Return to 2002: Freestyle Superstar

Chapter 631 Diamond Stadium, the stage of dreams! (4K)

“That’s embarrassing…”

When Xiaowei's interview was deliberately magnified by the media, Chen Ran knew that something was wrong.

Simply put, Serena's thoughts are relatively simple and she says whatever she thinks.

But those shameless reporters all had countless ulterior motives, and they immediately exaggerated the matter, making it clear that Chen Ran must have blocked Xiao Wei's number.

Isn't it too disrespectful for you to do this?

Although Chen Ran really had no interest in this female orc, he even wanted to stay away from her as much as possible.

But there are some things you can't make too obvious, especially since Serena is indeed the number one player in women's tennis right now.

We will see each other sooner or later, so don't overdo it.

"The phone I left for Serena is a work number. This situation only occurs when we are busy with work." Chen Ran explained immediately, "Maybe after a few more tries, we will be able to get through."

"But what does she want from me? I don't spend much time in the United States throughout the year. Besides, I have a girlfriend, so I still have to keep my distance from the female players of the WTA."

After all, the rumor that "body fluid exchange" can improve tennis skills has been circulating in the WTA for a long time.

Chen Ran has almost become the Tang Monk's meat in the eyes of those female fairies in WTA.

Even Ivanovich himself seemed to believe it.

Therefore, the reason given by Chen Ran was also justified. Under normal circumstances, he could only give a work number and not a personal number.

At the same time, he quietly removed Serena's number from the blacklist.

Anyway, she will definitely be able to get through to me next time she contacts me.

But the other party shouldn't expect that he would go out to eat with her or anything like that. Forget it. At most, he could introduce Xiao Wei to a male celebrity in China. If the other party is interested...

Within a few days of winning the US Open title, Chen Ran attended some business events, accepted interviews from several programs, and looked forward to next year's Yanjing Olympics.

He also talked about his personal relationship with Yao Ming, saying that the two of them would occasionally contact each other.

Of course, this is just polite talk.

The contact between the two was limited to greetings and chatting. Chen Ran did business to make money without bringing the other party, and the latter's current business investments were most likely losing money. Even the famous "Yao Restaurant" had closed down.

It is not impossible that the other party is dissatisfied.

But Chen Ran's idea was very straightforward. He would never lead others to make money no matter what. Otherwise, he himself would not know whether a butterfly effect that he could not predict would occur in the future.

Friendship is friendship, but the bottom line must be maintained.

When it comes to business, we are all adults, and the world is bustling with people, all for profit.

Actually, there isn't much to say about our friendship.

Chen Ran was not polite either. He took advantage of the popularity of the fourteen Grand Slams to make a lot of money in the United States. Then, he imitated those American stars who went to China to make money, shouted a few words "I love you, I love American fans, you are the best", and then walked away.

Next year’s “Sunshine Double Games” will continue to make money in the United States.

During this trip to North America, from the Cincinnati Masters to the US Open, as well as attending various commercial events and product endorsements, Chen Ran took home nearly $1000 million in compensation.

This is absolutely super efficient.

In particular, Chen Ran's response to the American media's questions about the "No. 1 player in tennis" was handled with high emotional intelligence, which won unanimous praise from American fans.

This is called professionalism!

However, after returning to China, Chen Ran resolutely chose to lie down for a while.

According to the contract, Chen Ran will compete in the China Open this year.

After three years, the world's number one tennis player will once again take to the court of the China Open.

At this moment, the famous Diamond Stadium in later generations had been completed and officially put into use.

The China Open will be the first international competition held after the completion of the Diamond Stadium, and is also seen as a warm-up for next year's Yanjing Olympic Games.

……

Since this year's China Open is held at the Diamond Stadium for the first time, the organizers have invested huge amounts of money.

The size of the lineup for an ATP500 tournament is comparable to that of an ATP1000 Masters tournament.

All the TOP10 players came, including Federer who had previously missed the China Open.

You should know that Federer has never come to the China Open to participate in the competition, whether in his past life or this life.

In his previous life, the main reason was that this guy’s appearance fee was too high. It was said that the starting price was 200 million US dollars.

Why doesn't this guy just go rob?

But this time, Federer actually came, and did not make too high demands for the appearance fee.

It is said that he must first maintain points, as his current score may not even allow him to maintain third place.

