Return to 2002: Freestyle Superstar

Chapter 665 It's time to go all out (4K)

So far, the gold medal with the highest gold content in the Chinese delegation has been born.

Women's Tennis Singles Gold Medal!

This is Chen Ran's second tennis singles gold medal since he won the men's singles gold medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Suddenly, major official media and online media began to compete to report on the incident.

The huge popularity and pomp indeed surpassed the scene when Zheng Jie won the French Open three years ago.

After all, in the eyes of leaders, an Olympic gold medal is much more important than a Grand Slam title.

This is not even on the same level!
From the leaders' point of view, there are four Grand Slams a year, and the Olympics are held every four years, so an Olympic gold medal is equivalent to sixteen Grand Slam titles.

In addition, as Zheng Jie's condition began to decline, a new generation of female tennis superstar was indeed needed to take over.

This is also a huge motivation for many Chinese girls who love and play tennis.

You see, at least our women's tennis can do the same as table tennis, with championship-level players emerging one after another and there being no gap in talent.

As for men's tennis...

Chen Ran should... still be able to... hold on for at least another ten years.

Not only the Tennis Sports Management Center, but even the leaders of the Sports Bureau were praying silently.

"We hope that Chinese tennis can become as good as table tennis and badminton, and that the three small balls can make progress together!" the gentlemen from the Sports Bureau said excitedly.

In the future, if any netizens say that we can only play sports with low commercial value such as table tennis and badminton, we can use this gold medal to slap them in the face.

After all, although the men's singles tennis final has not yet been staged, Chinese tennis has indeed won gold medals in men's and women's singles, as well as a women's doubles gold medal in the last Olympics.

As for why men's doubles is not good enough?
That was our leadership showing compassion for the players and we did not allow Chen Ran to play men's doubles part-time.

After all, the intensity of tennis matches is very high.

We are completely considering it from the perspective of athletes!
Tomorrow is the men's singles final, I hope I can win it!

Nadal?
Even on the clay court, which Nadal is best at, Nadal and Chen Ran have a record of more losses than wins.

Not to mention other venues, that's a definite butler.

Some optimistic portals and media have started popping champagne in advance, indicating that Chen Ran's victory is a foregone conclusion.

Netizens across the country are very optimistic.

……

"Hey, don't these people know that the most taboo thing is to open champagne in advance?"

Chen Ran also felt the unprecedented confidence of public opinion and firmly believed that it would be easy for him to win the championship.

In fact, he himself is under a lot of pressure.

On the road to becoming a legendary championship coach and championship player, Chen Ran has already taken the first step, so he must also take the second step.

It would be even more regrettable and pity if you give up halfway.

This time, the opportunity is rare and will never come again!

Especially at the Olympics held in our home country.

Everything is ready, with the right time, right place and right people. The atmosphere has been set to this point, and it's just waiting for his final battle.

Can Chen Ran lose?
In fact, it is not impossible.

After losing, the worst that can happen is that everyone will scold you for a while, and then everything will be calm and gone.

After all, for the sport of tennis, it is not possible to always rely on the Olympics.

But Chen Ran also knew that for him, participating in the Olympics held in his home country and reaching the finals was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

He also really wanted to win the gold medal and complete the two-lap Golden Slam.

To be exact, it is two laps of Super Golden Slam.

So, we have to fight.

At this time, Chen Ran looked at his thighs, calves, and ankles.

After the semi-final with Djokovic, Chen Ran was indeed a little tired and had some hidden injuries.

The thigh muscles are a little sore, the calves are a little uncomfortable, and there are some pains in the ankles.

The main reason is that I was too tired from the game.

The extremely bad schedule, with five consecutive days of competitions and some of them in hot weather, made my body a little uncomfortable.

After all, in his past career, Chen Ran rarely chose to compete at this time.

"I hope I can hold on until the end of the finals!" He took a deep breath.

This was the first time that Chen Ran competed at the risk of worsening his injury.

