Return to 2002: Freestyle Superstar

Chapter 594 Losing the game on purpose to avoid Chen Ran? (4K)

China's top male and female tennis players have both withdrawn from the upcoming Asian Games in Doha, Qatar, choosing instead to participate in the more important year-end finals.

Perhaps except for some people with more traditional ideas who have expressed some criticism, most Internet media have expressed appreciation.

“What do we see from this?”

"This situation has never happened in the history of Chinese sports."

"This is a good thing. It is an important step for Chinese professional sports and may even be a milestone."

"For a true professional athlete, his sports career cannot just revolve around those multi-sport events."

"Our athletes need to open their eyes to the world, and Chen Ran and Zheng Jie are clearly ahead of the curve!"

Sometimes the world is full of strong contrasts.

While some athletes are sweating profusely in preparation for the upcoming Asian Games, some people regard this event as a waste of time and throw it away.

The turn of the century was obviously the moment when various new and old ideas collided most violently.

Almost every netizen also participated in it very enthusiastically, expressing their own opinions and views.

However, regardless of the disturbances in the outside world, Chen Ran went to the Magic City, while Zheng Jie went to Madrid, Spain, to prepare for the upcoming year-end drama.

Today, they are not only the number one men's and women's singles tennis players in China, but also the number one male and female athletes in China, and they seem to be different from previous athletes.

……

For this year's year-end dinner, the Shanghai organizing committee was very sensible.

Since Chen Ran made a splash last year by appearing in Hanfu, all eight contestants participating in this year's competition appeared at the Shanghai dinner in Hanfu.

This is entirely because of Chen Ran's face.

The "Hanfu fever" was also brought forward several years because of its butterfly effect.

Chen Ran even considered investing in a Hanfu company to promote traditional culture.

It is good to be able to make money, but even if you can't make money, even if you lose money, the loss will not be much.

"Hey, Chen..."

Wawrinka quietly walked up to Chen Ran and said, "To be honest, I have been praying to God for the past few days that you can participate in the Asian Games."

"..." Chen Ran was slightly stunned, "Why?"

"Hehe, I'm in very good shape recently. If you really miss this year's year-end finals, I have the confidence to compete for the championship." Wawrinka clenched his fists excitedly.

I didn't expect you to have such an idea.

"It's a pity that I don't believe in your God. It's useless for you to pray to God." Chen Ran shrugged and spread his hands.

I’m not even playing in the Davis Cup, so what’s the big deal about the Asian Games?

Wawrinka patted his clothes and said, "I think this Hanfu is good, very nice looking. If there are similar companies willing to ask me to be their spokesperson, I would be very happy to do so."

Chen Ran rolled his eyes and complained, "Come on, your image is only suitable for endorsing large flowered pants, not Hanfu."

“…”Wawrinka was speechless.

He felt that he was obviously a handsome guy, but his love for wearing flowery pants seriously affected his image.

Forget it, that's not important.

In short, Wawrinka firmly believes that he can only perform at his best when playing in flowered pants.

At this time, Chen Ran looked at Djokovic meaningfully.

This year should be the first time for this rising tennis star to participate in the year-end finals. His growth rate is still a bit faster than in his previous life.

Unfortunately, the difference between Djokovic and Nadal is that Nadal is best at clay courts, while Djokovic is best at the hard courts of the Australian Open, and he was almost suppressed by Chen Ran.

"This year's year-end finals should be the youngest ever." He suddenly said, "In addition to you and me, plus Rafael and Novak, there are four people, occupying half of the spots in the year-end finals."

It is hard to imagine that these post-20 players who are around 85 years old have occupied half of the year-end finals.

The future life is to be feared.

"Maybe in a few years, we will become old guys and get beaten up by those players born in the 90s!" Wawrinka said disapprovingly.

"Players born in the 90s? Is this possible? Hehe..."

