonus again?

Chen Ran has emphasized more than once that the prize money for tennis matches is still too low.

But as the number one person in the world, is it nice of you to talk about your bonus every day?
Isn’t it said that Chinese athletes are shy about talking about money in public?
But Chen Ran actually likes to talk about money openly than those European and American athletes.

This is really a long time coming.

Of course, Chen Ran has subverted the stereotype of Chinese athletes more than once, and everyone has long been used to it.

Not only did he speak out for tennis players as the leader of the "Players Alliance", but also the change of the finals of all Masters tournaments from the best-of-five-set system to the best-of-three-set system starting in 2005 was also the pressure exerted by Chen Ran on behalf of the players union. result.

The prize money of the Grand Slam is more than twice that of the Masters, so why do you win the Masters finals in five sets?

At the same time, the finals of the 2008 Yanjing Olympic Games were also adjusted to a best-of-three sets system.

Currently, all men's tennis matches, except for the four Grand Slam tournaments, are best-of-three sets.

This time point is several years ahead of schedule.

"I would like to emphasize that I hope to increase the bonus not for myself, but to give other players a voice."

Chen Ran said slowly: "For tennis players like us who travel around the world all year round, the prize money of the Masters is very important."

"After all, there are only four Grand Slam tournaments in a year, and the prize money for the 250 tournament is too low. There are only 500 lottery spots for the 32 tournament, and the competition is fierce. The Masters has 56 lottery spots, and the Super Masters has 96 lottery spots."

"There are nine Masters tournaments in a year, so the Masters tournament prize money is an important part of most players."

There is indeed nothing wrong with what I say.

Obviously, the number one player in tennis today took the opportunity to put pressure on the ATP.

"By the way, Chen..."

American reporters remembered another issue that attracted much attention: "If the British government does not adjust the tax rate policy, will you not attend Wimbledon in the future?"

"Am I more courageous than Andre? Andre can only curse every time, but he can only participate obediently." Chen Ran joked.

Before him, Agassi was indeed the most commercially valuable tennis player, surpassing 14-time Grand Slam winner Sampras.

Since Agassi has many global endorsements, he has to pay a tax before each game in the UK.

However, although this bald man cursed a lot, he still paid his taxes to participate in the competition.

After all, it’s hard to say no to Wimbledon.

In comparison, Chen Ran is really crazy.

He chose to sign contracts with Spain and Germany to put pressure on the British side.

At worst, my grass court season will be Mallorca and Halle, but Wimbledon will be missing.

But then you think about it, this kid Roddick plays soy sauce every day during the clay court season. Even if he participates in the French Open, he will only travel in the first and second rounds. What's the difference between those points and bonuses and not participating?

So many players are absent from the French Open because they don't like clay. I don't like the British tax policy. What's the point of boycotting Wimbledon?
In addition, this also has something to do with the system.

When Chen Ran finished playing the French Open, the system prompted him that his body had turned on a red light and he needed to rest.

If you insist on continuing to compete, you may encounter injuries that will affect your career.

Murray's example is vivid.

This guy was clearly as powerful as the Big Three during his peak period, but as a result, he competed with injuries, which made him crippled. At the end of his career, Djokovic and Nadal, who were younger than him, could still win Grand Slams, so he had no choice but to participate. ATP Challenger League.

If it were Chen Ran, if he was not short of money, but he couldn't stand the sense of gap, he might as well just retire.

You said you love tennis and are reluctant to leave the court?

Then you can open training classes and teach young people to play ball.

After all, it is one of the Big Four. Even if you set the tuition fee a little higher, you don’t have to worry about no one signing up.

In fact, I still can’t bear to part with those endorsement fees after all.

Chen Ran also discovered that his various attributes have fluctuated according to his physical condition.

For example, for a long time, his technical, physical and mental attribute values ​​were all 95, but after the French Open, they dropped to 94, even though he had obviously fought Nadal countless times on clay courts.

