A Grand Slam-level event like the Australian Open certainly has many sponsors, among which there is only one top sponsor, and that is Qiya. Unlike other sponsors, top sponsors can enjoy many privileges at the Australian Open, such as advertisements in all venues, background logos at press conferences, podium speeches in the finals, etc.
Qiya has been sponsoring the Australian Open since 2002. As of 2007, it has been its sixth year. In the future, Qiya will be the top sponsor of the Australian Open until 2016. Therefore, there is a strong relationship between Qiya and the organizers of the Australian Open. An unusual relationship.
Today, Director Cui of Qiya took Zhuge Wenbo to the Australian Open Organizing Committee at the agreed time. They met Terry, the chairman of the Australian Open Organizing Committee, in the reception room.
"Dear Cui, it's nice to see you again. What would you like to drink? Coffee? Black tea? Or a glass of iced whiskey?" Terry said to Director Cui with enthusiasm. As for Zhuge Wenbo beside him, Terry didn't care. It is believed that Zhuge Wenbo is the entourage brought by Director Cui.
"Coffee bar. Thank you!" Director Cui continued: "Mr. Terry, let me introduce you. This is Mr. Zhuge. I think you must have heard of him. He is Zhang Guan's agent."
"What a great name I have admired for a long time!" Terry immediately shook hands with Zhuge Wenbo, but in his heart he was wondering what Director Cui's purpose was in bringing Zhuge Wenbo here.
"I heard a sponsor say before that Zhang Guan is in trouble recently. He seems to have been banned by his country. But this has nothing to do with our Australian Open. Zhang Guan is a track and field athlete. If he wants For public relations, you should go to the IAAF instead of our Australian Open Organizing Committee." Terry thought as he asked Director Cui and Zhuge Wenbo to sit down.
The beautiful female secretary served coffee to the two guests and then left the reception room. Only Terry, Director Cui and Zhuge Wenbo were left in the room.
Director Cui said straight to the point: "Mr. Terry, I'm here to ask for your help. I hope the Australian Open Organizing Committee can give us a wild card spot for the men's singles sponsor."
Terry suddenly felt a little surprised. He didn't expect that Director Cui would ask him for a wild card spot.
In tennis Grand Slam events, 104 places directly enter the official competition. These 104 places are allocated according to the world rankings. Therefore, in theory, the top 104 players in the world can directly advance to the official Grand Slam competition. However, considering There will be some athletes who withdraw from the competition due to various reasons, and the players ranked behind may be postponed. Therefore, generally the top 110 players in the world may directly enter the Grand Slam competition.
In addition to the 104 places that directly enter the competition, there are also 16 places in the qualifying rounds. Players who participated in the qualifying round were also officially registered players, but due to their relatively low world rankings, they were excluded from the first 104 places. Therefore, the players participating in the qualifying rounds are all ranked between 110 and 150 in the world, and those with poor skills will not be able to advance in the qualifying rounds.
There are also 8 wild card entries. These eight wild card quotas will be allocated to different regions. For example, in this year's Australian Open women's event, the Asian region has been allocated a wild card quota. Those players who are not ranked enough in the world will compete for this quota through the wild card competition.
Among the 8 wild card places in the Australian Open, 5 have been allocated through the wild card competition, so so far, the Australian Open Organizing Committee still holds 3 wild card places. According to the situation in previous years, the last wild card spots in the hands of the organizers will eventually be given to local Australian players.
In tennis competitions at all levels, it is very common for the main sponsor or top sponsor to ask the organizer for a wild card quota, and the organizer will often not refuse. After all, the sponsor has spent a lot of money to sponsor the competition. . Moreover, the players who participated in the competition with sponsor quotas were not too strong. They were basically eliminated in the first round. Being able to enter the second round was considered unlucky and had no impact on the final result of the competition.
This is the sixth year that Qiya has sponsored the Australian Open. It has never asked for a wild card spot from a sponsor before, so when Terry learned about Director Cui's purpose, he felt a little surprised.
"Mr. Cui, as far as I know, your country's tennis player Li Hengze is currently ranked around fifty in the world. He can directly enter the official competition, right? Are there any other players from your country who want to participate?" Terry Asked.
"No, I want this wild card spot not for our Korean players. I want to use this wild card spot for Zhang Guan. Our group hopes that Zhang Guan can appear in this Australian Open. This is also what I want. The purpose of bringing Mr. Zhuge here." Director Cui said.
"What? Zhang Guan? Participating in the Australian Open?" Taili couldn't hold it back for a moment, showing an incredible expression.
Director Cui continued: "We at Qiya are also sponsors of Zhang Guan, so if Zhang Guan appears in the Australian Open, it will increase the exposure, which will be good for our company. And if Zhang Guan participates in the Australian Open, it will also It can attract more attention from the world to this Australian Open. This is a win-win situation."
"Having said that, Zhang Guan is a track and field athlete after all. He is not even a tennis professional. This is a Grand Slam event after all. We cannot grant a wild card to an amateur player." Terry He spoke.
"Mr. Terry, Zhang Guan is not an amateur tennis player, he is a professional player with ATP qualification." Zhuge Wenbo said as he took out the ATP professional athlete certificate and handed it to Terry.
"This? Certificate? A certificate for a serious professional! It's really an ATP certificate!" After a brief gaffe, Terry immediately said: "I'm very sorry. I didn't know that Zhang Guan was a professional tennis player before. Please forgive me. of ignorance.”
"In that case, there should be no problem with this wild card quota, right?" Zhuge Wenbo asked expectantly.
Terry thought for a while and immediately said: "I heard that Zhang Guan should have been suspended recently!"
"Yes, Zhang Guan was banned from participating in any track and field competitions, and the IAAF also recognized this." Zhuge Wenbo smiled and continued: "But I have never heard that the IAAF can ban tennis players from participating. Grand Slam tournament.”
Zhuge Wenbo picked up the coffee in his hand, took a sip, and continued: "Although Zhang Guan is prohibited from participating in track and field competitions, he still has unparalleled popularity around the world. No one can deny that he is the most famous person so far in this century. , the most successful athlete. Just imagine, Zhang Guan gave up track and field and switched to tennis, making his debut at the Australian Open. This will be a moment that attracts worldwide attention! I think many track and field viewers will They turned their attention to tennis matches, and the first tennis match they saw was the Australian Open!”
When Zhuge Wenbo said the last words, Terry was finally moved. The foundation of any sports event is the audience. With more audiences, there will be more attention, there will be more sponsors, and the competition will become bigger and bigger. As Zhuge Wenbo said, people who originally didn’t care about tennis, because of Zhang Guan’s participation, the first match they saw was the Australian Open. Even if only one in 10 people will continue to watch, for the entire Australian Open event It's also a huge victory.
Thinking of this, Terry had a smile on his face, and he said: "The two gentlemen are right, this is indeed a win-win situation."
The fourth volume of "Four Grand Slams" has officially begun. The first chapter is delivered today. Please ask for guaranteed monthly tickets and guaranteed recommendation tickets. I have something to do in the afternoon, so today the first three guaranteed chapters will be released on time. Two One chapter per hour. When I finish my work, I will finish it and post it.
(End of chapter)