Chen Ran smiled, and he suddenly felt sad for those players born in the 90s.

In this time and space, it will be even more difficult for them to stand out.

On the other side, Federer and Nadal sat together, whispering to each other.

As for Roddick, he sat with Safin.

These two are the lucky members of the "Grand Slam Club".

"Man, you did a great job. Although Chen Ran played an important role in the ATP's punishment of Agassi, you are the first one to stand up and accuse him anyway." Roddick gave Safin a thumbs up.

If Safin had not spoken out first, who knows whether Chen Ran would have spoken out?
That guy Agassi is really a mean person.

Although they are both Americans, Roddick hates him so much.

Now that the opponent is in trouble, Roddick is gloating over his misfortune.

He really likes Safin.

Among the players participating in the Magic City's year-end finals this time, only Djokovic and French star Grosjean have never won a Grand Slam title.

But the former is a rising super star in professional tennis this year, while the latter is already a 28-year-old quasi-veteran, so they are completely incomparable.

Grosjean is even the least eye-catching player in this year-end finals.

"He is in the same group with Chen Ran again."

"Is his purpose in participating in the competition to continue to break Chen Ran's winning streak against French players?"

So far, Chen Ran's winning streak against French players in the ATP tour has reached an astonishing 35 games.

In addition, his winning streak against British players also broke 20 games.

It seems that the difference in wins is indeed huge, that is because among the top ATP players, there are currently more French players than British players.

But no matter what, Chen Ran still maintains his winning streak against British and French players.

Undefeated in one match!
After the year-end dinner, many people believed that given Chen Ran’s condition, it would be a high probability that he would defend his year-end title.

However, the charm of competitive sports lies in its uncertainty.

This is not a battle between intelligent robots, which can display all data and attributes accurately without any errors.

When the 2006 year-end finals kicked off, Chen Ran, as the player in the opening game, showed excellent form.

Forward and to the baseline, all kinds of running and interceptions.

Chen Ran's performance was almost perfect and impeccable.

In the first game, he easily defeated French star Grosjean 6-1, 6-0, continuing his undefeated record against French players, and his winning streak reached an astonishing 36 consecutive victories.

Afterwards, even the French media lamented that Chen Ran had destroyed French tennis on his own.

Although tennis was invented by the British, it became popular because of France. Now, it is suppressed by a Chinese, which is really a big blow.

"For French tennis, Chen Ran is as strong as the German army and is difficult to defeat." At this time, the first to take advantage of the situation must be the British media.

They would never miss such a good opportunity to make fun of others.

"French people, do you hope to need our British help like during World War II?"

"Damn it! How long has it been since your British tennis players appeared on the stage of the year-end finals? How dare you say this with such a thick face?" The French reporter, unwilling to be outdone, immediately fought back, "If it weren't for the fact that your country's players had played against Chen Ran so few times, your losing streak wouldn't be much better than ours."

Then, the British media and the French media started to argue.

They made a bet: they would bet on which player from their respective countries could beat Chen Ran first in a Grand Slam or a tour event.

In response to this bet, fans said: It would be difficult to do this in a Grand Slam or the year-end finals, but there is a chance in the tour.

Because even someone as strong as Chen Ran will always slack off sometimes.

As for the Grand Slam or the year-end finals, it would be very difficult for you to defeat Chen Ran who is in good form.

However, something unexpected happened in the second game.

As for Chen Ran's current condition, he still performed well, but his opponent Wawrinka was even more amazing, forcing Chen Ran into desperate situations time and time again.

The Swiss guy, who just won the Paris Masters, obviously continued his excellent form in the European indoor season, hitting all kinds of incredible shots one after another.

As the game progressed, Chen Ran became more and more passive.

Even the audience exclaimed in amazement from time to time.

Wawrinka won the first set in a tiebreak, while Chen Ran won the second set 6-3.

Just when people thought Chen Ran had gradually adjusted to his best condition, he lost several rare break opportunities in the third set of the deciding set.

