Return to 2002: Freestyle Superstar

Chapter 612 The most classic scene in the history of the French Open

PS: Zheng Qinwen's performance in this match was truly a comeback. I thought she had almost no chance, I hope she can go further.

……

It is an amazing achievement to be able to play in the French Open without losing a single set from the first round to the semi-finals.

If the upcoming final is not counted, this should be Chen Ran's best French Open trip.

Even the usually picky and arrogant Parisian audiences were conquered by Chen Ran's skills and became his fans, even though this guy had been absent from the Paris Masters at the end of the year.

In the world of tennis, Paris is actually the most special because no other city has two top tournaments like it.

Although Chen Ran has various complaints about Paris, he has to admit that the French audience's enthusiasm for watching the game is very high.

For this battle hailed as the new generation "King of Clay", the average ticket price soared to over 1,000 euros.

Every year's final at the world-famous Roland Garros stadium is like a grand carnival.

As usual, the women's singles final was staged first.

However, what made the audience and reporters excited and gossipy was that French actress Alizée also appeared in the private room in the stands.

what is this?
Did Chen Ran’s ex-girlfriend come to watch his current girlfriend’s game?
Did she want to see Ivanovich being beaten up by Henin? Yes, that must be the case.

Many people think badly.

"Ms. Alix, in addition to this game, will you watch the men's singles final?" a French reporter asked maliciously.

"You'll know when the time comes." Alice smiled slightly, looking elegant and natural. "I know what you want to ask, but I have nothing to say."

Not long ago, she and Chen Ran looked at each other from a distance, and then shifted their gazes at the same time.

At least when the two broke up, they didn't have a quarrel, but went on in an unspoken way. After all, they were too rarely together and apart for so long that they were not on the same rhythm.

It's just that they occasionally recall the little things in Corsica, which are beautiful memories.

At that time, all their dates took place on the island of Corsica, the hometown of the great emperor Napoleon and where she grew up.

After this little episode, the women's singles competition began.

With Chen Ran's guidance, Ivanovic's strength has improved compared to the same period last year. In this game, she continued to put pressure on Henin, instead of being beaten by her opponent like last year.

The competition was very exciting and fierce, which made the audience very excited. Even the actress Alijie who was watching the game kept applauding.

In the first two games, both players gave each other a 6-4 lead and entered the deciding set.

The audience at the scene was also quite surprised by the outcome of the game. The one-sided scene that they had expected did not happen.

"Oh, I remember now. Chen Ran will be the part-time coach of the Chinese tennis team during the Beijing Olympics next year." The French host at the scene sighed with a bit of amazement in his tone. "Indeed, looking at his guidance to his girlfriend, it has demonstrated his excellent coaching ability."

“No one could have imagined that the little girl who was beaten to tears last year would drag the same opponent into the deciding set this year.”

At this time, in the huge Roland Garros Stadium, 15,000 spectators were also shocked by the news and whispered to each other.

In fact, many French people don’t know this news. They don’t pay attention to Olympic tennis news, especially since this happened in the far East.

“God, is this true?”

"Chen Ran will compete in the Olympics as both a player and a coach?"

"It's incredible. This has never happened in the history of tennis!"

During the break, Ivanovic consciously walked to the stands.

Theoretically, during a tennis match, the coach cannot walk onto the court to instruct the players.

However, if the coach's seat is in the front row, close to the playing field, he can still give instructions to the players.

There was only a billboard between Chen Ran and Ivanovich.

From a distance, Ivanovich lowered his head, looking at the red soil under his feet, while Chen Ran made some gestures. Obviously, the two of them were using the break to communicate.

Not far away, Haining also saw this scene, and a complicated look flashed across his face.

She and Chen Ran have a pretty good relationship. They have long been the world's No. 1 men and women respectively, and have attended events together as men's and women's Grand Slam champions on several occasions.

It is precisely because of this that Haining feels even more uneasy.

Men's tennis and women's tennis are two different sports, and Henin is also aware of this.

If she plays a game with Chen Ran, she will most likely lose.

For a player of this level, if she gives instructions to her opponent, the pressure on her will suddenly increase.

After the start of the third set, Ivanovic began to frequently use topspin to attack Henin's backhand.

As we all know, Henin is one of the few one-handed backhand players in the WTA.

But in any case, SLR has always had its fatal absence, and fewer and fewer future tennis players will use SLR.

"In fact, I don't have much to say. I just know that Henin's style of play is very physically demanding, and her physical function now is actually not as good as it was in her peak period."

Henin is already 25 years old, which is actually not young for a female player. In addition, this extremely physically demanding style of play may reduce her endurance.

Of course, such subtle changes may be difficult for the players themselves to notice immediately.

Because most of the time, when the players are in good physical condition, they can still perform very well, so they will ignore these details.

How to observe top-level players and see their level of performance decline.

Don't observe when the other person is in good physical condition, but observe when the other person is tired.

"If it was Henin last year, Ana would have no chance at all!" Chen Ran was very sure of this. "This year, Henin's on-the-spot reaction and competitive state actually declined after the game entered a stalemate."

“It might even be a little more pronounced next year.”

The bottom line is a tug of war, and consumption continues.

Because this was already the third set and the match took more than three hours, especially on the clay court.

Under Chen Ran's guidance, Ivanovic played very patiently.

On clay courts, women players break each other's serve far too often.

Because the serving speed of female players is far slower than that of male players, and on clay courts, the serving speed will be even slower.

This greatly reduces the serve advantage of female players in clay court matches.

In the deciding set, Henin and Ivanovic broke each other's serve twice.

In the end, the two sides tied 6-6 and fought to a tiebreak.

In the tie-break, Henin's elbow injury seemed to have relapsed and her condition plummeted. Ivanovic seized the opportunity and won the match 7-5.

The moment the game ended, the Serbian girl covered her mouth with her hands, tears in her eyes, and an expression of disbelief on her face.

She opened her arms and ran towards Chen Ran in the stands.

Behind Ivanovic is the somewhat fading figure of the clay court queen Henin.

The camera captured Ivanovic running towards Chen Ran with arms outstretched, and also recorded the couple kissing each other, with Henin's defeat also serving as their backdrop.

This should become the most classic scene in the history of the French Open.

……

(End of this chapter)