If this was a Grand Slam tournament, even in the final, he might have retired.

But this time, there was no way Chen Ran would withdraw from the competition.

"It can only be this way!"

Chen Ran knew that he had to give it his all.

This is the only chance to defend the Olympic title.

"I need to feel that I am determined to go all out!" Chen Ran gritted his teeth and thought of the US Open, which was very close to the Olympics.

According to the competition schedule, about half a month after the Olympic men's singles final, the last of the four Grand Slam tournaments, the US Open, will also open.

Many players also have some little thoughts in their minds.

Those who have no hope of winning medals will most likely treat the Olympics as just a formality, just to deal with it and give an explanation to domestic fans, media and sports associations, and will put their real focus on the US Open.

Originally, for Chen Ran, although he withdrew from the Toronto Masters and Cincinnati Masters successively, and indeed gained himself a reputation of "fighting for the country", he did not think of withdrawing from the US Open at that time.

Chen Ran had not originally planned to go to Toronto and Cincinnati this year.

But this time, it seems that I have no choice but to do it.

Chen Ran also didn't know whether trying his best in the Olympic final would aggravate his injury and affect his subsequent US Open journey.

"If you have reservations in your heart, you may not be able to let go of your burdens completely."

Chen Ran thought about it and finally made up his mind.

He pulled out his cell phone, contacted his team, and made a decision: He was going to withdraw from this year's U.S. Open.

The reason is simple: I am injured.

"Is the injury serious?" The team members seemed nervous.

"It's not serious, but I have a feeling that after the final, the injury will be a lot worse!" Chen Ran replied very calmly, "Because I am sure that this final will be very intense and very physically demanding."

He knew Nadal would also fight for his life.

Chen Ran had to be extremely alert, otherwise he would regret it for the rest of his life.

"I don't want to leave myself a way out!"

Chen Ran said firmly, "So I will withdraw from this year's US Open. Even if my injury does not get worse after this final, I will not participate in this year's US Open."

Withdrawing from the US Open also means that Chen Ran can play freely without any worries. The US Open in half a month will not be a hindrance in his mind.

This also hints to the opponent that you are determined to win.

In addition, Chen Ran had another little idea.

He is the king of hard courts, especially the fast hard courts in North America.

If Chen Ran withdraws from the US Open early this time, will it also give other top players an opportunity to win the US Open?

Since 2003, Chen Ran has won four US Open titles.

When the world's number one player is absent from the US Open, countless people will flock to seize the huge vacuum he leaves behind.

Many people, including his final opponent Nadal, would have this idea.

This is a form of psychological warfare.

So far, this Spanish genius has been in the industry for five years, but has only won the French Open once, which is far from satisfying Nadal.

You have to know that at this point in his previous life, Nadal had not only dominated the French Open and become the undisputed king of clay, but he also defeated the grass court king Federer and won the championship in the Wimbledon final not long ago.

Immediately afterwards, Nadal won the men's singles championship at the Yanjing Olympics.

Also, the tennis competition at the Yanjing Olympics was the first time in history that ATP points were awarded.

Nadal took advantage of his Olympic victory to surpass Federer and take the top spot in the standings.

Before that, Federer had been sitting on the world's number one throne for four full years.

Originally, 2008 was an extremely glorious year for the Spanish superstar, but now all of this has been cruelly taken away by Chen Ran.

Therefore, when the news of Chen Ran's withdrawal from the US Open was released before the final, it was unknown what Nadal was thinking.

……

Early the next morning, when the sun had just risen, Chen Ran announced through his team that he would withdraw from this year's US Open.

The reason was that he was injured, and in order to avoid worries and give his all in the final, he chose to withdraw from the US Open.

This also implies that Chen Ran will burn himself and give everything in this final.

To put it simply, there are two words: fight!

Although Nadal had not seen Chen Ran yet, he could feel Chen Ran's murderous eyes and his almost cannibalistic aura from the news.

