Return to 2002: Freestyle Superstar

Chapter 59: If you don’t break it, you will be broken!
Congratulations to Djokovic for winning the 24th Grand Slam in his career, a well-deserved tennis GOAT.The protagonist will also stage the most peak showdown of the century with Djokovic in the future, so stay tuned!
PS: I will update one chapter at noon, and try to update two chapters later today!

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The biggest dark horse VS the No. [-] seed, another battle between China and South Korea!

This is such an exciting and anticipated matchup, and it is also the charm of competitive sports.

After the referee tossed a coin, Chen Ran took the lead in serving.

Chen Ran stood with his feet behind the baseline of the court, holding the racket with his right hand, and gently hitting the tennis ball with his left hand while adjusting his breathing.

Meeting ATP Tour-level professional players at the ATP Challenger League made Chen Ran not afraid to shrink back, but instead made him even more excited.

Chen Ran gently threw the ball up with his left hand, and his whole body instantly bent like a stretched bow.

With a "whoosh" of green light, the ball hit the inside of the opposite zone directly.

Li Hengze instinctively stretched out his racket and wanted to catch the ball, but he was helpless to find that the tennis ball bounced off the ground and flashed past two or three centimeters away from the tip of the racket.

ACE!

He didn't even touch the first ball.

Li Hengze instinctively looked back at the speedometer on the field, and then his face turned slightly stern.

The opponent's serve just now was not only at a tricky angle, but also reached a speed of 210 kilometers.

This level of serving alone has surpassed all the Chinese players Li Hengze has played against before.

On the second serve, Chen Ran came to the second zone, while Li Hengze on the opposite side stood in the first zone.

This time, Chen Ran took an outside corner kick and directly suppressed Li Hengze's backhand.

Although the speed of this serve is not as fast as the previous one, the speed of the ball is very fast, and the landing point of the ball is close to the right edge of the opposite area.

Li Hengze reluctantly returned the ball with his backhand, and then he saw Chen Ran sprinting towards the net and secretly said, "Oh no!"

After Chen Ran served the ball, he had already predicted the poor quality of the opponent's return, so he directly served the ball and scored the second point easily.

30:0.

Chen Ran also won the next two serves easily and simply gave the opponent a "love game".

The two exchanged court, and it was Li Hengze's turn to serve.

Looking at the aggressive opponent, Chen Ran mainly focused on being familiar with the opponent's serve and had some reservations in the opponent's first serve.

Soon, Li Hengze won the serve and the score became 1-1.

After just a moment of hand-to-hand combat, Chen Ran realized the huge difference between challenge players and tour players.

To put it simply, if the player standing in front of him is a challenger level player, even in the opponent's serve, Chen Ran can quickly find an opportunity and take the initiative after hitting four or five shots.

But it is difficult for a tour-level opponent to find such an opportunity.

Players who can enter the top 100 in the world will not be far behind in talent and physical fitness, they are very close.

Except for a very few players, such as...

Chen Ran thought of a person, and then looked toward the stands. The person who came into view was Isner, a super giant.

The opponent has already reached the semi-finals. If Chen Ran wants to join forces with this person, he has to make it to the finals.

Perhaps the strongest opponent in this tournament is not Li Hengze in front of him, because ranking is not everything.

The contest between the two sides continues.

As the game progressed, Li Hengze also discovered that Chen Ran's strength was more difficult than he thought, and he was better than any Chinese opponent he had played against before.

The two sides tested each other and adjusted. Although they encountered some confrontations, neither player sent a break point and successfully maintained serve.

The game score quickly reached 3-3.

When Chen Ran ushered in his fourth serve, Li Hengze suddenly began to shift gears and take the lead in attacking.

Chen Ran clearly felt that the other party's rhythm began to speed up.

15:0
15:15
30:15
30:30
30:40
In Chen Ran's serve game, he was unable to win two consecutive points. Instead, Li Hengze took the lead in getting the break point.

In this round, the quality of the opponent's offense and defense was obviously improved to a higher level.

At this moment, the surrounding stands became even more noisy.This tennis court is no different from a football field.Next to the center line, the referee sitting on a high seat had no choice but to remind the audience.

"Quiet, keep quiet!"

"Quiet your horse!"

Some emotional spectators yelled angrily.

In ball sports, fans will always instinctively oppose the referee, and even take pleasure in insulting the referee.

This is especially true for Chinese fans, who are now using the same tactics to deal with referees on football fields and basketball courts on tennis courts.

"Referee SB!"

"The referee whistled black!"

However, Chen Ran's mood was not disturbed by off-field factors at all.

If the game is broken, the possibility of winning the set is very small.

"The most vulnerable time in a tennis match is when you are leading." A famous quote from Australia's legendary Rod Laver flashed through Chen Ran's mind.

Serve, land, bounce.

Li Hengze's return ball went directly out of bounds.

Chen Ran successfully saved a break point.

Afterwards, he felt that his whole body and mind were in a very subtle state, with a feeling of heat in his hands.

Perhaps it was because Chen Ran saved a break point that his physical and mental state reached a peak critical point.

One ACE, two ACEs.

After Chen Ran tied at 40-40, he actually served two beautiful ACE balls in a row and directly maintained the serve.

The game score was 4:3, and Chen Ran took the lead again.

Li Hengze had no time to worry, he immediately adjusted his mood and started his serve.

This time, it was Chen Ran's turn to fight back.

In tennis terminology, there is a saying: If you don’t break, you will be broken!

This is like a kind of metaphysics, but it is often fulfilled on the playing field.

Chen Ran knew it was time to shift gears and speed up the offensive rhythm.

0:15
15:15
15:30
30:30
40:30
The score increased alternately again, looking very anxious.

This time, Chen Ran took the lead in reaching the break point, just like a replica of the previous game.

But last time, Chen Ran succeeded in keeping his hair, but can Li Hengze do it this time?
Chen Ran held the racquet with both hands, bent his body, and stared at the other person intently.

He observed Li Hengze's serving movements very carefully, with a glint in his eyes.

Every player has his own special movement habits, and these habits can often become the benchmark for prediction.

One shot, inside corner.

As soon as Chen Ran's brain made a judgment, his whole body followed his heart, and his body's conditioned reflexes had already reacted. Then he "borrowed his strength" and hit the ball back with a backhand with both hands.

The tennis ball jumped back quickly, drew a low and flat parabola, and flew to the other side of Li Hengze's position.

Although the impact point is not deep, the bounce is also very low. After rebounding, it flies directly at a low altitude.

When Li Hengze returned the ball, he hesitated slightly, as if he was considering whether to use flat hitting, topspin, or cutting.

Just by hesitating like this, the opportunity is fleeting.

Li Hengze's return ball went directly into the net, and his face suddenly turned pale!
Chen Ran successfully broke serve and the score became 5-3.

He clenched his fists and roared excitedly.

This round really answered that sentence, if you don't break it, you will be broken!
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(End of this chapter)