Return to 2002: Freestyle Superstar

Chapter 28 tiebreaker, entering the final!
There was a back-and-forth between the two, which started an extremely fierce battle. The score in the first set quickly reached a 5-5 tie.

Neither side broke serve and maintained serve for five consecutive rounds.

In the No. 11 game, Chen Ran relied on his sharp serve to once again secure serve. Then when the opponent was serving, he decisively used a defensive counterattack attitude and hit a high-quality "Knott's Topspin", forcing the lack of preparation. Lu Yanxun made consecutive mistakes.

Chen Ran successfully broke serve and won the first set with a total score of 7:5.

"Damn, how does this kid hit such high-quality topspin? I have almost no way to crack it!"

During the break between sets, Lu Yanxun wiped his sweat, gasped for air, and thought about this problem in his mind.

He came here for the championship of this Hope Competition, but now he was forced into a desperate situation by a boy three years younger than him.

"The opponent's playing style is really advanced. It is completely different from all the players from the Chinese mainland that I have met before. Could it be that he hired a personal trainer?" Such thoughts flashed through Lu Yanxun's heart.

He just turned professional last year, and he is responsible for his own profits and losses, so in order to save costs, the competitions he participated in were basically within Asia, mainly in mainland China and Taiwan. He racked up points like crazy in the hope of being able to win from the ITF Hope Competition as soon as possible. Enter the ATP Challenger Tour.

On the other side, Chen Ran was already standing on the baseline at the other end of the court, waiting for the second set to begin.

"We have to fight hard, we must not lose!" Lu Yanxun clenched his fist vigorously, "If you don't even make the top four in this competition, it will be a big loss."

At the beginning of the second set, Lu Yanxun was obviously playing more actively. Whether he was running or hitting the ball, his whole momentum seemed to have increased, which made Chen Ran suddenly feel great pressure.

Several service games were tied at 40-40 and were forced to be extended.

Fortunately, Chen Ran did not panic because of this, and continued to use strong and high-quality topspin to suppress the opponent on the baseline and force the opponent to make hitting errors.

Chen Ran also found that when facing the top spin ball he sent, the opponent easily made smash errors.

The scores of both sides increased alternately, and after the tie reached 6-6, the tiebreaker ushered in.

This is also Chen Ran's first tiebreaker since participating in the competition.

At this time, Chen Ran decisively changed his strategy and would often rush to the net unexpectedly. With his advantages of jumping and speed, he completed beautiful volleys in front of the net again and again.

The tiebreaker score was 7-3. Chen Ran won the second set and advanced to the top four with a total score of 2-0.

……

Returning to the hotel arranged by the organizing committee, Chen Ran fell directly to sleep after taking a shower, lying on the big bed with his limbs spread out.

He was so tired.

This is the first time since I took part in the competition that I have felt that my physical fitness is a little exhausted.

After all, real-world games are not in a "simulated training ground". He has unlimited physical fitness.

"If we had lost the tiebreak just now, we would have probably lost the game in the third set and been reversed by the opponent."

"This time, lady luck was on my side, but I can't always be so lucky."

Chen Ran looked at the ceiling in the hotel room and couldn't help thinking.

This can be regarded as the first time that I beat a tennis star from my previous life.

Lu Yanxun is indeed Lu Yanxun. Eight years later, he defeated the fifth seed Roddick, the famous American cannon player, in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon. He unexpectedly entered the quarter-finals and then lost to a future giant player in the quarter-finals. Djokovic.

But before Kei Nishikori grew up, this was already the best record among Asian players. Of course, the premise of all this is that Zhang Depei is not an Asian player.After a while, Chen Ran stood up with difficulty and touched his numb legs, with a look of contemplation on his face.

After experiencing the most difficult battle in history, Chen Ran felt like his body had been hollowed out.

He is now 16 years old, but he does not have the mentality of a 16-year-old.

It is difficult for young players at this age to be aware of potential risks in their bodies.

They are just starting out and full of energy. They will run hard and try their best in every game. Even in their eyes, minor injuries don't matter. They rely on their youth and strength to grit their teeth and get over it.

As everyone knows, the body is the capital of revolution.

If someone says something like, "Don't leave the line of fire even if you're slightly injured," "Fighting with injuries is a virtue," "Just grit your teeth and get over it," "Even if I'm injured, I'll be responsible for you in the future," etc., you'd better keep your attitude With a clear head, consider whether these words are credible.

You must understand that you are the only one who is truly responsible for your own body in this world.

Think about the three giants in the future, which one is not the highest mountain or the longest river.

So physical endurance is the first priority!

At the age of 16, he is in the stage of growing his body, so he must not be overloaded to compete.

After a good sleep, Chen Ran went to the organizing committee to check his real-time ranking.

Now in the semi-finals, with 6 ATP points in hand, the real-time ranking jumped by more than 500 places to 1165th.

Just one more win and the ranking will reach the top 1000 in the world.

Theoretically, in this kind of low-level hope competition, as long as you can win several games in a row, you can earn points very quickly.

While Chen Ran was doing recovery exercises, he was thinking about how to play in the semi-finals?
First, I don’t have a coach in the real world; second, I don’t have a physical trainer to help me with physical recovery training.

One game a day, and the game time is very likely to exceed 2 hours, which is very heavy on the body.

Chen Ran's opponent in the semi-finals was a Frenchman who was wandering around with a group of female companions a few days ago.

Good guy, this guy knows that today is the semi-finals, but the way he walks, his legs feel weak and light, and he still looks sleepy and has fluffy hair.

So fucking decadent.

There is a game today. Is it possible that there was a fierce battle all night last night?
Chen Ran took another look at the guy's female companions. They were all white, yellow and black. They were French as expected.

Then he thought of another possibility. When the Frenchman saw that his opponent in the semi-finals was a 16-year-old boy from China, he felt that he was lucky and had a contemptuous attitude. He thought that the final was safe, so he started to go wild.

European and American players in this era do have some contempt when facing Asian players, especially the French, who have always been known for their promiscuity, even if there is the example of Zhang Depei.

At the beginning of the game, this French prodigy blew kisses to the female companions in the stands from time to time. But as the game progressed, this guy's face became more and more ugly, and the opponent was unexpectedly strong.

Chen Ran went all out and didn't give the Frenchman any chance. He swept the opponent with a 6-3 and a 6-2.

……

(End of this chapter)