Return to 2002: Freestyle Superstar

Chapter 698 Another Farewell to an Old Friend

How can this be?

You are six years older than me, yet you keep saying that you will retire later than me. Who are you looking down on?
Wang Qiang was a little unconvinced.

The boss's words filled the heart of the 22-year-old girl with a sense of unwillingness to admit defeat.

Sister Na retired at the age of 32, and Sister Zheng even retired at the age of 31. No matter what, I can't retire later than them.

Wang Qiang counted on her fingers and found that when she was 32 years old, her boss would be 38 years old.

He won't be able to live to 38.

This is absolutely impossible!
After Li Na officially retired, the city that suffered the biggest loss was her hometown Wuhan.

Chen Ran saw what the girl was thinking and said with a smile, "You should think about how to play well in Wuwang. It's possible that you can improve your world ranking and enter the top 15."

"Sister Na and Sister Zheng have both retired. You are now the biggest focus of Chinese women's tennis."

This time, the girl was not modest.

In fact, she currently has a senior, Zhang Shuai, who is three years older than Wang Qiang.

But Wang Qiang also knew that the other party was just her senior.

Whether in world ranking or results, the opponent is not as good as me now.

What's more, even if the two people's academic performance is similar, their attention and popularity may be very different.

Because fans are very realistic, they always pay special attention to and like those female tennis players with good looks.

The popularity gap between Zhang Shuai and Wang Qiang is even bigger than that between Safina and Sharapova!

So Wang Qiang is also very clear that Chinese women's tennis has ushered in her era.

Wang Qiang reached the semi-finals in the China Open and broke into the top 20 in the world rankings. She also took over Na Jie's torch and became the box office leader of the first Wuhan Open.

Because of Li Na, Wuhan exhausted all its human and material resources and finally applied for the WTA Wuhan 1000 Tournament after much difficulty. (Due to the early rise of Chinese tennis in this time and space, the WTA Super Five Tournament and the WTA Crown Tournament were all merged into the WTA 2010 Tournament in 1000.)
In other words, the current Chinese season is as valuable as the Sunshine Doubles in North America.

There are the ATP1000 and WTA1000 tournaments in China Open, the ATP1000 tournament in Shanghai, and the WTA1000 tournament in Wuhan.

Originally, Shanghai wanted to follow the example of Miami and make this stop a double 1000 tournament for ATP and WTA, but Wuhan relied on iconic figures like Li Na to snatch the right to host the WTA 1000 tournament from Shanghai.

As for Chen Ran’s hometown, a small county like Dongzhou City, it has also hosted 250 tours, as well as a series of challenge tournaments and hope tournaments because of him.

However, if the level is higher, it will definitely not be able to compete with other first- and second-tier cities.

After all, for a big country like China, there are too many powerful cities.

What's more, compared with expensive sports like football and basketball, the cost of hosting a tennis match is much lower.

With about 200 million US dollars, you can host an ATP500 or WTA1000 tournament with a prize money of Super 1000. (The 56 tournament upgraded from WTA Super still has a prize money of Super , which means that the prize money of the Wuhan Open champion is actually only half of that of the China Open champion, and of course there are only draws)
This amount of money may not even be enough to pay a foreign player in the Chinese Super League or CBA.

What's more, if you organize a tennis tournament now, you may make a profit and you can also witness the world's top players at your doorstep, but if you support a football team or a basketball team, you will most likely lose money, and the level of competition will be even worse.

Therefore, in recent years, many Chinese cities with growing economic strength have hoped to host ATP or WTA tours, resulting in a situation of supply exceeding demand.

If you cannot get the right to host a tour, then applying for some challenge tournaments or even hope tournaments can also quench your thirst.

Nowadays, the number of tennis tournaments held in China is almost the same as that in the United States.

But the difference is that, whether it is men or women, the number of Chinese people in the top 100 in the world is still far less than that of the United States.

This is something that needs to be addressed in the future.

However, after the China Open ended, Chen Ran and Wang Qiang, the boss and employee, went their separate ways.

One went to Shanghai and the other went to Wuhan.

There is no way, because China's second stop ATP and WTA1000 tournament are scattered in two cities.

In addition, Chen Ran's former rival and friend Roddick announced that the Shanghai Masters would be the last stop of his professional career.

After this match, he officially retired, and Roddick's retirement ceremony will be held at the US Open next year. …

A few days later, Chen Ran defeated Roddick again in the semi-finals of the Shanghai Masters.

In fact, Roddick's condition was very bad throughout the year, but in this Shanghai Masters, he had a last hurdle, defeating several world-famous players along the way and even making it to the semi-finals.

And this semi-final will also be the last game of his career.

“Why not hold your final match at the US Open?”

"I don't want to end my career in failure, so I will only have a farewell exhibition match at the US Open."

This is Roddick's real thought.

But after the game, he gave a long speech.

"I am grateful that I have been part of one of the greatest periods in the history of professional tennis and I am extremely proud that I was able to compete against the best players of all time for such a long time."

“I even took part in the filming of his movie.”

"Of course, these are not the most critical."

"If it weren't for Chen Ran, I might not have been able to continue my career until I was 32 years old."

Chen Ran was very clear about this because Roddick in his previous life retired at the age of 30 due to injury.

"He suggested that I change my style of play and not be so violent all the time."

"This guy even mocked me, saying that even with such a violent fighting style, you still can't beat me."

At this point, not only Chen Ran laughed, but the entire audience was amused by the humorous tone.

Chen Ran was also clapping his hands.

"So I changed my playing style later on and didn't let myself be so violent, which also helped to prolong my career."

"My only regret is that I have never been able to win a second Grand Slam."

"At the beginning, I couldn't deal with Chen Ran, but later on, I found that there were more and more guys I couldn't deal with. It seems that I am really destined to be a one-time winner!"

"But when I think about it, there are so many great players who never win a Grand Slam in their lifetime, so I am still very lucky. Murray, I'm talking to you!"

At this moment, under the rule of the "one super and three strong" four giants, the British star Murray has never been able to win his first Grand Slam title.

Of course, the Olympic gold medal that originally belonged to him was also taken away by Chen Ran.

"It's time to end my playing career and start a new life."

Roddick was a little emotional while wiping away tears, and then he joked with a smile: "By the way... Chen Ran, you must come to my retirement exhibition match at the US Open next year, even if you miss the US Open."

"Sure, I will come!" Chen Ran also made an "OK" gesture.

Roddick waved to the stands around him and continued, "All my dreams about tennis have come true. I have nothing to regret. And Chen Ran... I hope you can hold on a little longer and reach 30 Grand Slams!"

"But you know what... What I admire most about Chen Ran is not his tennis skills, but something else."

Suddenly, his expression changed slightly, and with a hint of gossip, he joked: "In fact, I secretly gave Chen Ran's mobile phone number to my ex-girlfriend Hilton before. She took the initiative to ask me for it."

"But it seems that the woman didn't succeed in sleeping with you? You were able to reject her! I admire you so much!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Ran could only cover his forehead.

You idiot, how can you say such a thing in public?

Who the hell wants to be your equal?

But looking at the booing reactions of the audience, they were excited.

……

(End of this chapter)