Return to 2002: Freestyle Superstar

Chapter 588 We have all raised the white flag, what else do you want? (4K)

This shows the unpredictable nature of the timing of tennis matches.

In this final, although Chen Ran and Wawrinka played very fiercely, it did not take long.

The two sides fought for less than two hours.

Unlike last year, the two sides fought fiercely for more than four hours, from 4 pm to after 8 am.

The Shenzhen leaders who were watching the game on site could only endure it with a wry smile.

The Shenzhen organizing committee is well aware of one thing: no matter how hard the situation is, the leaders must not be made to suffer.

Therefore, for this year's Masters final, they decisively adjusted the game time from the prime time of 8 pm to 3 pm.

Although this will result in less economic benefits, they are not short of money, and the most important thing is to make their leaders happy.

The game ended before 6 o'clock.

After presenting the awards, the leaders can happily have dinner.

Those who can come to present awards in a competition of this level as the Shenzhen Masters are all high-ranking leaders in the city, and it is difficult for ordinary people to see them in normal times.

Chen Ran also quietly observed the expression of the leader who was presenting the awards. He was really happy today and was smiling from ear to ear.

This is not like last year, when it was a forced smile.

To put it another way, if the competition only takes two hours, it wouldn't have much of an impact even if it was held at night.

But because of the uncertainty of tennis match times, no one dares to take such a risk.

"Well, actually I still like to play ball at night."

During that period, he was in the best condition and his mind was highly concentrated.

Fortunately, he won the championship without any trouble and earned $80!
Currently, the Shenzhen Masters is also the one with the highest champion prize money among the nine Masters tournaments in the world.

So far, in all the ATP tours, perhaps only the competitions organized by the Middle Eastern tycoons and China are not for the purpose of profit.

For the wealthy in the Middle East, they simply have too much money and have no place to spend it, so they are looking for ways to host various international sporting events.

As for the Chinese side, their intention is very clear: play the long game and catch the big fish.

In the past few years, they could accept losses as long as they could turn losses into profits in the future.

From their point of view, as long as there are players of Chen Ran's level, as long as Chinese tennis continues to heat up and new stars continue to emerge in the future, making money is a matter of time.

Today, their goal is to cultivate the market first.

"That sounds nice!"

“They don’t really care about making a profit.”

Chen Ran was holding the championship trophy, but he didn't take it seriously in his heart.

He knew this very well.

Fortunately, in this time and space, because of my existence, the ATP events held in China have seen the possibility of profit.

But generally speaking, the companies that can host these events are basically state-owned enterprises. They are not short of money and don't expect to make a profit from it at all.

In the past, China had shown great enthusiasm in hosting the ATP and WTA tours, and even if it lost money every year, it had no impact at all.

As for the reason?

It’s very simple, just like those state-owned enterprises investing in Chinese Super League or CBA teams.

To put it nicely, it is out of social responsibility.

But if we go deeper, why should I make a profit? Is it just a small amount of money?
Anyway, the money is not theirs but belongs to the country. Only after they spend it can it potentially end up in their hands, and by the way, it can also enhance the influence of the host city.

However, the most regrettable thing is that all ATP or WTA events held in China have basically become ATMs for foreign athletes.

The local Chinese players, either because of their strength or luck, have not had any outstanding performances. Even a two-time Grand Slam winner like Li Na has always had mediocre performances in the Chinese season.

So, I still have to rely on Chen Ran.

According to Chen Ran's law, he will win any tour he participates in as long as it is held in China.

ATM?
In fact, for Chen Ran, he also really enjoys the feeling of winning all the tour championships, including that in China.

Especially when he looked at those large checks, he felt very happy and proud.

Even if he becomes an ATM, he should be his personal ATM.

It's better to let him take the prize money than to let a foreign player take it.

Don’t let the rich water go to outsiders!

Chinese media have calculated that Chen Ran's cumulative prize money from tennis tournaments held in China alone has exceeded 800 million US dollars.

