Return to 2002: Freestyle Superstar

Chapter 95 Challenge the Grand Slam winner

A few years later, when people describe the Chinese music scene at the turn of the century, they will say that this was the last glory of the record era.

The same situation applies to traditional paper media, which saw their last glory at the turn of the century.

On the afternoon of the next day, the first wave of pre-heating for Chen Ran's battle with Safin was initiated by "Sports Weekly".

The front page position for two consecutive issues was reserved for Chen Ran.

"Tour quarterfinals, tied with the best in history!" 》

"The talented new star in tennis will challenge the Grand Slam winner"

As long as Chen Ran takes another step forward, he will create several histories.

Tour semi-finals, first win over the top five in the world, first win against a Grand Slam winner.

Of course, this step seems extremely difficult.

But in just half a day, the atmosphere of the competition had already been heightened.

Soon, Zhou Yuan secretly made up his mind and persuaded the editor-in-chief of the newspaper to let him leave for New Zealand immediately...

At this moment, in the C5 sports department of the CCTV building, Zhang Shengzheng, who was in charge of tennis commentary, let out a ghostly cry and howl.

"Oh my God, I missed something."

"The quarterfinals of the tour, is this the youngest quarterfinalist ever?"

CCTV realized later and was taken advantage of by "Sports Weekly".

"The next match between Chen Ran and Grand Slam winner Safin will be live! Do we want to broadcast it live on CCTV?" Zhang Sheng's colleague shouted excitedly.

Zhang Sheng immediately became energetic: "Live broadcast, it must be broadcast live, it is a historical moment! This is the first time for us Chinese players to meet a Grand Slam winner on the tour."

"Can we win?" Zhang Sheng's colleague asked uncertainly.

"Win? Not much chance!" Zhang Sheng shook his head decisively, indicating that he was not optimistic about Chen Ran.

He imitated the leader in the station and pretended to say eight big words: "Go all out, the key is participation."

Colleagues in the distance also nodded with deep understanding: "Well, now that the gimmick is in place, the ratings will definitely not be low."

However, after discussion, everyone decided that the broadcast would be broadcast, and the reporter would not be sent to New Zealand, but would go directly to Australia as planned.

After all, I’m just leaving for New Zealand now, and the quarter-finals there are all over.

In everyone's opinion, Chen Ran's chance of beating Safin is really slim.

……

At this moment, Chen Ran, who is far away in Auckland, New Zealand, does not know that the upcoming showdown between himself and Safin has already set off a small wave of craze in the country.

He silently opened the attribute panel, and his technical and mental values ​​remained unchanged, still 78 and 76 respectively.

On the contrary, the physical attribute value has been improved to 84 due to methodical training during this period.

"Safin must be dragged into a hard fight." Thinking back to what Sergei had said to him, Chen Ran thought to himself.

He was simply warming up in preparation for the upcoming battle.

Because it was a quarterfinal match and the opponent was Safin.

The tournament organizing committee arranged this game in the lotus-shaped ASB Central Court.

There are more than 1 seats in the venue, with nearly 8000 people sitting there.

This kind of attendance rate is actually very good. After all, Auckland's population density is far from comparable to that of Magic City.

Chen Ran put his hands on his hips and glanced around the audience with a hint of excitement.

It's a wonderful feeling to play in the quarter-finals of the tour, and it's still on Center Court.

In the future, you must compete on all the famous tennis courts around the world to make this life worthwhile!
There were indeed a lot of reporters here, lined up in two densely packed rows, holding cameras and pressing the shutter button.

But there is not a single Chinese among these reporters.

The three rounds of the Auckland Tour from the top 32 to the top 8 are played once a day. Even if the media knew the news, they would be too late in time.

Even though Chen Ran was a hero and won two consecutive tour main draws at the age of less than 17 years old, almost all the media's focus was still on Safin.What everyone is most concerned about is the scene after Safin and Asia's No. 1 Sri Chapan met in the final.

However, Safin was somewhat dissatisfied with these unhelpful questions from reporters and media.

Sri Chapan?

What about Asia’s No.1?

Anyone outside the top ten in the world is not qualified to compare with himself.

To be precise, the only thing Sri Chapan can compare with himself is his income.

Being Thai gave Sri Chaphan a lot of extra points, and he got a lot more advertising endorsements.

Although Safin is in New Zealand at the moment, his heart has already drifted to Australia.

The ATP 250 championship means nothing to him, only the Masters and Grand Slam championships have value.

Of course, you still have to say some things that should be said in the scene.

"The opponent is the best player in Asia. If we can both enter the finals, I will look forward to this game." Safin said with a smile, maintaining his grace.

With a height of more than 1.9 meters, a strong body, and a fierce playing style, he has left a reputation as a czar on the court.

He thought of his opponent in the quarterfinals, a Chinese boy under 17 years old, whose physical coach was still his old acquaintance Sergey.

Safin is a little confused about how to play this quarterfinal match?
If you lose to such a young dark horse, it seems a bit exaggerated, and it will be difficult to explain to the organizers of the event.

After all, he still wants to come here to continue harvesting wool next year.

New Zealand has pleasant scenery and beautiful environment. It is a good place to prepare for the Australian Open.

"Forget it, for the sake of the appearance fee they gave me, I'll just play one more round." Safin flexed his muscles on the sidelines, muttering to himself.

However, meeting Sri Chapan in the final does not have any appeal for Safin.

After all, for Srichaphan, winning the 250 race is a good honor, and he will definitely strive for it with all his strength, so why should he get into a hard fight with the opponent.

In the stands, cheers from the audience came from time to time.

Whether it is fans, reporters or media, almost all come for Safin.

As for Chen Ran, he had long been forgotten in a corner where no one paid attention.

Indeed, no one will notice him except the Chinese so far.

Chen Ran was also happy and relaxed. After completing the warm-up, he walked to the center of the court.

The atmosphere in the quarterfinals of the tour was indeed very different.

Not only are there obviously more cameras in the live broadcast, but the emotions of the audience have also become more intense.

After Chen Ran and Safin shook hands symbolically, the game officially began.

Chen Ran's intuition was very sensitive. He felt that Safin seemed to attach great importance to this game and had no intention of letting it go.

It seems that the previous prediction was correct. Safin cannot give up easily until he is unable to make the opponent fall into a hard fight.

so best!
After finally getting an opportunity to challenge the Grand Slam winner, Chen Ran would not want the opponent to act too casually.

He stomped lightly, gripped the racket with both hands, and stared at the opponent.

Sure enough, as the game began, Safin quickly entered the state.

There are four points in a service game.

Even though Chen Ran's serve-receiving ability has made great progress, Safin still hit three aces.

love game!

In the first game, Safin won the victory very easily.

……

(End of this chapter)