Return to 2002: Freestyle Superstar

Chapter 559: The Clay Season (4K)

During the European clay court season, the WTA Stuttgart Grand Prix and the ATP Monte Carlo Masters are basically synchronized, followed by the Madrid Masters and the Rome Masters.

Both stations have ATP1000 and WTA1000 events.

Chen Ran brought Ivanovich to Madrid.

In this city, Chen Ran truly started his clay court journey in the 2006 season.

It’s just that the outside world has various concerns about his clay court season this year.

"Chen Ran didn't play in the Monte Carlo Masters, which means he has been out of action for almost a month. He must be physically fit enough."

"It's hard to say! Although he didn't play in the game, he has been with his girlfriend for the past month. It's possible that his energy bar has already been overdrawn."

"What you said makes sense. After all, he went to Stuttgart with his girlfriend, which might be more tiring than the game."

"Hehe, in this case, I am even more looking forward to Chen Ran's performance in this year's clay court season."

Therefore, a senior fan quickly made an analysis: "Compared with last year, a big point deduction is inevitable! At this time last year, Chen Ran won the Monte Carlo Masters and Barcelona Open championships in a row."

"This year, he didn't sign up for either of these two events. 1000 points + 500 points, a total of 1500 points will be deducted."

But even so, Chen Ran's first place throne is still as stable as a rock, at least for now.

However, it is foreseeable that Chen Ran’s points this year will definitely be less than last year.

Last year's record was truly brilliant, with three Grand Slam titles, six Masters titles, and one year-end finals title in one year.

The total points of these championships alone exceed 14500 points.

This score almost broke the record of previous years, making Chen Ran's leading advantage difficult to shake.

However, so far this year, Chen Ran has not played any clay court matches.

"Before the US Open started, my first place was almost unshakable." Chen Ran thought of his almost overwhelming lead in points.

Even though some of the points have been deducted now, he is still far ahead.

At this moment, as players from all over the world arrive one after another, the Madrid Masters officially opens.

But a few days later...

Chen Ran's performance is still a little sluggish.

Apart from sweeping his opponent 2-0 in the first round, he had some stumbles starting from the second round and won every time by 2-1.

Then, just like in the Sunshine Double Match, they were eliminated in the semi-finals again.

Reaching the semi-finals in three consecutive Masters tournaments is a very good result for most professional tennis players, even at the TOP5 level.

But for a world number one seed like Chen Ran, not only did he not win the championship in these three tournaments, he didn't even make it to the finals, which seems a bit unsatisfactory.

As a result, fans and the media complained: "Ivanovic is really a beauty that brings disaster. Since he started dating her, Chen Ran's grades have gone from bad to worse."

Although it's embarrassing for everyone to ask them to break up, you should at least exercise some restraint.

Don't go on such a continuous journey, from the Magic City to Doha, passing through Indian Wells, Miami, Stuttgart, and now Madrid.

Even a body of iron cannot bear it.

For example, the always sassy Sina editor even listed a headline that shocked the Internet: Who is the best defensive player in the ATP this year? It must be the Serbian goddess Ivanovic!

What does the best defensive player mean here? It's the same as Kardashian being hailed as the best defensive player in the NBA in later generations.

"Ah, it seems that Chen Ran, who has outstanding strength and has the opportunity to compete for the tennis GOAT, can't break through Ivanovic's tight defense!"

In an instant, this post not only ranked first in terms of click rate and number of comments on Sina.com, but it even broke through the circle and caused quite a stir in the entire network. It was hailed by Chinese netizens as the number one post in 2006.

Chen Ran is indeed a top star.

Every move he makes can attract huge attention, which is far beyond the reach of even the top stars in the entertainment industry.

Although Chinese people's thinking is still relatively traditional, when it comes to Chinese netizens' driving skills, probably no one in the world can compete with them.

"Look at Ivanovic. Although she has absorbed so much energy, her physical strength is limited after all. She was eliminated in the round of 16 in the Madrid Masters this time. Her performance has regressed."

