Return to 2002: Freestyle Superstar

Chapter 510 Return to the original history (4K, there will be another update later)
In the second game, Chen Ran finally appeared on the stage under the spotlight.

Facing his old rival Sri Chapan, Chen Ran's performance was nothing short of "stable".

He showed great control over the entire game.

"This is a Grand Slam, there is no need to get out of shape too early." Chen Ran told himself more than once during the game.

When downshifting appropriately, Chen Ran was still able to be as stable as a rock in his serve. Even if Srichaphan tried his best, he could not see the slightest chance of breaking serve.

Thailand also has a population of 7000 million. Although it is far from comparable to China, it is still considered a populous country in the world.

The huge central court was crowded with many Thai fans.

These people were chattering non-stop, making the stadium look like a vegetable market, trying to influence Chen Ran, but to no avail.

But these Thais should be able to imagine this scene.

Chen Ran and Sri Chapan have played against each other several times before. These Thai fans should know that making noise to interfere with each other is of no use.

6 is better than 4!

The three sets were exactly the same, with the same score.

Chen Ran was no more and no less, and only broke serve once in each set.

The gap between the two seemed very close. Although Sri Chapan, as the person involved, knew that the gap that seemed not far away would be as big as the sky. For the Thai fans who came to cheer on the scene, they could not see it. Exit the doorway inside.

Therefore, Chen Ran's downshifting control methods, especially when the score was close, teased these Thais to climax, always thinking that his players were only one step away from victory.

Especially in the three sets, Chen Ran first gave the Thai fans a glimmer of hope, and then ruthlessly dashed it with his own hands.

The curses and sighs of thousands of Thai fans at the scene echoed throughout the entire venue.

When the first round of the US Open ended, people were shocked to find that Chen Ran was the only one in Asia to break into the second round, regardless of male or female players.

The cruelty of professional tennis can be imagined.

"This Thai guy..."

Chen Ran looked at Sri Chapan's back and seemed to remember something.

Almost next year, the once number one player in Asia and now the second person in Asia will basically fade out of the court due to injuries.

"The two of us seem to have something in common."

Chen Ran suddenly discovered something.

Both of them are actually unexpected variables for the sports in their respective countries.

For Thailand, there has never been a tennis player like Sri Chaphan before, and for a long time, there has never been a tennis player even close to Sri Chaphan.

Chen Ran is like this to Huaxia Sports.

Tennis in Thailand will soon return to the fringes of the tennis world.

So what happens after Chen Ran retires in the future? Will tennis in China repeat the same mistakes?
"Chen Ran, you are in average condition today!"

"I thought you could at least give away an egg on one of the plates!"

"Hurry up and adjust your condition."

At this time, the voices of Chinese fans were heard.

It seems that it is not only Thai fans who are confused, but also some Chinese fans who think Chen Ran is not in very good condition today.

Chen Ran responded with an "OK" gesture and returned to the locker room.

……

During the rest days of the competition, the focus of the entire Chinese media, including CCTV, was not on Chen Ran, but on another Grand Slam winner Zheng Jie.

Two rounds at Wimbledon and one round at the US Open. Are you telling me this is the French Open champion?

In 2005, the prosperity of both China's paper media and online media reached its highest point in history.

Because of their irreplaceability and huge traffic, sports superstars can easily attract the attention of the media.

As a result, China's huge media resources began to criticize Zheng Jie and her coach Zhang Depei.

But is there the power of capital behind this?
After the French Open, as the first women's Grand Slam champion in Asian history, and having lost consecutive games to superstars like Serena Williams and Haining, Zheng Jie attracted many sponsors.

Although her annual advertising income is not as much as that of Chen Ran, it is comparable to Yao Ming and Liu Xiang.

After all, today's WTA is the most star-studded moment, and tennis not only leads the women's sport, but also has the smallest gap with the men's sport.

Therefore, those merchants who invested real money were also anxious and began to launch a public opinion offensive.

"After the French Open, the first lady of the Chinese women's tennis team fell at the speed of light!"

