Return to 2002: Freestyle Superstar

Chapter 545 A record-breaking bonus check (4K)

Nadal is a left-handed player with an incomparably delicate touch. When the timing is right and he is in good shape, he can hit a "snake ball" or a "zero-style slice".

However, the "tightrope walking" shot that Chen Ran just used to seal the victory is something that you can only encounter by chance.

You may not be able to win one even if you play for a whole year.

This semi-final was extremely exciting.

Both sides showed off their skills, which made the audience on the scene very excited.

But no one expected that the final outcome of the game would be decided by such a "tightrope walking" shot.

"Rafael, maybe this is the home advantage."

When Chen Ran shook hands with Nadal, he could only joke like this.

Overall, Nadal was very satisfied with his performance today. He lost to Chen Ran just because he lacked a little luck.

He firmly believed that sooner or later he would be able to snatch the "world's number one" ranking from the other party.

However, the Spaniard also made a humorous joke: "Home advantage? But in my home games, it seems that this kind of ball has never appeared. It seems that I am not lucky enough."

Suddenly, the two of them smiled knowingly.

Obviously, the competition between them will continue, and may even last for a long, long time.

As the year-end semifinals come to a close, the pattern of the Big Three in tennis has become very clear.

The TOP3 players are far ahead in ATP points and have already opened up a huge gap with the fourth place.

At the same time, among the TOP3 players, Chen Ran's points are far ahead, and the competition between Federer and Nadal is now very fierce, and neither side is giving up an inch.

In fact, in his previous life, Federer was far ahead of Nadal in points during this period, but why is it so close this time?
Because Federer could have gotten some points from major tournaments, but all these huge points fell into Chen Ran's hands.

This has made the points between him and Nadal very close, and has also led to the competition between the two becoming increasingly fierce.

The organizing committee of Shanghai is also happy.

It has been raining continuously these past few days, and the players' competitive condition is very poor, causing many spectators to complain that the game is not worth the ticket price.

Coupled with Federer's previous withdrawal, the pressure they were under instantly reached its peak.

If Chen Ran didn't make it to the finals, their losses would continue to increase.

Fortunately, Chen Ran lived up to everyone's expectations. Facing a desperate situation, he put in a series of outstanding performances and secured the remaining spot in the finals.

The final of the 2005 Shanghai year-end finals, Chen Ran VS Gonzalez.

The two sides in the battle were not Chen Ran VS Federer as expected, so the starlight was a little dim.

Fortunately, Chinese players finally appeared in the year-end finals.

Three years ago at the Shanghai Masters Cup, almost no one dared to think so.

In just three years, the entire professional tennis world was subverted by the sudden emergence of Chen Ran.

Is there any suspense in this final?

Many people, both Chinese and foreign fans, disagree with this.

When the Swiss announced his withdrawal due to injury, there was no suspense in the final.

Although Gonzalez is also a famous general in the world, he can't stop Chen Ran for many rounds.

What's more, the two had played against each other in the group stage before, which is the best example.

At that time, Gonzalez had no ability to resist Chen Ran, whose skills had reached perfection. He lost the game very easily with 2 scores of 6 to 3.

Gonzalez lost all his temper during that match.

Now, the two meet again in the final, and Gonzalez is also very clear that with his current strength, it is difficult to defeat Chen Ran.

It is certainly a good thing to be able to enter the final.

He was already very satisfied with this.

In the final, Gonzalez can go into the game with ease without any worries.

Losing is normal; winning makes a fortune.

Anyway, Chen Ran can't afford to lose, but he can afford to lose.

Gonzalez's heart suddenly became excited when he thought of the generous final prize of the year-end finals.

……

Two days later, Chen Ran finally fulfilled his promise and won the only important tournament championship he had never achieved in his career - the 2005 ATP Finals.

The scores of both games were 7-5.

Playing at home, Chen Ran was determined to win, so the pressure was actually quite great.