"Are these two going to Madrid for vacation? I saw a news report that they were hanging out in Madrid on the day of the game."

Chen Ran's three consecutive titles at the Madrid Masters came to an end, while Nadal, a local player and die-hard fan of Real Madrid, finally won the championship he had dreamed of for the first time.

At the award ceremony, the young man was so excited that he was crying.

"Shouldn't you thank Chen Ran?"

At this moment, Wawrinka, who was holding the plate and feeling very dissatisfied, complained bitterly in his heart.

As for Chen Ran and Ivanovich, they had already flown to Rome.

Can the two of them improve their performance in Rome?

Chinese netizens no longer have any hope.

That’s the Rome in “Roman Holiday”!

A couple in love, who is going to play a game? They are obviously going on vacation!
Soon, more than a week passed.

Ivanovic's form seems to have recovered a bit, reaching the quarterfinals in the Rome Masters.

After two clay court Masters tournaments, he barely managed to maintain his seventh place ranking in the world.

As for Chen Ran, the fans were simply shocked and speechless.

You guys are fighting against the top four, right?
At the Rome Masters, Chen Ran was eliminated in the semi-finals again.

In four consecutive Masters tournaments, Chen Ran was eliminated in the semi-finals, which surprised everyone.

If you can maintain such a stable performance of reaching the semi-finals in every Masters Tournament, no one will say anything even if you are the world's number one.

This is so damn stable!
With such results, even if he lost points, it was not much, and Chen Ran was still able to maintain his absolute advantage in points.

Another example is Federer, the current second player. Although he won the Indian Wells Masters and the runner-up in the Miami Masters, he also withdrew from the Monte Carlo Masters.

But after the two races in Madrid and Rome, everyone realized that the points gap between him and Chen Ran had hardly narrowed.

In the clay court season before the French Open, Federer had even more points deducted than Chen Ran.

Only Nadal has been making great progress, winning the championships in Madrid and Rome, and is now close to Federer in points.

If Nadal can continue to maintain such a strong posture in the French Open, he is very likely to surpass Federer and take the second place in the world.

"Federer was chasing points, but he couldn't even keep his second place."

Many Chinese and foreign media made jokes after discovering this scene.

Federer is also helpless. Not only is his world No. 2 ranking in jeopardy, but his position as Switzerland's number one player has also been strongly impacted by Wawrinka.

... "Honey, is your condition declining because of me?"

On the big bed in a five-star hotel in Paris, Ivanovich leaned on Chen Ran's shoulder and said with some concern.

She also pays attention to news from the outside world and knows the comments of netizens.

Fortunately, although this girl is still learning Chinese, she has not yet grasped the profoundness of the Chinese language, so she cannot understand what "best defensive player" and "breaking tight defense" mean for a while.

She just felt that Chen Ran had not won the championship in four consecutive Masters tournaments. Was this a little abnormal considering his strength?

However, Chen Ran said very calmly: "Isn't it normal for competitive sports to have a good state of mind? The competition in men's tennis is fierce. Besides, I am still the world's number one, so there is nothing to worry about."

"In fact, reaching the semi-finals four times in a row is pretty good," Ivanovic added.

If it were her, she would be ecstatic about such an achievement.

It’s just that Chen Ran is so strong, so strong that if he doesn’t win any competition he participates in, he will be considered a failure, not to mention that he didn’t even make it to the finals.

"Should we exercise some restraint?"

Although Ivanovich said so, she just turned over and pressed her whole body on the other person, with her pretty face pressed against the other person.

"..."

Didn't you say you should exercise restraint? Why are you acting in such a completely different way?

Chen Ran was suddenly speechless.

Feeling the other person's soft and curvy body and the hot breath blowing on your face.

Could it be that this little devil is trying to play hard to get?
There is one thing that the Chinese media said that is actually correct: Is it possible that you have been bombarded with gunfire all the way?
That's about it.