"You are just a lucky guy with a slam dunk."

"Another guy who's been hit by the 'Grand Slam Curse.'"

"The huge commercial sponsorship may be wasted again."

"Why not sponsor those female table tennis and badminton champions? At least they won't experience such an obvious decline after winning the championship."

"For the sake of your career, break up with Zhang Depei as soon as possible!"

In short, there are still various opinions in the media, and some people even made suggestions: How about you learn from Chen Ran and not arrange a head coach for yourself?
CCTV is also very hopeful. They have invested huge media resources in this US Open. As a result, Chen Ran advanced to the second round alone.

They were also sarcastic.

Zhang Depei was also helpless in response to the turbulent outpouring of Chinese media.

Yesterday he was Xiao Tiantian, today he became Mrs. Niu.

Or perhaps Zheng Jie was also interested in changing coaches, so she didn't deny any rumors.

In this environment, Zhang Depei also felt separated.

Anyway, he has earned too much in nearly three years.

What's more, Xiaozhi was very sincere and expressed his willingness to wait for him more than once.

Zhang Depei decided to take some time to chat with Chen Ran before making the next step.

……

A few days later, the first week of the US Open officially ended.

After Chen Ran defeated Sri Chapan, he advanced to the fourth round with two consecutive 3-0 scores.

So far, Chen Ran has persisted until the second week in all the Grand Slam tournaments he has participated in, and has never stopped in the first week. This is not a small record.

"Stable, so stable!"

This is the impression Chen Ran left on the outside world. All his games seemed to give the opponent a glimmer of hope, but in fact they did not leave any chance for the opponent.

After the first three rounds, Chen Ran only allowed his opponent to get two break points, but he never had a chance to cash in.

Who can stop Chen Ran?
As the US Open competition progresses, Chen Ran's condition is gradually getting better.

Not only does his odds occupy the first position, but they are getting lower and lower. As for Chen Ran's opponent in the fourth round, Gasquet from France, a player born in the same year as him in 86.

Gasquet, like Tsonga and Monfils, are members of the golden generation of French tennis.

But unlike those two black uncles, Gasquet is a white man born and raised in France, and his world ranking once reached seventh place.

"Chen, did you know? Gasquet holds a record that you don't have?" Chen Ran's assistant coach came to him and said.

"Oh, what kind of record is that?" Chen Ran was interested.

He feels that he is on a par with French players. Not only has he played against Grosjean, the current number one player in France, several times, but he will also be the future golden generation of French players, such as Gasquet and Monfils. He was defeated.

"When Gasquet first participated in the French Open in 2002, he was not even 16 years old at the time and was the youngest player ever to participate in a Grand Slam tournament."

"Is this happening?" Chen Ran was a little surprised.

He participated in a Grand Slam for the first time when he was 16 and a half years old. He thought that only Zhang Depei was younger than him.

"But I seem to have never met Gasquet."

"Yes, from 2002 to 2004, Gasquet was only in the first round, so naturally he will not attract your attention. But this year, he has advanced to the second week of a Grand Slam for the second time."

The assistant coach explained: "In the previous Wimbledon, Gasquet also persisted until the fourth round."

This is professional tennis, there are new guys coming up all the time, and they can't wait to kick the old guys out.

"What does this mean? If you only look at the overall strength of the 85 players, it is no surprise that France is the best."

Chen Ran also realized this.

Among the players born after 85, he, Nadal, and Wawrinka are leading the way.

But if you analyze a country's overall strength, it is France. They also have young talents such as Monfils, Tsonga, and Gasquet.

"The golden generation is indeed a golden generation. If this is the Davis Cup team competition, I may not be their opponent. But in the Grand Slam arena, this golden generation may have a hard time winning against me."

Chen Ran was not polite and said very confidently.

This French golden generation must be allowed to live in its own shadow.

"Boss, Mr. Zhang Depei is looking for you." At this time, Chen Ran's assistant found him.

What does he want from me?

Chen Ran thought of the recent public opinion frenzy.