Especially since Chen Ran became a professional player, he has almost monopolized the championships of all high-level competitions.

Such is his terrifying dominance.

In comparison, the Golden Flower girls, who have relatively strong overall strength, have never won any championship above 500 held in China so far.

He can only steal a few 250 championships occasionally.

In sharp contrast, Chen Ran's advantage is too obvious.

He is so steady.

With the performance of one person, he monopolized most of the championships.

"Who can win the ATP Tour Championship in the next Chinese season under Chen Ran? The premise is that Chen Ran is participating in the competition."

ATP also took this opportunity to make a special report, hoping to stimulate the male players.

Can it be achieved?

At least it seems easier than snatching the championship from Chen Ran in a Grand Slam tournament.

After all, once he arrives at a Grand Slam tournament, Chen Ran will naturally adjust his competitive state to the best.

But in these tours, you can always find Chen Ran's performance ups and downs.

……

When the Shenzhen Masters came to an end, Chen Ran had won 16 Masters titles.

Sixteen in total!
Not only is he far ahead in the number of Grand Slam titles, but he is also far ahead in the number of Masters titles, leaving no active player behind.

As for the middle tier of 500 races and the lowest tier of 250 races, Chen Ran and his team were too lazy to count them.

"As long as you win this year's year-end finals, the total prize money for the Huaxia season will exceed the 10 million US dollar mark."

When Chen Ran returned to Shanghai to prepare for this year's year-end finals, some media outlets did a special statistics.

This surprised Chen Ran a little.

These guys are just eyeing the bonus.

However, the prize money for the China season alone has exceeded 10 million US dollars, and this promotion does look very tempting.

This also means that Chen Ran is bound to win this year's year-end finals.

Not only to protect his own record, but also for the high bonus.

This year's year-end bonus has increased significantly compared to last year.

The huge sum of 290 million US dollars also created the highest championship prize money in a tennis tournament.

unprecedented!

This also made many media exclaim that at this rate of growth, breaking through the 300 million US dollar or even 400 million US dollar mark is a foregone conclusion.

"crazy!"

"A big move by Jiushi Group!"

As a super state-owned enterprise that hosts both the ATP year-end finals and the F1 Shanghai Grand Prix, they really have plenty of money.

In the future, this company will not only have a tennis team, but also a football team and a basketball team. Real money, like cheap white paper, is being thrown down like crazy.

In short, they are not afraid of spending money at all, they are just afraid that you don’t have the opportunity to spend money for them.

Whether it is a big-name foreign aid or a national team player, they should buy as many as possible.

The problem is that they have spent so much money but seem to have seen no results.

The Shanghai basketball team is nicknamed the Eastern Knicks by netizens.

It is a negative example of a company that spends more money but sees no improvement in performance, or even deteriorates.

"This is indeed a rich man!"

Chen Ran looked at the championship prize money of this year's year-end finals with some amazement, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

Suddenly, an idea emerged in my mind.

Or you can cooperate with Jiushi Group and each get what they need.

After all, they just want to burn money and don't care how much.

As long as the money is spent, even if the effect is not up to standard, at least it has spread the influence and increased the popularity.

Just look at how much money is spent on football and basketball, but because of their poor performance, their reputation has become not so good.

But Chen Ran is a high-quality resource, and the best resource at that. There is no need for the other party to refuse him.

Anyway, this money was not spent on Chen Ran's place, and it will be spent on other competitions in the future. In any case, it is impossible for it to lie quietly in the bank account.

Chen Ran knew this very well.

Just like the F1 event, if we count later generations, it has been held in China for almost 20 years.

But what about the effect?
It was indeed a gathering of celebrities, but everyone was just going through the motions.

After all, F1 is still too niche in China and has never gone beyond the circle.

It can even be said that when this event was first held, it was indeed very sensational and lively.

But as time went by, people's enthusiasm gradually faded, the heat dissipated, and after more than ten years of hard work, the results were even worse than in the first few years.

After all, this thing is too far away from ordinary people.

It's purely a matter of spending money to attract attention and to enhance the city's influence.

