Return to 2002: Freestyle Superstar

Chapter 606: The French Open Organizing Committee with a Bad Taste

No matter how Nadal expressed or implied it, Chen Ran always remained calm and composed.

He knew that it was the result, not the process, that mattered.

Whether it is the fans or the media, they may have some complaints about your plan, but as long as the result is ideal, all the previous things will be ignored.

Human nature is forgetful.

In the 2024 season, the Italian genius Sinner, who is at the peak of his career, is in great form. He has won consecutive victories over Djokovic and Aka, and his momentum is so strong that no one can compete with him.

In comparison, Spain's new king Alcaraz seems dull under Sinner's brilliance.

However, after the French Open and Wimbledon, their situations changed dramatically.

When Alcaraz won two consecutive Grand Slam titles, people had forgotten his slump in the past six months.

Therefore, Chen Ran didn't care what kind of provocation Nadal used, even if the other party secretly mocked him for being a coward.

This is my tactic!

At the Rome Masters, Nadal continued to advance with great momentum.

It was impossible for him to be as reserved as Chen Ran, or even use this place as a warm-up place.

After all, he needs to earn as many points as possible during the clay court season.

What's more, the record of winning the Rome Masters three times in a row is also a great achievement.

As for Chen Ran, although this guy is still the top seed, his performance in the game is still up and down.

In the first round, he went to tie-breaks in all three sets and ultimately won with great difficulty.

In the second round, Chen Ran continued with the previous script, still a three-set tie-break battle, and won thrillingly.

In the third round, Chen Ran won the first set 6-3 and lost the second set 3-6.

In the deciding set, the most familiar "5 to 2" script in tennis matches was played out.

When Chen Ran was leading 5-2, his opponent fought back, first holding serve, then breaking serve, and then holding serve again, winning three games in a row to tie the score.

Following last year’s year-end finals, Chen Ran was once again defeated 5 to 2 by his opponents in his career.

Fortunately, this script was only half completed and the opponent ultimately failed to achieve a reversal.

After entering the deciding set tiebreak, Chen Ran adjusted his state in time and took away the victory with a huge score of 7 to 2.

Top eight!

This is the second time that Chen Ran has reached the quarterfinals in this year's clay court Masters.

But his good luck ended there. In the quarterfinals, he lost to another Spanish clay court expert, Ferrer.

In the end, the final of the Rome Masters became a derby civil war among Spanish players.

Nadal got his wish and won the Rome Masters for the third consecutive time.

The points gap between him and Chen Ran has narrowed to within 2000 points. At the same time, with the huge points in the clay court season, he continued to widen the gap with Federer and almost secured the second place in the ATP rankings.

But after a brief moment of joy, Nadal was somehow haunted by a strong sense of uneasiness in his heart.

……

As in previous years, after the Rome Masters came to an end, this year's clay court season finally reached its final climax and the curtain of the French Open slowly opened.

Chen Ran and Nadal are still the first and second seeds, sitting in the upper and lower half of the draw respectively.

At this moment, almost all outsiders agree that Chen Ran’s goal is to win the annual Grand Slam, and the French Open is the key to it.

"I believe that after such a long warm-up period during the clay court season, he should be in the best condition possible."

Everyone thought that Chen Ran was acting before.

After all, his situation is very different from that of Alcaraz in his previous life. As the winner of eleven Grand Slams, his strength is too outstanding and his fame is too great to allow him to keep a low profile.

No one believed that the previous performance was Chen Ran’s true strength.

Even the betting companies have decisively adjusted their sparring partners. The gap between Chen Ran and Nadal is very close, almost unmatched.

You know, Nadal showed his unique and strong crushing power in the previous clay court season.

Monte Carlo, Barcelona, ​​Madrid, and Rome.

An unprecedented four consecutive titles in top clay court tournaments.

With such a strong and perfect performance, the Spanish media couldn't wait to give Nadal the title of "King of Clay".

The media may be hyping it up, but Nadal knows very well that the key to whether he can truly become the "King of Clay" lies in whether he can defend his title at this year's French Open. …

During the pre-match training, Chen Ran's stadium was packed with people, and many fans came to watch.

In the training ground next to Chen Ran, Federer was training, and there were relatively fewer fans watching.

The French shouted, "Chen Ran, don't act like that at the French Open. You're the top seed."

"You are in good shape. This year's French Open championship should be full of suspense."

Some Spanish fans also came to provoke, shouting: "Chen Ran, you coward, you have been avoiding the duel with Rafael. I tell you, it's useless for you to do so. Rafael will definitely beat you at Roland Garros!"

"Rafael is the real king of clay!"

As expected of a Spanish person!
Chen Ran seemed to remember something and turned his head to glance at Federer next to him.

I remember that during the "Federer-Nadal rivalry" in the previous life, these fanatical and unrestrained Spanish fans provoked Federer in this way on the training ground.

Now, he has become the target of provocation from those Spanish fans, while Federer is simply ignored by them.

Chen Ran understood that he had become a thorn in the eyes of these Spanish fans.

He is not like Federer who likes to pretend to be a gentleman and remain indifferent to the provocation of these Spanish fans.

"Maybe even Rafael himself hasn't thought about beating me, otherwise he wouldn't be so anxious to play against me in the Clay Masters. So... are you going to beat me on behalf of Rafael?"

"Here, I'll give you the racket, you can try it!"

Chen Ran was not polite and handed the racket to the Spaniard who had just provoked him.

But at this moment, the latter got scared and yelled, "Damn it, how dare you, the world's number one, bully an amateur like me."

He is just a little crazy, but not stupid.

Being beaten in public is not a good thing.

Chen Ran continued, "Actually, I'm not interested in the title of King of Clay. If you like to call Rafael the King of Clay, then go ahead and call him that. I have no objection."

This cunning guy.

Some Spanish journalists just love to talk nonsense.

From Nadal's perspective, he has even fewer French Open titles than Chen Ran, so isn't it asking for trouble to call himself the "King of Clay"?

"I just want to win the French Open. I don't care who is the 'King of Clay'!" Chen Ran thought to himself.

……

One day later, the first round of the French Open officially began.

Chen Ran also deeply experienced the French people's fickleness and self-righteousness.

The French organizing committee did not give any preferential treatment to the three-time French Open champion, the previous king of clay, Brazilian star Kuerten.

When Kuerten had just been ranked among the seeded players, the French Open organizing committee directly arranged Chen Ran to be his first-round opponent.

This means that it is almost certain that the three-time French Open winner will be eliminated in the first round.

"It seems that I am of no value to the French Open now, even though I have won the championship here three times." Kuerten was also quite helpless about this result. "Maybe they like to see this."

This may be the first time he is eliminated in the first round of the French Open.

When you get old, you have no value.

The Brazilian veteran has also experienced the French people's stinginess and ingratitude.

In fact, if Kuerten knew how the 2024 French Open organizing committee treated Nadal, he would feel much better.

The King of Clay is attending the French Open with great anticipation after a year's rest.

As a result, the French arranged for the 14-time French Open winner to face Zverev, one of the favorites to win the championship, in the first round.

As a result, the "King of Clay" Nadal was eliminated in the first round of the French Open for the first time in his career, while the latter made it to the final.

Perhaps the French Open organizing committee, with its perverse taste, just likes to see the former "King of Clay" in the twilight of his career, being "eliminated in the first round", in order to satisfy their perverted psychology.

"Will that day come for me?" Chen Ran thought.

If he gets older in the future and that day really comes, he will not come to participate in the competition. In short, he will not give the French the opportunity to satisfy their bad taste.

……

(End of this chapter)