In the third set, the two sides entered the tie-break again.

This time, Wawrinka had the last laugh again.

When the two sides were in a stalemate, Wawrinka actually completed a crucial mini break with a net-touching and changing-line ball.

In the end, Wawrinka seized this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and defeated Chen Ran 10-8 to win the group match.

Not only Wawrinka himself was excited about winning this match, but the ATP also felt a sense of relief, as this was the competitive atmosphere they expected to see.

The top players competed fiercely with each other and refused to give in, making the competition full of suspense.

Chen Ran is too strong.

Since losing in the French Open final, he has remained undefeated, winning several titles in a sweep.

So far, Chen Ran has won 35 consecutive games, and this record was ended by Wawrinka today.

"This defeat..."

Chen Ran thought for a moment and said, "Maybe for me, I can finally let go of the pressure of winning streak. I know you can't keep winning streak. Competition in competitive sports is always so cruel."

"The more you win, the more pressure there is and the more people are watching you."

"There will always be losses, so it's actually a good thing that this loss happened in the year-end finals."

"Good thing?" Everyone was a little confused, but soon they understood.

Because whether it is a tour or a Grand Slam tournament, as long as you lose, you will be eliminated and leave with your bag.

But if it is in the year-end finals, losing a game does not mean you are eliminated, you still have a chance to stay here.

This is what makes the year-end finals special.

So Chen Ran would say that if the winning streak really comes to an end, losing in the group stage of the year-end finals is always better than losing in the tour.

However, this not-so-small upset also excited the world's sports media.

"He did it. Wawrinka did it. He did what his elder brother never did. He defeated Chen Ran unexpectedly and ended his opponent's winning streak."

"Roger Federer, did you see that? Your little brother actually defeated your master!"

“It seems that it is difficult to determine who will be the future number one in Switzerland.”

Fans in Switzerland were also excited about Wawrinka's outstanding performance. They even said that Wawrinka's performance and style when facing Chen Ran were much better than Federer's.

It can even be said that his mentality is more stable and calmer, unlike Federer, who collapsed during the match with Chen Ran.

Strong mental quality is the biggest reason why Wawrinka was able to pull off an upset.

In terms of talent, he is not the most outstanding one.

However, Chen Ran was not frustrated by the loss. In the third group match, he adjusted his condition in time and swept Djokovic 6-3 twice.

In the end, he finished second in the group with two wins and one loss.

However, an accident occurred in another group.

Just when people thought that Federer would meet Chen Ran in the semi-finals in advance, the Swiss No. 1 was unexpectedly upset.

Federer actually lost to his thousand-year-old butler Roddick!

It was so unexpected that even the American media were shocked and thought they had misread the result.

As a result, Federer dropped to second in the group.

As for Roddick, he avoided the embarrassing situation of losing all three games.

Although he is still at the bottom of the group, Roddick's record is the same as Safin's, with one win and two losses.

"I don't even know how I won," Roddick complained. "It felt like the other player suddenly lost power."

At this time, the careless Roddick finally realized it.

"Is it because of Chen Ran? Did this guy lose on purpose to avoid meeting Chen Ran in the semi-finals?"

"Yes, that must be the case."

This guy doesn't seem to be hiding anything at all.

Then, many media followed up and agreed that this was Federer's tactics and strategy.

He purposely lost the game to avoid Chen Ran and ensure that he could enter the finals.

Otherwise, he might not even be able to maintain his second place in the world.

But the one who was the most angry and depressed was Wawrinka.

I finally defeated Chen Ran and came in first in the group, but my semi-final opponent turned out to be Federer.

The two of them know each other well.

This also means that Federer thinks it is much more difficult to defeat himself than to defeat Chen Ran, so he chose himself as his opponent in the semi-finals.

How disrespectful is this?
Wawrinka is furious!

……

(End of this chapter)