Return to 2002: Freestyle Superstar

Chapter 658: Upgrade at any time, guaranteed to win 4 (K)

“I’ve never played such a hard game in my life!”

"But fighting for the country is my duty, and there is no other way."

At 1 p.m., Chen Ran had to play the first round of an Olympic tennis match with his opponent under the scorching sun.

You know, in the past, he wouldn't even participate in training in such weather conditions.

Sometimes I have to sigh that the Chinese are so real and honest, and they don’t know how to take advantage of their home field at all.

You can't fucking schedule me to play after 3pm?
However, this is the first round of the Olympics after all, and Chen Ran, as the world's number one, is embarrassed to make this request.

No matter how difficult the competition is, there is no reason for me to stop in the first round.

What's more, the climatic conditions faced by the opponent are the same as ours.

Chen Ran's first round opponent was a 2-year-old boy from Croatia, two years younger than him.

If others are not familiar with this little-known Croatian player, Chen Ran is an exception.

The opponent's name is Cilic, who defeated the down-and-out Kei Nishikori in 2014 and won the US Open championship.

The highest ranking of this person in his future career was also TOP3.

Of course, Cilic is now ranked over 60th in the world and is still a young newcomer. His competition experience is far from comparable to that of Chen Ran.

This is also the reason why the organizing committee arranged Cilic to be played by Chen Ran in the first round as a soft persimmon.

In fact, those who can participate in the men's singles main competition of the Olympics are basically ranked in the top 70 in the world, and there are the most hard court masters in tennis. The tennis competition of the Yanjing Olympics is on a hard court, and the gap between players will not be too obvious, so this competition is still full of suspense.

"The former Yugoslavia is full of strong basketball teams. If this guy plays basketball with his height, I think he will be very successful."

Chen Ran looked at his opponent's tall body and muttered to himself.

1.98 meters is Cilic's height, the same as Michael Jordan, and with long legs and arms, he has a great coverage range and excellent running ability.

This is why Kei Nishikori in his prime was able to defeat Djokovic in the semifinals, but was completely suppressed by Cilic in the final and swept in three straight sets.

But Chen Ran is not Kei Nishikori.

When Cilic was at the peak of his career, he had more losses than wins against Federer, even though his performance had obviously declined after he turned 30. What's more, this time he was facing Federer's master.

In the first set, Chen Ran won 6-3 wearing a hat and standing under the scorching sun.

The hot weather did not affect the popularity of the world's number one player at all. The spectators gathered in the stands like mountains and seas, and the drums were beating loudly.

Cilic wiped the sweat off his face and gasped for breath. He was a little surprised at Chen Ran's pace.

This was his first time fighting with Chen Ran.

Relying on his height advantage, he was very strong in his serve at the beginning and easily kept his first three serve games.

Chen Ran gave up without much resistance.

At that time, Cilic couldn't help but have a thought in his mind that the world's number one player is just like this.

At least on the hard court, I am not without a chance.

But in his fourth serving game, Chen Ran suddenly moved up the gear.

This change in rhythm made Cilic very uncomfortable.

He was even more amazed at Chen Ran's flexible use of footwork, which was simply too amazing.

Cilic's footwork is pretty good, but after all, he is 1 meters tall, and his use of footwork is almost impossible to reach top level.

But Chen Ran's steps were too perfect.

Split-leg steps, side-slide steps, cross steps, small steps, running, etc., let Cilic see how a nearly perfect player uses his footwork to the extreme.

“So… he just suddenly improved in the fourth game!” Cilic looked up at the cloudless blue sky and realized something.

Chen Ran deliberately held back in the first few sets, giving himself the illusion that it would be easier to keep his serve.

After he saved three service games, in the fourth service game, the opponent suddenly advanced the ball and he was a little overwhelmed and didn't know how to respond.

"I was careless... After all, he has the best serve receiving ability in the world." Cilic said self-deprecatingly with emotion.

There was nothing he could do; his opponent was too strong.

