Return to 2002: Freestyle Superstar

Chapter 53: First-round opponent, a “polar bear”

PS: I will try my best to update three times tomorrow, Saturday!
……

Not long after Chen Ran checked into the hotel, he received a call from Liang Hui.

The vice president of the National Tennis Association was in the worst period of his official career when it rained all night.

Not only was the Chinese tennis team completely wiped out at the Busan Asian Games, they failed to win even a single medal.

After Li Na, the No. 1 player in women's tennis, had a fight with him, she simply left a retirement letter and left without saying goodbye, saying she was going to college.

What is this?

Liang Hui was used to putting on leadership airs like this before, and the athletes were not trained obediently.

Athletes born in the [-]s seem to be a little different.

Liang Hui regretted a little. If he had known that he would rather take the risk of offending someone to take Chen Ran to the Asian Games, maybe this time the Chinese tennis team would not be in vain.

Today, Liang Hui has reached the point where he is walking on thin ice at work.

"Xiao Chen, I also read the draw this time. It's not very good." On the other end of the phone, he sighed, "Although this Li Xiangze is ranked 119th in the world, he is among the top 100 in the world."

"I know. I have known this person before. He is very strong and he signed up to gain points. It is very likely that I will meet him in the quarterfinals."

"Yeah, he's just here to score points, and he's here for this championship."

Liang Hui's tone was full of reluctance. Not long ago, this Li Xiangze completely abused the players of the Chinese national team in the Asian Games.

"Xiao Chen, although you have great potential, you are still too young after all. The semi-finals this time are a bit difficult. But don't worry, I will try my best to help you get the wild card for the Australian Open qualifying tournament."

Vice Chairman Liang also thinks that my chances of victory are slim?
But you forget that this is a competitive sport, and the results are always full of variables and unpredictability, unlike variety show drafts in the entertainment industry, which are all about scripts and predetermined rankings.

This is also the most interesting and moving part of competitive sports.

Therefore, variety show auditions in the entertainment industry often fail after a few sessions, while competitive sports can thrive for a long time.

"Leader, it's too early to talk about the results now. Let's wait until the game is over."

Chen Ran just chatted for a while, then hung up the phone, and immediately threw himself into practicing in the "simulation training ground".

He understands that being able to step into the ATP Challenger Arena is the real beginning of his career.

However, your tennis dream will still give people a feeling of being far away, sometimes far away, sometimes close in front of you.

Because the ATP Challenger League is a platform that connects the past and the future, if you are unable to break through, you may spend your whole life in this level of competition, repeatedly doing nothing; if you can continue to improve your skills and go beyond yourself, you can leapfrog the dragon gate. Crossing the threshold into the Tour.

This is the dream of countless tennis-loving teenagers around the world.

Everyone is like a galloping army, trying to cross this crowded and narrow single-plank bridge.

……

Three days later, the Magic City ATP100K Challenge officially kicked off.

Qizhong Tennis Center has a central court that can accommodate 1.5 people and 18 outdoor tennis courts.

Generally speaking, competitions of this level like the ATP Challenger Tour are usually only arranged on outdoor tennis courts.

However, this time the organizing committee, in order to promote the tennis event and warm up for the upcoming ATP Year-end Masters Cup, will arrange the final of this challenge at the Central Court.

Chen Ran's first-round match was arranged at one of the 18 outdoor tennis courts. There were a few spectators scattered around the hundreds of platforms, who basically came with free tickets.

His first opponent was a tall Russian player named Sherv, who looked like a big furry bear.

The opponent is currently ranked 217th in the world and is the No. 8 seed in this tournament.

Chen Ran recalled it carefully and didn't have the slightest impression of this name. Presumably this guy didn't have any big achievements in his previous life and basically stayed in the challenge.

"With a height of over 1 meters, he should be a cannon-type player." He analyzed in his mind.

An opponent of this size and physique will cause him a lot of headaches at least in the opponent's serve game.

After the referee tossed a coin, the Russian furry bear served first.The two stood at opposite ends of the court across the net, quietly sizing up their opponents at the same time.

Chen Ran felt that the person standing opposite was not a tennis player, but a polar bear, staring at him menacingly.

From Scherf's perspective, the opponent in front of him is just a 16-year-old who is more than 300 places lower than himself in the world rankings.

He feels that his first-round pick is very good and he should be able to pass easily.

Now he still serves first, and it seems that God is on his side.

Scherff tossed the tennis ball up slightly, then swung his racket to smash the ball away.

With a "bang" sound, the tennis ball hit the net directly like a green lightning.

A mistake!
However, Scherf had no expression on his face, as if he was not surprised by this situation, and then immediately prepared for his second serve.

Chen Ran stood on the baseline at the other end of the court with his racket in hand, staring at the opponent with high concentration.

Then in the next second, Chen Ran's expression changed slightly.

Scherff's second serve actually used a first-serve pattern, and the tennis ball whizzed past like a cannonball.

Chen Ran reacted hastily, but only the edge of the racket touched the passing ball.

Scherff served and scored directly.

This guy……

Chen Ran stretched out his palm and gently wiped the sweat dripping from his forehead.

The heavy gunner on the opposite side seems to be using the one-shot mode regardless of whether it is the first shot or the second shot.

In men's professional tennis, there are indeed several serving machines who like to adopt this approach.

If you fail on the first serve, you still have another chance to serve, but if you fail on the second serve, you will lose points directly.

Most players seek stability on their second serve, thereby reducing their serving speed to increase their success rate.

Sherf, a slugger, just put all his money into it. Anyway, he will be successful if he doesn't succeed.

Second serve, ACE!

With a "whoosh" sound, another green light flashed past.

Chen Ran didn't even react.

Chen Ran finally caught the third ball, but the quality was not good.

The ball return is not only slow, but also not high enough.

Scherff went straight to the net and smashed the ball to score before it even hit the ground.

Chen Ran soon fell behind 0-40 in the first game.

On the fourth ball, Scherff once again hit a powerful serve.

Chen Ran returned the ball directly out of bounds.

love game!

In the first game, Chen Ran didn't score a single point.

The two immediately exchanged venues.

This kind of situation has almost never happened to Chen Ran in the ITF Hope Games. He only encounters it when playing against several "coaches" in the "simulation training ground".

But he didn't show any signs of panic. If a player of this size and height couldn't even serve, how could he be considered a professional player?
……

(End of this chapter)