However, after resting for nearly a month and a half, Chen Ran's physical fitness was fully restored, and he was pleasantly surprised to find that his attribute values ​​had risen to 96.

He finally understood.

At this stage, you have to defeat giant players several times before your attribute values ​​can be slightly improved, and it becomes more difficult in the later stages.

He doesn't know if he can raise the average to 97. In fact, it is not easy to maintain the level of 96.
And if you want to maintain this peak state, you must be in good and healthy physical condition, otherwise your attribute values ​​will slip.

This is also understandable. An athlete can only maintain his peak condition for a few years. After that, his condition will rise and fall, and there will be fluctuations.

To give the simplest example, the basketball god Michael Jordan has two three-peat championships, but everyone knows that in fact, Jordan’s combat effectiveness during the second three-peat period was at least lower than that during the first three-peat period. A level of more than 10%.

Chen Ran's biggest advantage is that he can understand his true competitive level at any time with the system's prompts.

Give up some competitions, allow yourself enough rest time, and adjust your body to the best condition to maintain your peak condition.

Chen Ran also figured out some patterns.

"After the age of 30, physical fitness declines. I don't know if I can keep the average attribute value above 93 points."

He muttered in his mind.

After the age of 30, only by maintaining an attribute value of at least 93 points can he suppress those players born in the 90s and compete with Djokovic, who is younger than himself.

……

Today, Chen Ran's popularity in North America cannot be overemphasized, far better than Yao Ming.

As the number one male tennis player in the world today, and with his full personality and maverick personality, he is very popular among young middle school students in North America.

Everywhere he went, fans and reporters surrounded him.

Tickets for almost every one of his games are sold out.

Every time Chen Ran comes to North America, he naturally participates in activities arranged by merchants.

The difference between North America and the UK is that although business activities in North America also have to pay taxes, they will not be plucked like the UK.

The sponsors here are quite generous.

Since neither the Toronto Masters nor the Cincinnati Masters are Super Masters tournaments, there are only 56 draws. As the No. seed, Chen Ran enjoyed a bye in the first round.

So if he wants to win the championship, it will be no different from the 250 and 500 races. He only needs to play five games.

In the second round, his opponent was a lucky guy who broke through the qualifying round and passed the first round.

Chen Ran felt that after taking a vacation, he was full of energy and full of hunger for the game.

He was in superb condition and even swept his opponents with two 6-0 games.

This was the first time in his career that he swept his opponents without losing a set in a tour-level match. Such a performance also made the fans at the scene shout terrible.

In the third round, Chen Ran faced Croatian star Ljubicic and sent out two fried dough sticks, eliminating his opponent 6-1.

In the fourth round, which was the quarter-finals, Chen Ran faced the American superstar Isner.

This one is also an old rival.

In the finals of the Challenger League in Shanghai, Chen Ran defeated this person and won the first real challenger championship.

This 2 meter tall man gave Chen Ran, who was still young at the time, a huge headache with his extremely sharp serve.

But as time passed, everything changed.

"When I faced Chen Ran, I felt that my serve that I was proud of suddenly stopped working."

"I even have the illusion that my serving level has dropped a lot."

"Of course, I know it hasn't, my serving level hasn't declined."

"Chen Ran's serve-receiving ability is terrible. I believe no one can comment on this aspect."

Isner said this in an interview after the game.

With a height of 2 meters, Isner has an almost terrifying serving ability.

After a game, it is almost common for him to serve more than 20 aces. In addition, his serve is straight. It is almost impossible for many tennis players to completely break his serve. things
Serving with a height of 2 meters is simply cheating.

But Isner's bug-like serving level almost failed when facing Chen Ran.

In the whole match, he only served 5 aces, and Chen Ran broke serve three times in two sets.

6 to 3, 6 to 4!

This is the score of the two sets between Chen Ran and Isner.

Even though the score was not as disparate as the previous two rounds, Chen Ran did not leave any chance to the opponent during the whole game.

In Chen Ran's own service game, Isner almost never got a point, and was even further away from breaking serve.

