Return to 2002: Freestyle Superstar

Chapter 69 Battle of Champions (3000 words)
Won the first set!

Suddenly the whole place was in an uproar, and the cheers resounded through the sky, even compared to the football field.

Of course, the fans were also in for a treat. This tiebreaker was too brutal, with almost suffocating offense and defense.

After the first set, the two players sat in their own players' chairs, breathing heavily, drinking water, and eating bananas.

In tennis matches, in addition to drinking water, the fruit that players eat the most is bananas, mainly to replenish energy.

In the live broadcast room of CCTV C5 Sports, host Zhang Sheng also wiped his sweat and took a sip of tea to moisten his throat.

Just one game left him feeling thirsty.

"Viewers, the tiebreaker just now was like a penalty shootout in a football match. It was so exciting."

"You said if you do this every game, how can you stand it?"

"But for such an exciting game, today's ratings will definitely be very high!"

On the court, Chen Ran felt that his physical fitness had recovered somewhat, but beads of sweat still kept sliding down his cheeks.

He thought today's game would be difficult, but he didn't expect it to be this difficult.

Even the tiebreaker ended at 11:9.

The 120-second rest time passed in a flash, and the second set began.

Because Isner served first in the tie-break of the first set, then Chen Ran served first in the second set.

After a short break, both players regained their focus and temporarily put the outcome of the first set behind them. When the second set started, everything was new.

"Start from scratch!"

This is what Chen Ran has been telling himself in his heart.

He knew that in this set, there would be a crazy counterattack from the opponent.

Chen Ran also felt good and was in good condition, but Isner also seemed very focused and was not affected by the loss in the tie-break of the first set and still maintained an excellent serving condition.

He also declared his determination in this way. The defeat in the first set not only did not bring a blow, but also stimulated his fighting spirit.

Therefore, this second set was as difficult as the first set.

Suppression and counterattack, confrontation and resistance, this scene was played out again and again in this duel.

Players on both sides showed patience and concentration, with the first goal of keeping their serve.

The turning point of the second set occurred in the 11th game.

At this time, Isner was tied with Chen Ran at 5-5, and was in Chen Ran's serve again.

At this time, Chen Ran's serve quality fluctuated slightly.
Although his physical fitness has not yet shown signs of decline, the touch of returning the ball is still more or less affected, and then Isner bit the score and created an opportunity.

After experiencing four 40-40 ties and missing two break points, Isner finally withstood Chen Ran's two forehand attacks on the third break point.

In a somewhat passive situation, he actually crossed the entire court, then backhanded the ball with both hands. Before the tennis ball fell rapidly and was about to hit the ground, he cleverly used the movements of his forearms and wrists to push the ball back.

The flight path of the ball is unexpectedly straight.

Chen Ran felt very surprised. He could not accurately predict the ball's route. As soon as he started to move, he was helpless to find that the tennis ball flew past his eyes.

Fairy Ball!
Isner incredibly completed the break, 5:6!

This time, Lady Luck was clearly on his side.

In the next game, Isner successfully held serve.

Isner won the second set 5:7.

The total score became 1 to 1.

Both the audience and the host of CCTV C5 were immediately depressed to the extreme.

"Wait a minute, I think I discovered something!"

Zhang Sheng said with some worry: "Since this challenge, this is the first time Chen Ran has been broken, and it is also the first set he has lost. It's over, why do I have a bad premonition!"

"You crow's mouth!" The guest next to him was a retired tennis player, and he was speechless at this surprised guy.

"But such an exciting game is at least worth the price of admission for the audience!"

Zhang Sheng was still talking to himself: "An ATP Challenger match really reached a tour-level level!"

The first time I was broken, the first time I lost a set.

There are always many firsts in life, and Chen Ran experienced two "firsts" at once.

His mood was very stable, and he knew very well that this day would come sooner or later.

Now, the two sides are on the same starting line again, and the final set will come next.

In a true sense, one set determines the outcome!

"First of all, there must be no carelessness or negligence in your own serving game!"

"You must be successful in maintaining your hair. If you can't maintain your hair, don't talk about any victory!"

Chen Ran muttered silently to himself.

After the start of the third set, Chen Ran became extremely calm and did not show any signs of panic due to the loss in the previous set, and began to try some changes.

Although Isner's movement speed is not slow, compared with Chen Ran, who has outstanding movement ability, it is still a bit slower.

Through this fierce game, Chen Ran had quietly figured out how to deal with this kind of cannon player.

Changing rotations, changing rhythms, and changing lines require us to interfere and destroy the opponent's rhythm at all times, and then find gaps, and patiently look for opportunities to win in the midst of the storm.