"That guy...is he only willing to accept winning the gold medal?" Nadal also took a deep breath.

He was training on his bicycle with his eyes closed, lost in thought.

Chen Ran's actions indeed made him feel a determination to go all out.

Nadal suddenly felt helpless.

In this final, he was originally the underdog, but the other side still did this.

As for the news that Chen Ran was injured, Nadal didn't take it seriously at all.

Professional tennis players, especially the top ones, play so many high-intensity games throughout the year, who doesn’t get injured?

Everyone has it!

Nadal even felt that his current injuries were more numerous and more serious than Chen Ran's.

I have to say that Chen Ran's plan was successful.

His decision to "withdraw from the US Open" made Nadal ignore the most important point, the huge pressure Chen Ran was carrying.

After Li Na won the championship, the enthusiasm of the national audience reached an unprecedented high, and the media also added fuel to the fire.

Chen Ran felt unprecedented pressure.

Of course, he himself did not want to miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so the pressure can be imagined.

Therefore, Chen Ran used the plan of "withdrawing from the US Open" to block all his retreat routes, and also wanted to push his determination and momentum to the limit.

From Nadal's perspective, he is actually in a very relaxed state of mind.

The gold medal was a pleasant surprise, but the silver medal also made Spain a national hero.

With this mentality, he is fully capable of performing beyond his level. In addition, his own strength is at the top level, so the suspense of this game is still huge.

But Chen Ran used the plan of "withdrawing from the US Open" to accidentally make Nadal ignore the huge pressure Chen Ran was carrying, the attention of the entire country, and the expectations of hundreds of millions of people.

Nadal simply believed that Chen Ran's "withdrawal from the US Open" showed his determination to win the gold medal.

"What should I do... I can't imagine how terrifying Chen Ran will be in this final!" Nadal sighed.

However, he looked very relaxed and firmly believed that he could perform at his best in the final, and it was even possible for him to perform above his level.

At this time, his uncle and coach Toni Nadal came over and whispered something to his nephew.

"Nephew, your current hard court strength is not necessarily inferior to Federer, and compared to that Serbian kid, your head-to-head record is also ahead."

"Chen Ran withdrew from this year's US Open. This is a huge opportunity for you."

"you understand me?"

Nadal was stunned, then he reacted, and a hint of ecstasy flashed in his eyes.

Chen Ran missed the US Open!
The best hard court king will not participate in this year's US Open!
what does this mean?
Here comes my own opportunity.

How does Nadal define himself? The King of Clay!

But the helpless fact is that the outside world positions Nadal as the king of clay courts.

Who is the king? Of course it is Chen Ran.

Although Chen Ran has fewer clay court Masters titles than Nadal, when evaluating the "King of Clay", the first thing to look at is how many French Open titles you have.

Therefore, there is no suspense about Chen Ran being elected as the "King of Clay".

Nadal couldn't object.

The Grand Slam title is the only standard, and the clay court Masters title is just the icing on the cake.

Chen Ran has more French Open titles than himself.

This time, Nadal saw the possibility of winning a Grand Slam title other than the French Open.

After all, on both the grass and hard court, Chen Ran had always suppressed himself.

Especially on hard courts, Nadal's strength has always been outstanding. When playing against Chen Ran, he saw the dawn of winning the championship several times, just one step away.

When his uncle hinted to him, he also knew that this opportunity was very rare.

Federer is not in great shape, especially since he has not been able to recover to top form after suffering from mononucleosis.

Nadal feels that he currently has a greater chance of winning even if he plays against Federer on a hard court.

"But I finally made it to the Olympic finals. It only happens once every four years. I still want to try my best." Nadal murmured, "Although I know the chances are slim. The whole world is optimistic about Chen Ran, and he did this. He is simply a madman."

Uncle Tony added: "It doesn't matter, you are still young. Four years later, you will only be 26 years old and still in your prime. The key is that the opportunity to win the US Open this time is really rare."

……

(End of this chapter)