After breaking the serve, Chen Ran immediately saved the next game and then locked the score at 6-3.

Just one break and the goal is achieved.

In such hot weather, he still allocated his physical energy fully and reasonably, and did not try to break every opponent's serve, but just waited for the opportunity.

The fans were just watching the fun. Even the coach of the Chinese National Tennis Team couldn't figure out what was going on. He just thought that the hot weather had affected Chen Ran's condition.

But that’s not the case for everyone.

At this moment in the stands, Nadal and Federer were standing in a glass room, watching the scene on the court, and they couldn't help but look at each other helplessly.

Just like in the previous life, these two giant players are good friends at least on the surface, while Djokovic is still alone, and so is Chen Ran.

"Is he so sure that he will break the serve when he advances?" Nadal spoke up. He saw something.

Cilic is not weak, especially his serve is very good. It is not easy to break him.

Nadal has a deep understanding of this.

But Chen Ran’s performance just now did surprise him.

It was obvious that Chen Ran let it go in the first three serving games of his opponent, but suddenly exerted his strength in the fourth serving game.

"When masters clash, they will try to break the serve every time they serve. Chen Ran's move is a bit risky," Federer analyzed. "But don't forget, there's still a tiebreak!"

"With Chen Ran's ability to hold serve, he doesn't need to worry about being broken by a player of Cilic's level. This is true even if his first serve success rate is not high."

The reason why Chen Ran is so terrifying and dominant in his own serving games is not because his first serve is so good, but because his second serve scoring rate is also very high.

In a match between top players, the best chance to break the opponent's serve is when the opponent fails in the first serve and has to serve the second serve.

If the success rate of the first serve decreases, the pressure on the second serve will increase in vain, and it will also give the opponent a chance to break the serve.

But Chen Ran's second serve, whether in terms of ball speed, rotation, and landing point, is still very good and varied. Coupled with this guy's unique ability to adjust his footwork in the tennis world, his second serve scoring rate has been maintained at around 80% for many years, which is simply terrifying.

"Yes, his greatest chance comes from the tie-break." Nadal nodded.

So far, it seems that only the Serbian can compete with Chen Ran in the tie-break.

For Federer and Nadal, it depends on the venue.

But even on clay and grass, the two of them still won less and lost more when playing against Chen Ran in the tie-break.

"How will he play in the second set?" Federer asked.

Nadal stroked his chin, was silent for a moment, and then said, "I guess it will be a tiebreak."

"why?"

Nadal pointed to the sky and said slowly: "This weather is too hot. When playing in this kind of weather, you must think about how to save energy."

"Especially for a player of Chen Ran's level, he is considering not only the current round of games, but also the next few rounds. He definitely doesn't want to consume too much energy for this one game."

"Also, Cilic should be mentally prepared after the lesson he learned in the first set. It won't be easy to break again suddenly."

The Olympics and the Masters Tournament have a draw of 64, so you have to play at least 6 rounds to win.

It seems that it is easy for a 128th place player to enter the finals of a Grand Slam tournament and play a full seven rounds, but don't forget the schedule. The Olympic tennis competition has the most compact schedule of all events, and it is not an exaggeration to describe it as terrible.

There will be one race every day for the first five days.

If you make it to the finals, you get two days of rest.

But if it is the third and fourth place final, that is, the bronze medal match, it will be six games in six days.

So many tennis players choose to withdraw from the Olympics.

Is this competition played by humans? And there is no prize money, so many people run away every time.

After the 2016 Rio Olympics began, not only was there no prize money for the Olympic tennis competitions, even the points were cancelled, and there were more and more people who either ran away or just slacked off.

Of course, because there are so many good players in the professional tennis world, if half of them still value national honor and are willing to pay for it, the Olympic tennis competition will still be very valuable, second only to the Grand Slam and the year-end finals, but the sense of honor is also far greater.

“Five games in five days.”

Federer also smiled bitterly.