Because Chen Ran served first in this set, he seized this first-mover advantage and did not leave any chance for Isner to break serve.

Similarly, Isner also showed strong strength in his own service game. Even if he fell behind 15:40 in one game and left the opponent with two break points, he was still able to win four points in a row and successfully hold serve.

3:2，3:3，4:3……6:5。

The score rose alternately all the way, and once again reached a 6-6 tie, the two sides entered the tiebreaker again.

"Oh my god, it's a tiebreaker, it's a tiebreaker again!" Not only the CCTV host, but also the hosts on the scene wailed, "My heart can't stand it!" "This game lasted for three hours, almost as long as After two football games, you’re tired of watching the crowd!”

It is indeed the first time for many viewers in the Magic City to watch a tennis match live, mainly to cheer for the local Chinese players, so they did not expect that a tennis match could take so long.

This is still a win of two out of three sets. In a Grand Slam, a win of three out of five sets is pretty good.

In the tie-break, Chen Ran took the lead in serving.

"Get this point first!"

Chen Ran hit a beautiful first serve and then immediately rushed to the net.

The moment he swung the racket to hit the tennis ball, he knew that this was a very high-level serve and the quality of the opponent's return would not be high.

Sure enough, with a beautiful volley in front of the net, Chen Ran easily scored the first point.

The second ball entered Isner's service point.

A mistake!
oh~~
There was an exclamation from the audience.

Chen Ran's opportunity to break serve came.

Isner did not dare to gamble with his first serve on his second serve, but he still served a ball with a tricky angle and fast rotation, but the ball speed was much reduced.

But for Chen Ran, this is still an excellent break opportunity.

The break is now!

He kicked the ground hard, then turned around, exerted force on his wrist, and swung the racket.

A diagonal shot from a wide angle, straight into the dead center!

Chen Ran also returned a fairy ball!

Successfully broke serve and led 2-0.

Isner successfully held serve on the second serve, but Chen Ran also successfully won two of his own serves.

The tiebreak score was 4-1!

"Two points left is match point, and three points left, I will be the champion!"

"But as long as I break serve one more time, I can take the initiative to win."

Chen Ran shouted in his heart.

One shot, ACE!

The score was 4-2.

Chen Ran held the racket in one hand and jumped lightly on the spot to relieve the tense atmosphere. Then he squatted down and stared ahead intently.

Isner tossed the ball up and hit it hard.

One shot, hit!

Inner corner of zone two.

What he wanted was to suppress Chen Ran's forehand.

Chen Ran threw himself out with a long stride. He couldn't move in time at all, so he could only extend his upper body and barely used the ball to take a bite.

The tennis ball flew in a high and floating arc, and landed precariously only a few centimeters away from the baseline.

Isner adjusted his small steps and directly attacked the opponent's backhand.

Chen Ran also immediately adjusted his steps, straightened his body, and took a shot with one hand on the backhand position. Like a dragonfly touching water, he cut the ball back with ease.

The ball is flat and stable without bouncing too high.

Isner hit another shot, and then Chen Ran responded with a chip shot.

The two of them were going back and forth, one was attacking, the other was defending, and they had been in a stalemate for more than ten shots.

The audience's eyes also followed the moving tennis ball, and their heads shook back and forth.

Suddenly, when Chen Ran faced the incoming ball, he waved his arm violently, as if preparing to launch a counterattack.

Then the next second, Chen Ran's racket seemed to stop for a moment, and then with a slight movement, the ball flew out briskly and landed neatly not far in front of the net.

Isner wanted to save the ball, but as soon as he raised his leg, he gave up the idea.

It's just too late.

5: 2.

"Little Ball! Meet Chen's Little Ball again!"

"Isner obviously forgot that Chen Ran has unparalleled skills in releasing small balls."

The host shouted excitedly.

Isner's tall body stood there blankly, breathing heavily, looking at the tennis ball that had stopped rolling in disbelief, with a look of despair in his eyes.

For such a crucial point, the opponent dared to release the ball so perfectly, which is rare even in the entire men's professional tennis world.

No one knows that for countless days and nights, Chen Ran followed the Spanish genius Alcaraz and conducted thousands of small ball training, and this feel has been deeply integrated into his muscles.

After that came Chen Ran’s two serves.

That wonderful little ball seemed to break Isner's fighting spirit.

Chen Ran was very straightforward, with an ace and a straight serve, winning two points in a row.

7:2, Chen Ran finally won the tiebreaker of the final set!

7:6（11:9），5:7，7:6（7:2），陈然终于以2比1赢下了这场持续了三个多小时的对决！

……

(End of this chapter)