Return to 2002: Freestyle Superstar

Chapter 70 Post-match highlights, first meeting with Asian Flyers

"Won!"

"Viewers, my voice is hoarse."

"Three hours, more than three hours!"

"This should be the first ATP Challenger Championship won by our Chinese players!"

In the CCTV C5 live broadcast room, Zhang Sheng shouted with great excitement: "To be honest, I have never felt as tired as today when commentating on a Grand Slam with three wins in five sets. After all, our Chinese players participated in the game, and my mood was... Completely different.”

The guest next to him added: "Then when Chen Ran participates in the Grand Slam, you will be even more tired..."

On the court, both players in this duel were obviously exhausted.

As the loser, Isner sat on the ground with his head downcast, his face full of disappointment, and he was unwilling to get up for a long time.

He could accept the defeat, but the one who defeated him was a boy one year younger than him, which made him feel a little uncomfortable.

Chen Ran simply lay down on the ground, breathing heavily with his eyes slightly closed. He heard the deafening cheers in his ears and didn't want to move at all.

I am really tired when I feel tired, and I feel really good when I am happy!

The first true professional championship, Chen Ran's career has also entered a new level.

However, Chen Ran is not the youngest player to win the ATP Challenger League. Chinese player Zhang Depei already won this honor when he was 15 years and 7 months old.

"Invite the two players to come to the net and shake hands." The host saw that Chen Ran and Isner were not taking action and had to remind them.

After all, a 17-year-old and a 16-year-old experienced such a tragic final for the first time. For a while, they even forgot about the handshake ceremony after the game.

Chen Ran stood up and found that Isner was already standing on the other side of the net waiting for him.

He stepped forward and the two shook hands.

"Congratulations on winning the championship. Maybe the next time we meet will be on the tour." Although Isner lost, he still showed a polite smile.

Chen Ran nodded to express his gratitude: "Your serve will definitely shock the entire professional tennis world."

"My mobility is far inferior to yours. How can I dare to play professional tennis without this level of serving?" Isner also said frankly, "However, the atmosphere of today's challenge match was just like in Farah." It’s like playing the US Open at Shengcheng Stadium, there are so many people.”

"Of course, it's just as noisy as the US Open."

Chen Ran also smiled.

This is the similarity between Chinese audiences and American audiences. It is impossible to get them to watch the game quietly.

"Good luck."

"You too."

After that, Chen Ran bowed out for a week as usual, accepted an interview with the host, and received the championship trophy.

In tennis matches, both the champion and the runner-up have trophies. The champion is usually a cup, while the runner-up is a plate.

The host at the scene asked Chen Ran: "Chen Ran, congratulations on making the history of Chinese men's tennis. What do you want to say about this?"

Putting aside useless competitions like the Asian Games, the Chinese men's tennis has almost no honors in the professional tennis world. Chen Ran made history by winning the ATP Challenger Championship.

In future generations, you must at least be the champion of an ATP 250 tournament to be considered successful.

"I hope this is not the pinnacle of Chinese tennis, but just the beginning."

There is a reason why Chen Ran said this.

Not long ago, the national football team went to the World Cup. Many fans thought this was the beginning, but they did not expect that it was already the peak.The same scene will happen to future basketball projects.

This even extends to the entire Chinese music scene.

Because in the future, those who sing and perform at the same time can also become leaders in the Chinese music scene.

"Okay!" the host shouted excitedly, "It seems that Chen Ran is very confident. Let us look forward to a more brilliant future for Chinese tennis."

The next interview was taken over by CCTV.

In fact, from CCTV's perspective, they very much hope to see Chinese athletes make breakthroughs in events monopolized by Europeans and Americans.

For example, Ding Junhui a few years later, snooker is not an Olympic sport, and is only popular in the British Isles. Even in the traditional Chinese concept, the billiards room is a gathering place for bad boys.

Even so, when Ding Junhui achieved success in international competitions, CCTV still gave a lengthy report.

There is another memorable thing. In 2007, CCTV conducted a selection of sports figures, and one of the awards was for the best athlete in "non-Olympic sports".

The main contenders for this award are billiards Ding Junhui and e-sports SKY Li Xiaofeng.

The enthusiastic participation of e-sports fans made SKY Li Xiaofeng soar all the way, far ahead of No. 2 Ding Junhui.

As a result, CCTV simply changed the data in the background to let Ding Junhui win.

Even though billiards was not viewed well by many traditional Chinese people at the time, it still had a higher priority than e-sports in the eyes of CCTV.

As for the importance of tennis in the eyes of CCTV, it even far exceeds snooker. By the time Chen Ran won the championship, its value had immediately risen to the level of football and basketball.

Various exclusive interviews, large-scale reports, coupled with the exciting speech of the C5 host, I want to tell the Chinese people with great excitement that this championship is of great significance.

Dong Ri Na held up the microphone and was very excited: "Chen Ran, today you won the ATP Tour Championship. Is your next goal to win the four Grand Slams or the Olympic Games?"

Chen Ran's face darkened: "Isn't it an ATP Challenger? When did it become an ATP Tour?"

"Ah, isn't the ATP Challenger League the same as the ATP Tour?"

"..." Can you do some homework first and then come to the interview.

Chen Ran was almost speechless with this Winter University reporter.

Brother Xiang, come and save me!Take your Nana away quickly!

Maybe God heard Chen Ran's cry.

A familiar figure flashed past Chen Ran's eyes.

This is a man nearly 1 meters tall with a middle-parted hairstyle. He is none other than Liu Xiang, the champion of the 90-meter hurdles at the Athens Olympics two years later!
Liu Xiang is from Shanghai, so it’s not surprising that he could watch a tennis match after training.

At this moment, Liu Xiang, although just starting out, has also achieved many dazzling results. For example, at the IAAF Grand Prix in Switzerland in July this year, he broke the Asian record for the men's 7-meter hurdles.

The following August, Liu Xiang won the championship at the Asian Track and Field Championships.In addition, Liu Xiang easily won the championship at last year's National Games when he was only 8 years old.

Although Liu Xiang's fame has not yet left the entertainment industry and is widely known, he is already very famous in the sports circle and is a rising star in track and field.

When Chen Ran saw Liu Xiang, he walked directly past the CCTV reporter, carrying a tennis racket and walked over to say hello.

Liu Xiang was about to leave, but suddenly saw Chen Ran walking towards him and stopped.

……

(End of this chapter)