Then, Chen Ran had an idea.

"For example, we can let Jiushi invest in this tennis movie."

“This will also strengthen the connection between the two sides.”

But he suppressed this thought for the time being.

At present, Chen Ran is still focusing on preparing for the year-end finals, and this matter will be discussed later.

As usual, he missed the European Indoor season.

Since his debut, Chen Ran has only participated in the European Indoor Season once and has not appeared in public since then.

The advantage of this is that he has plenty of rest time and can arrange his training reasonably.

In addition, the reduction in competition burden can reduce physical fatigue and allow Chen Ran to directly participate in the year-end finals in the best competitive state.

The ATP can do nothing about this.

They also couldn't force Chen Ran to participate in the European Indoor Season.

This is entirely voluntary on the other party's part.

Although the Paris Masters is a mandatory Masters, players are required to participate, otherwise the points for this cycle will be reset to zero and it will also affect the year-end dividends.

But Chen Ran didn't care about this at all. It didn't matter if the year-end bonus was a little less.

As for the forced clearing of points?

Chen Ran insisted that he was injured and needed to recuperate.

ATP could only accept it and had no intention of investigating further.

Generally, they have such rules but rarely enforce them, or impose fines on absent players.

Everyone accepts the existence of this rule and will not easily break the balance or become angry.

The players also need to rest and they also get bonuses. The ATP knows this and cannot force them too much.

Therefore, the French side has been protesting against Chen Ran's absence from the Paris Masters, but the ATP has also been on Chen Ran's side, saying that he needs to rest.

They even introduced the "Chen Ran Clause".

Any player can miss one "mandatory" Masters Tournament each season.

Absence will not affect the year-end bonus.

When this regulation was introduced, the French were furious.

So far, among so many Masters tournaments, the indoor Paris Masters is the one that Chen Ran has participated in the least number of times.

I only participated once in total.

Chen Ran has never missed the "Sunshine Double" in North America.

What is this?
The number one person in the world is so partial to some people and unfair to others.

You have at least talked to our national treasure-level actress Alix, why don’t you give her any face at all?
However, Paris' protests were of no avail, and the ATP chose to stand firmly on Chen Ran's side.

Indoor Masters?
It’s not like I don’t have a backup plan.

The local tycoons in the Middle East are still eyeing us covetously!
If you French people are unwilling, then just give up the right to host this Masters Tournament.

Anyway, there are plenty of people who can take over.

After the ATP said so, the Paris organizing committee immediately stopped its efforts.

They were obviously scared.

The Paris Masters still make money, but their prize money is the lowest among all the Masters.

If the ATP really deprives them of the right to host the event and moves it to the Middle East, they won’t even have time to cry!
Soon, after a few protests, the French demonstrated their traditional expertise and decisively raised the white flag.

From now on, they will no longer force Chen Ran to participate.

However, Chen Ran still refused to give in, and for the first time ever, he made a suggestion.

"In 2009, when Shanghai no longer hosts the year-end finals, the hosting rights of the Shenzhen Masters will be transferred to Shanghai."

"I can understand that. After all, the year-end finals is a world tour."

"But why can't we hold the Indoor Masters in Shenzhen? They have proven that they can host Masters-level competitions well."

"The players don't have to travel around, and I should be able to play normally."

He even said with some sarcasm: "Although they described Paris so beautifully in Yilin, to be honest, except for the French Open every year, I really don't want to go to Paris. The Paris Masters is not attractive enough!"

Every time I go to Paris, I lose something.

The thieves in this city are omnipresent and can be found in every corner.

Chen Ran was very annoyed.

And Paris stinks!
This is far from the host city of the "Sunshine Double Games".

At this time, the European indoor season has come to an end.

After hearing Chen Ranyuan's speech in the Magic City of China, the French were also shocked and gnashed their teeth in anger.

Buddy, we have already raised the white flag and will no longer force you to participate in the competition. Why are you still like this and why are you still not giving in?

……

(End of this chapter)