Since contracting mononucleosis, his skills and awareness are still there, but his physicality has definitely declined.

In such a tight schedule, how to recover your body after the game is also a problem.

One race a day and two races a day are two completely different concepts.

Half an hour later, Nadal said with some pride: "Roger, you see... I was right, it really is a tiebreak."

Federer also clapped his hands gracefully.

In the second set, both sides played very cleanly.

Chen Ran and Cilic each saved their 6 service games, and neither side even got a break point.

But once the seventh game began, the situation changed suddenly.

Chen Ran is very familiar with the "game seven".

He suddenly exerted force and Cilic was unable to resist.

Because after Cilic served two balls and just found some serving form, the server was about to change.

7 to 1, Chen Ran easily won the second set with his strong performance in the tie-break.

2 is better than 0!

Chen Ran successfully made it into the top 32.

"Roger, look." Nadal continued, "Although the weather is very hot today, I am sure that Chen Ran's energy consumption is not serious. I think he will play like this in the next round."

If you want to play in the deep rounds, you should allocate your physical energy more reasonably.

but……

Federer and Nadal looked at each other.

Neither of them has the ability like Chen Ran to advance the schedule at any time and win the seventh game to guarantee a win.

This guy breaks the serve as soon as he raises the gear. If he can't break the serve, he saves energy and drags the game into a tiebreak. This is simply a BUG.

This is the Olympics, which happens every four years.

Neither of them dared to take such a risk.

"No matter what, I have to win first," Federer said.

Four years ago, he was eliminated in the quarterfinals because he was not well suited to the Olympic competition rhythm. This is the second time for Federer.

As for Nadal, this guy is a physical freak and he will probably choose a head-on confrontation.

……

"Chen Ran is in a low state!"

"The second set was very close and the winner was not decided until the tie-break."

"He's right. Olympic competitions are full of variables, especially here on hard courts with many top players."

"This men's singles gold medal is not stable. It was so hard to play in the first round."

"Look at the table tennis next door, they are all sweeping, and every sentence is a big win."

"Nonsense, are the competition levels in tennis and table tennis the same?"

"I can't imagine what the consequences would be if Chen Ran lost the local Olympic gold medal?"

"We tennis fans or sports fans probably won't care too much, but those fans of the Olympics, which only happen every four years, will definitely curse!"

Many reporters and fans expressed their opinions on the Internet, and most of them expressed concern about Chen Ran's condition.

This was only the first round, with the world's No. 60 player playing against a player ranked in the top in the world. He only managed to break the serve once and won the second set in a tiebreak.

They all thought that under normal circumstances, they should be able to sweep and crush the enemy.

"I think the court should be changed to clay or grass."

"After all, there are fewer clay court masters and grass court masters. Of course, grass court is the best!"

"It's too late to say this now!"

One netizen joked: "Why late? It's not too late. Why not move the tennis match to the football field, where there is grass."

"…You are truly a talent."

Of course, this is just a joke.

At this point, the type of stadium cannot be changed.

Everyone could only watch Chen Ran's game with trepidation.

"This competition is more thrilling than a Grand Slam. Every game is likely to be a tough battle. I hope I can overcome every difficulty!"

There are many different opinions on the Internet, but Chen Ran, who returned to the Olympic Village, looked relaxed and indifferent.

It was the first round, so it was enough to win, besides he didn’t consume any energy.

The second round of tomorrow's game is scheduled for 3 pm.

Of course, this is just an estimate.

Normally, as long as it is not the first round of a tennis match, the time will most likely be delayed because the previous matches often last longer than expected.

"Does the outside world think that I'm in poor condition?"

"They are just a bunch of keyboard warriors who don't understand football! They can't see what's going on."

"In this kind of weather, we must adopt reasonable physical arrangement tactics."

Chen Ran decided to continue using this tactic in the second round to confuse the outside world and opponents.

His greatest reliance is his ability to advance at any time and his unparalleled ability to win the seventh game.

……

(End of this chapter)