He knew that Zhang Depei had been having a hard time recently.

In fact, he has a clear understanding of the virtues of the Chinese media. Of course, the media around the world are not much better.

Chen Ran was all too familiar with this scene of "defection storm".

When Milu led the Chinese men's football team to the World Cup, he was once considered a god. However, after his poor performance in the World Cup and his failure, he was ridiculed by the Chinese media as a "charlatan" and "he only appeared because he was lucky in the draw" and so on. .

Perhaps Zhang Depei will also experience Milu's scene again.

"I'll talk to him."

Soon after, Chen Ran saw Zhang Depei in the training room.

"Chen, it was you who recommended me to coach Zheng Jie, and her achievements are beyond imagination. She is different from you, but she does not have as outstanding talent as you."

"No matter what, I allowed her to win the French Open, but you Chinese media still criticized me verbally, thinking that I was the culprit for her recent decline in form."

Zhang Depei felt a bit resentful.

Who asked you to coach Chinese players for so many years, but your Chinese level has not improved much!
Chen Ran muttered.

It is said that distance creates beauty. When the distance is shortened, the filters disappear.

Of course, this is only one aspect. What is more important is that in sports, especially tennis, the cooperation between coaches and players will eventually reach this point.

In her previous life, Li Na also fell into a trough for a long time after winning the French Open. It was not until she changed coaches that she recovered.

Tennis is different from team sports like football or basketball. When a player falls into a trough, the only way is to change coaches, because in this project, the coach serves the players.

"Michael, you have proven yourself as a player or coach. You have also been a player and are no stranger to all this." Chen Ran said slowly.

"Yes, I understand that. When I was a player, I also experienced changing coaches." Zhang Depei nodded and said.

"I think..." Chen Ran paused and continued, "Every tennis player is an independent individual, so the coach will develop different tactics according to different players."

"Besides, I think you might also want to take on a new challenge."

"I always remember what you said to me after the French Open women's singles final a few months ago."

Zhang Depei smiled hoarsely, and he also remembered.

At that time, he told Chen Ran privately that Zheng Jie might only be able to win one Grand Slam in this life. Luck, strength, and opportunity happened to be combined together, and it would be difficult to win another one in the future.

Then it is inevitable that the two of them part ways.

But no one thought that this day would come so quickly, only more than three months later.

"Of course, you know...professional sports are inseparable from business. What's more, for a sport as highly commercialized as tennis, there are so many sponsors behind it. Perhaps they are more anxious than the players themselves."

Zhang Depei suddenly realized.

Those sponsors were anxious, they had invested so much money.

In the past few years in China, Zhang Depei has realized one very important thing, which is the high regard for sports superstars in China. However, in those professional sports with some global influence, Chinese athletes do not have a high sense of presence.

Therefore, the emergence of people like Chen Ran, Yao Ming, and Zheng Jie is extremely precious.

Chen Ran has said more than once that he is grateful for his identity as a Chinese.

If he and Yao Ming were both Americans, Yao Ming might be just an ordinary All-Star player. As for himself, he might still be able to win so many Grand Slam championships, but neither of them would be able to get so many endorsement contracts.

As for Liu Xiang?

For the United States, where professional sports are highly developed, will they pay attention to an unpopular 110-meter hurdles event? If you are the 100-meter champion, it’s not that bad.

Similarly, Zheng Jie's Grand Slam is insignificant in the United States. Look at how Roddick has been ridiculed by the American media.

"I can understand, so it's time to break up..." Zhang Depei smiled bitterly, "In the little days next door, they..."

I am really patient these days.

"Kei Nishikori?"

"Do you know this person?" Zhang Depei also showed a look of surprise. "He is very talented, maybe not as good as you, but I am very tempted to coach Kei Nishikori."

"I've heard of it." Chen Ran smiled meaningfully, "Michael... I was thinking that it would be quite interesting if I could compete with your disciples in the future, so I hope you can return to ATP."

History has returned to its original trajectory.

……

(End of this chapter)