Chen Ran's advantage was very obvious, and the entire game lasted only one hour.

too strong!
Many sports media made shocking exclamations.

If there is no reference in the clay court season, compare Zhiqi's performance at the Australian Open. Chen Ran won the championship without losing a set.

This time in the North American season, Chen Ran continued his hot form at the Australian Open.

In the subsequent semi-finals and finals, Chen Ran was even more powerful.

2 6-2, beating Agassi cleanly and taking away the game.

He continued his undefeated record against the former tennis king.

In the final, Chen Ran's opponent was Nadal again.

If we follow the trajectory of the original time and space, the final was between Nadal and Agassi, and the young Nadal was even better. After defeating Agassi 2-1, he won the Rogers Cup for the first time in his career.

But this time the Spanish genius was not so lucky.

There is obviously a clear gap between his competitiveness on hard courts and Chen Ran, which is far less than that on clay courts.

After an hour and a half of fierce battle between the two, Chen Ran won 6-4 and 7-5.

Without dropping a set, he lifted the Rogers Cup for the second time.

The ATP points are 1000, and the prize money is 60 US dollars.

After the game, Nadal was not depressed. He obviously knew the gap between himself and Chen Ran.

But this guy said something meaningful to Chen Ran.

"Chen, actually I don't know how I came back from defeat that day in Miami. It was because you didn't rest. It seems that you had some physical problems in the last set."

"Well, the night before the game, I was probably too nervous and I didn't sleep well." Chen Ran replied.

"Haha, so I was lucky to win the championship in Miami that time." Nadal also believed Chen Ran's lies, "I hope we won't meet early at the US Open."

"You will most likely be the third seed. If we meet, it will be at least in the semifinals."

"I hope it's the final. After all, compared to Roger, I don't want to meet you before the final."

He felt that his competitiveness on fast hard courts in North America had improved very quickly, but he found that he still had no chance against Chen Ran and was suppressed by the opponent everywhere.

In comparison, Nadal is more willing to meet Federer before the final. He feels that compared to Chen Ran, he still has the possibility of winning when facing Federer.

"Also, I wish you can win Cincinnati, as if you haven't won this event yet, right?"

"Yes, I hope this year can be more successful."

"I quit Cincinnati. I hope you spend more time in Cincinnati. Maybe I can take advantage of the US Open." Nadal joked.

"Haha, if I can't complete three sets, I won't have to waste much." Chen Ran paused and joked, "This is not clay, but a fast hard court. There is no need for a war of attrition. I can definitely win quickly. "

……

Half a month later, the Cincinnati Masters came to an end.

In the final, Chen Ran defeated his old rival, Swiss King Federer, 2-0 after two tie-breaks.

From the Toronto Masters to the Cincinnati Masters, Chen Ran once again won back-to-back Masters titles in North America.

This game should be regarded as Chen Ran's most difficult game in the two North American Masters.

When Chen Ran was leading the pack, he found that Federer was constantly accelerating in order to catch up with him.

Both sides continue to improve.

But every time the Swiss King sees the dawn of victory, it will eventually be extinguished ruthlessly by Chen Ran.

After two thrilling tie-breaks, Chen Ran finally won the tie-break with 7-5 and 7-4, with no obvious advantage.

"Tie-break" has always been a lingering nightmare for the Swiss.

Once he and Chen Ran enter a tiebreaker, the opponent will always win the final victory.

This defeat also caused media and fans around the world to start mocking Federer.

"Look, I said that Roger can only steal one by relying on Chen Ran's absence from the Grand Slam."

"Not to mention the two of them are in the Grand Slam. Even if they met in the Masters final, they always lost to Chen Ran. The only time they won was in the group stage at the end of the year."

"The manservant will be Chen Ran's manservant all his life, the second best man in the world."

Chen Ran continues to prove that he is the well-deserved number one in tennis today, winning two Masters championships in a row without losing a set, making him invincible!
……

(End of this chapter)