In addition, the Diamond Stadium will be the venue for next year's Yanjing Olympic Games, and he also wants to adapt to the venue in advance.

Also, Federer has accepted the fact that he is not as good as Chen Ran.

Before, he couldn’t accept that his appearance fee was so different from Chen Ran’s.

But at this point, Federer has to accept it even if he doesn't want to.

This time at the China Open, Chen Ran's appearance fee was as high as 150 million US dollars, while Federer's was only 75 US dollars, only half of Chen Ran's.

Federer accepted it.

The Swiss king accepted the fact that he was far inferior to Chen Ran.

Last year's champion of the China Open was none other than the Serbian rising star Djokovic.

Just like in his previous life, this guy has a special liking for the China Open and particularly likes to come here.

In the past, the China Open had invited Djokovic and Nadal several times, but never Federer.

Djokovic's professionalism is indeed much higher than that bald guy Agassi. He really does his job conscientiously after receiving the appearance fee.

He participated in the China Open six times and won all of them.

The lineup for this China Open is very strong.

The world's top ten players, including Chen Ran, Djokovic, Nadal, Federer, Roddick, and Wawrinka, all participated.

This also made the Chinese media very excited.

48 draws, this is the largest draw in the ATP 500 tournament.

The top 16 seeds will enjoy a bye.

In addition to Chen Ran, two other Chinese players have obtained wild card qualifications.

They are Zeng Shaoxuan, born in 81, and Li Zhe, born in 86.

In addition, the level of the China Open WTA is even higher. It is a Super 1000 tournament with a total of 96 draws.

In terms of prize money, the men's singles champion of the China Open only receives $30, while the women's singles champion receives $75, the highest among all WTA1000 tournaments in the world.

This is even $1000 higher than the men's singles champion of the ATP Shenzhen 2 Masters.

"This equality between men and women, isn't it a bit too much?"

Chen Ran was also speechless.

In Grand Slam tournaments, the prize money for men and women is at least the same.

But this result is not surprising.

Because the prize money for the women's singles champion of the China Open in the previous life was higher than that of the men's singles champion of the Shanghai Masters.

After winning the China Open, the world's top female tennis player, the Polish clay court queen Swiatek, took home a prize of $130 million, shocking the WTA. Meanwhile, the men's singles champion of the Shanghai Masters was also won by another Polish player, Hurkacz, with a prize of $3 less.

Damn, why are they all Polish!
Even though the Poles have always been defeated by the Russians in history, the two Poles both defeated the Russians in the finals.

When Chen Ran thought of the past, he couldn't help but curse inwardly.

After a half-month vacation, Chen Ran finally appeared in public.

At this moment, all the players participating in the China Open have arrived in Yanjing and started training.

Chen Ran was clearly the host, but he was the last one to show up.

Not long ago, Djokovic had already announced his slogan that he would defend his title at the China Open, even if Chen Ran participated, and he seemed full of confidence.

Perhaps the recent US Open semi-final gave Djokovic plenty of confidence.

He longed to win the championship in Chen Ran's territory.

Of course, he also prayed that Chen Ran would not take this mere 500 race too seriously.

After all, in Chen Ran's personal honor roll, he only recorded some heavyweight championships.

One Olympic men's singles title, 14 Grand Slam titles, 17 Masters titles, and two year-end finals titles.

Therefore, Chen Ran may not take this 500 championship seriously.

But Djokovic obviously overlooked one point, Chen Ran currently holds a record.

He won all the championships in the tours he participated in in China and never failed.

Chen Ran will not let this record be broken easily.

"Unless I withdraw due to injury, this record must continue!"

He was very determined.

Chen Ran is a very simple athlete.

He believes that he can let down the foreign fans who spent money to buy tickets, but he can never let down the domestic fans who spent money to buy tickets.

It's such a double standard.

"It seems that Novak had a perfect record in the China Open in his previous life, and he won the championship six times!"

Chen Ran looked at the sign-in sheet and recalled this past event.

At present, Djokovic has a perfect record in the China Open.

It seems that he has to end this record himself.

In this life, it is impossible for you to win all the games in the China Open, let alone win the championship.

Last year's championship was given to you because I didn't participate.

What is rare is that the world's number one player actually attended the China Open draw ceremony.

You should know that Chen Ran didn't even participate in the draw ceremony of the four Grand Slam tournaments before, which is enough to show how much he values ​​the China Open.