Because he simply can't afford to lose.

This made Chen Ran's performance in the final slightly worse than in the semi-finals.

Gonzalez played at a very high level with a relaxed attitude and continued to put pressure on Chen Ran.

Fortunately, Chen Ran is indeed a player with a big heart. The more critical the moment, the more focused he is.

In both sets, he suddenly improved the score after the score was tied at 5-5, which made Gonzalez quite uncomfortable and led to him being broken.

After two hours, Chen Ran finally won this crucial victory.

At this point, Chen Ran has completed the harvest of all top honors.

This is the third achievement he has unlocked within a year since he defeated Agassi at the US Open this year to become the true number one active player, and then completed the "Golden Master" in Shenzhen.

Of course, the most exciting thing is the prize money of the year-end finals.

Chen Ran won all five games in this year-end finals and won the final championship, so he received the highest prize of about 260 million US dollars.

That’s twice as many as the number of Grand Slam champions.

This is also the highest prize money in the history of tennis.

It also made many celebrities from the entertainment and sports circles envious.

For example, before the game started, there was the billiards prodigy Ding Junhui, who had just had a verbal exchange with Chen Ran.

He was only invited by the organizing committee to watch the game and did not know the prize money for the event.

But when the award ceremony began, Director Ding was shocked when the organizing committee handed Chen Ran a check for $260 million with a bright smile.

"260 million, or US dollars?"

"This is real, are you sure I'm not dreaming?"

He rubbed his eyes hard to make sure he didn't count the zeros wrong.

My God, this bonus is no joke!

I can get so much bonus just by winning a few games.

This is so enviable!
The prize money for snooker matches is completely different from that for tennis.

At this moment, Director Ding even doubted whether he could get so much bonus in his entire career.

Not only Director Ding, but most of the audience at the scene had never seen such a big check in their lives. They were all very excited and cheered continuously.

As the champion and playing at home, Chen Ran naturally needed to be interviewed by the host on the scene. The sports host of Oriental TV came over happily.

"Chen Ran, tell me how you feel about winning the championship first."

"The year-end championship..." Chen Ran took a deep breath, "You know, this is the top championship that I have never won. It has not been easy along the way, and I have encountered many challenges."

"Whether in the final or the semi-final, my opponent broke my serve. In the semi-final, I was just one step away from being eliminated."

"Yes!" The host nodded. "I still remember that semi-final very clearly. It was so exciting. Of course, the final was also very exciting. You withstood the huge pressure."

"You deserve this year-end championship."

As he spoke, the host's eyes rolled around and he glanced at the check in Chen Ran's hand.

Giving checks to champions on the spot was a deliberate move by the ATP.

They hope to use such an astonishing amount of prize money to attract more sponsors and get more young people involved.

High bonuses are the best advertisement.

Which country in the world has no interest in money? The Chinese are no exception, except perhaps Jack Ma, who loves to show off.

"one question……"

The host paused and continued, "Chen Ran, this bonus is really huge. Do you have anything to say?"

In fact, for most Chinese sports fans, the influence and attention of the four Grand Slams are far greater than the year-end finals, not to mention that the points for the Grand Slam champions are as high as 2000 points.

So everyone subconsciously thinks that the prize money for the four Grand Slams is higher than the year-end finals.

It was not until the Magic City Organizing Committee took out this check that everyone exclaimed in amazement and was truly eye-opening.

"Um... this bonus is equivalent to a villa in Shanghai." Chen Ran paused and said jokingly, "I know it's very tempting."

It's more than just tempting, it's simply eye-catching.

In just over a week, he received a bonus that was equivalent to a high-end villa in Shanghai.

"I guess it will be even higher next year." Chen Ran blinked again, "I hope that next year the money will not flow to outsiders. You know what I mean."

“……”The host was speechless.

Now I start thinking about next year.

"The Magic City will hold the year-end finals for four years. I hope to win at least three of them." Chen Ran continued.