However, Chen Ran did not think that this was the reason that affected his physical fitness for the game.

After all, they still exercised some restraint along the way.

The only time they indulge in revelry is when there are no competitions.

"Ana, we just arrived in Paris." Chen Ran paused and continued, "The French Open draw hasn't even started yet. Even if we want to restrain ourselves, it's not the right time, right?"

Ivanovich nodded in agreement, then kissed Chen Ran's forehead deeply with his bright red lips.

"My dear, you are right! Even if we need to restrain ourselves, this is not the time."

"When the French Open starts, we still have to be careful, especially when you have to deal with a best-of-five match."

"But now... let's start the final frenzy before the big competition."

Chen Ran took a deep breath, then pulled back the already thin quilt, preparing for the last intense battle before the opening of the French Open.

As for after the French Open kicks off, it may just be a brief visit.

……

According to the odds given by bookmakers for this year's French Open, Nadal is ranked first, while Chen Ran, who has been in a slump throughout the clay court season, is still ranked second.

Some people even joked that how far Chen Ran wants to go in the French Open depends on Ivanovic's "condition".

As for the Serbian goddess herself, how far she wants to go also depends on Chen Ran’s "needs".

Some media interviewed Djokovic, who is also from Serbia, and the latter said helplessly: "Before the Australian Open, we occasionally practiced together. But after their relationship was made public, Ana seemed to disappear."

"Anyway, it's not easy for me to contact her. The two of them are almost inseparable."

"Maybe she supported Chen Ran instead of me in the Australian Open final, so she felt embarrassed."

Djokovic showed his humorous side, "So in the future, you reporters, please don't ask me about Ana. I really don't know anything."

However, as Djokovic's performance gradually improved, his childhood sweetheart, who works as a model in Serbia, began to fly around the world with him.

With his girlfriend by his side, his life is much more comfortable than before.

"What is your goal for the French Open? After all, you won the runner-up in the Australian Open."

After chatting for a long time, everyone finally turned their attention to the French Open.

"Semi-finals! My current competitiveness on clay is not as good as on hard court, but I have set a goal for myself to reach the semi-finals." Djokovic said confidently.

……

When the French Open kicked off, Chen Ran, the top seed, was still the focus of the audience.

All the matches related to him were scheduled on the center court of Roland Garros.

Compared with the previous clay court season, Chen Ran's condition seems to have recovered a lot.

In the first three rounds, he easily swept various opponents 3-0 and easily entered the second week of the French Open.

At the same time, despite some twists and turns, Ivanovic also made it to the fourth round.

The couple showed excellent form in the French Open.

At this time, China's other two golden flowers, Li Na and Zheng Jie, had announced that they would return home.

The former, due to his impatience, blew himself up again at the critical moment; while the latter did not show adequate form in this French Open due to injury.

Even though Chen Ran was in this state, he still stood out and once again became the only talent in China.

I don’t know how many times this has happened.

During the Sunday interval between the first and second weeks, the two lovers who had been apart for a long time finally couldn't hold back the raging fire in their hearts and once again started a deafening battle.

"Honey, Sunday is the only day for rest and no games, so we have to make good use of it."

"Shouldn't we go to the Champs-Elysees and feel the romantic atmosphere there?"

"But most of the time we can only feel the unparalleled skills of the Parisian thieves."

"You're right. The bag I just bought was stolen by a French thief not long ago!"

Chen Ran laughed: "That's right! So we should make use of this Sunday to vent all our needs from the past week and the coming week without leaving the house."

"Yes, that's right... In the next week, we can devote ourselves to the French Open." Upon hearing this, Ivanovich immediately put his hands around Chen Ran's neck, "Honey, pick me up, I like this position."

Chen Ran exerted force with his arms and picked up the 1-meter-tall foreign horse.

This professional tennis player's waist is really not covered.

"Ana...I'm going to speed up!"

"Oh, honey...I feel like I'm going to soar into the sky!"

……

(End of this chapter)