In addition, if Chen Ran wins the China Open, he will receive a prize of US$30 plus an appearance fee of US$150 million. This income is actually more considerable than the prize money for the four Grand Slams.

"Why did you appear at the lottery ceremony today?"

When a group of Chinese reporters saw Chen Ran show up, they rushed forward excitedly.

There's no way, Chen Ran's appearance was too unexpected.

Other high-ranking seeded players did not attend the draw ceremony. In their opinion, a draw for a mere 500-round tournament was not worth their personal attendance.

But what others don’t know is that this stadium has a special attraction for Chen Ran.

"I have always dreamed of playing tennis on the Diamond Court. This is my dream." Chen Ran said, "This is the best tennis court in China."

This was indeed his dream in his previous life.

Whether in terms of various hardware and software facilities or the design of the stadium, the Diamond Stadium is in no way inferior to the stadiums of the four Grand Slams.

The stadium is grand and magnificent, can accommodate 1 spectators, and is beautifully designed with a very good viewing angle.

For Chen Ran, this is the stage he has always dreamed of.

In his previous life, when he fell in love with the sport of tennis, he dreamed of playing on this court.

As the most representative tennis court in China, it has great appeal to any teenager who loves tennis.

"I can finally stand on the Diamond Stadium, even though it's only an ATP 500 tournament."

Chen Ran began to speak slowly: "To be honest, it is a bit unfair that I can only play in ATP500 tournaments on such a good stadium. Fortunately, the level of WTA competitions is still quite high."

But that's a WTA competition, and there's no way I'm going to have a sex change.

Chen Ran really hopes that the China Open can be upgraded to an ATP1000 tournament one day.

As for the fifth Grand Slam, it is indeed difficult, very difficult.

The four Grand Slams will definitely work together to hold a warm-up. Both the ITF and ATP will not allow the fifth Grand Slam to appear in order to maintain the quality of the Grand Slam events.

If a fifth Grand Slam could be achieved simply by spending money, the Saudi tycoons would have done it long ago.

However, if the China Open is upgraded to the level of a "Sunshine Double", that is, if both ATP and WTA have the qualifications of a Super Masters Tournament, it is not impossible.

"I hope that one day the China Open can be upgraded to the level of a Masters tournament."

Chen Ran paused, then continued: "Besides, the Diamond Stadium has a roof, so it also meets the conditions for indoor competitions. Even if it cannot be upgraded to a Grand Slam, I hope it can host the ATP or WTA year-end finals in the future."

"In addition..." He paused, "This is the first time that the Diamond Stadium of the China Open has been put into use. I am really very happy. I hope it can become a world-famous tennis stadium, just like Roland Garros and Rod Laver Arena."

He hopes that China will have its own representative tennis court.

Qi Zhong Tennis Court is also good, and its hardware and software facilities are world-class, but its location is too remote.

This means that Qi Zhong Tennis Court is destined to not become a landmark building, and it will be even more difficult to attract tourists to stop and take pictures.

Chen Ran hopes that the "Diamond Stadium" can become a tennis mecca in China.

"In addition, I will also attend the draw ceremony as a guest of honor for the women's tennis draw."

Chen Ran smiled slightly and continued.

This is his support for the China Open and the Diamond Stadium.

One notable change this year is that the ATP and WTA events at the China Open are held simultaneously.

In the past, the ATP competition would be held first, and after the men's champion was decided, the women's competition would be held.

The reason is simple: there are not enough stadiums.

Diamond Court is the No. 1 court of the National Tennis Center.

In addition, there are 29 international standard competition venues, totaling 30.

There are 17 outdoor venues and 12 indoor venues.

In other words, the tennis courts owned by the National Tennis Center today are already the same as the stadiums for the four Grand Slams and the Sunshine Doubles, and can host ATP and WTA events at the same time.

It won’t be like before, when my wife is at a loss.

Judging from various conditions such as event specifications, stadium configuration, capital investment, competition atmosphere, etc., the Chinese tennis market has already reached a considerable standard after years of development.

Therefore, the China Open Organizing Committee also expressed the hope that the China Open can be comparable to super masters tournaments such as the "Sunshine Doubles".

Men's and women's double 1000 race?
So who are you going to attack?

Is it the Paris Masters or the Toronto Masters?
……

(End of this chapter)