“…” The host remained speechless.

This guy is really obsessed with money. He is not only thinking about next year, but also the year after next and the year after that.

But what can he say.

You shouldn't play for the prize money?
But this seems too false.

If you don't come out to compete for the prize money, then what is the reason?
"There can only be one year-end champion every year, and there is only one in the entire world."

Chen Ran continued to talk, "So even if the prize money is very high, I don't think it's too hot to handle. Any capable player can compete for the championship."

"Am I right?"

"Yes, you are right." The host nodded.

Chen Ran smiled calmly again, pointed at the check in his hand, and continued, "I also want to say that the bonus I received is not that much. At least I have to pay 30% bonus tax to the tax department."

"Of course, if you look at the world, the bonus tax is not high. Think of the UK and Wimbledon."

He always complains about the UK's tax policy whenever he gets the chance.

"So at least in terms of prize money tax, I like playing in China, it's great." Chen Ran said very calmly, "I am a law-abiding citizen and will also pay taxes legally."

"So even though the year-end championship bonus is very generous, the taxes I paid were also quite a bit."

Perhaps the speaker was unintentional, but the listener was intentional.

Chen Ran's words made many people from the entertainment industry who were present at the scene today look complicated and indescribably strange.

After all, in today's entertainment industry, although the big stars make a lot of money every day, they try not to pay taxes and find ways to evade taxes.

Chen Ran's words made them feel a little flustered.

You little bastard, it's easy for you to talk without any pain.

You earn a lot of money, so of course you are generous.

The income from one tournament exceeds the annual income of today’s top stars in the entertainment industry.

After all, during this period, major capitals had not yet poured into the entertainment industry, and it was impossible for celebrities to make a fortune like they did in later generations.

This check is really eye-catching.

At this moment, the moving camera above the stadium just swept across the opening stage. Several beautifully dressed actresses were putting their white fingers on their bright red lips, looking at the check in the stadium thoughtfully.

In fact, in this era, public figures are very secretive about their income.

Keep it secret if possible.

But in some international sports, prize money and salaries are public.

For example, Yao Ming recently signed a five-year, $5 million contract extension with the Houston Rockets, which also caused a huge sensation in China.

Such an unattainable salary has indeed made countless people jealous.

Unfortunately, the Chinese men's basketball team has no successor.

In the future, NBA salaries will have expanded to an astonishing level. Top stars will start with an annual salary of 50 or 60 million. Unfortunately, no Chinese player at that time will be able to get such a salary contract.

Chen Ran never avoids the issue of income like other public figures.

Anyway, every penny of his bonus was earned through his own strength.

If he loses and the winner is a foreign player, the other party will get the same amount of bonus.

"Actually, I want to use this platform to tell ATP not to become complacent because of this." Chen Ran said quite unexpectedly.

"What do you mean..." The host was stunned and then asked.

He always felt that Chen Ran was going to make news again.

"That's right. The ATP chairman said that he has a good relationship with the NBA president, and he often said that both the ATP and the NBA are very successful business alliances." Chen Ran shrugged and said slowly, "The current NBA top salary is around 1500 million US dollars, and my prize money this year is also around 1500 million US dollars."

"Of course, these are all pre-tax bonuses."

"What I want to say is... the current annual bonus for top-level professional tennis players is about the same as the NBA's top salary. I hope to maintain this record and make sure the gap doesn't get wider."

"I hope the ATP chairman has a sense of crisis and won't be so easily satisfied."

"If one day in the future, the bonuses of ATP giant players are only half of the NBA's top salary, or even less, Mr. Chairman should reflect on himself."

He just left his words here. In a few years, when NBA salaries skyrocket, what Chen Ran said today will definitely be dug up by the media.

You should put some pressure on the other party.

It's not just the ATP, but also the organizing committees of the four Grand Slam tournaments.

Chen Ran felt how far-sighted he was.

……

(End of this chapter)