Sharapova has just participated in the Pan Pacific Tennis Open, a first-level WTA event held in Tokyo, Japan. Sharapova participated as the No. 1 seed, but unfortunately she withdrew from the match due to injury during the semifinal match against Ivanovic.
This is not the first time for Zhang Guan's parents to meet Sharapova. They have no objections to this "foreign daughter-in-law". They don't care much about nationality. They feel that as long as their son likes it, the two will be happy in the future. As long as people live happily.
After the Spring Festival, Zhang Guan and Sharapova flew to Hong Kong together to attend a sponsor's new product launch conference.
Since the length of the Spring Festival holiday in the two places is different, the Spring Festival holiday in Hong Kong is from the first day of the first lunar month to the third day of the first lunar month, so work can be resumed normally on the fourth day of the first lunar month, and all commercial activities will be carried out normally. However, these three-day holidays in Hong Kong are serious holidays and do not need to be taken away.
The commercial vehicle was driving on the streets of Hong Kong. There was a traffic jam at this time, and Zhang Guan couldn't help but hold Sharapova's hand.
"Martha, I can't celebrate your birthday with you this year." Zhang Guan continued: "I have promised our tennis center to participate in a tennis campus promotion event. I will travel to almost half of China, and continue It will also take up to a month.”
"When is the specific time?" Sharapova asked.
"Mid-March to mid-April." Zhang Guan replied.
"Then you are not going to participate in the Masters?" Sharapova then added: "In mid-March, there is the Indian Wells station of the Masters Series, and in late March, there is the Mayer Secret Battle of the Masters Series. These two The tournaments are all ATP1000 level events, and the prize money is also very high. The total prize money for the men’s competition should be more than 3 million US dollars!”
The annual Tennis Masters Series is a very important event for professional players. First of all, in these ATP1000 level tour masters, the points earned by players are half of those in the Grand Slam tournaments, that is, 1000 points for the champion, 600 points for the runner-up, and 600 points for the semi-finals. 360 points, 180 points for the top eight, etc.
Secondly, the prize money for ATP1000 level events is also very considerable. The total prize money of the Masters Series generally held in Europe is US$2.45 million. However, the two competitions in the United States, due to their strong sponsors, have a total prize money of more than US$3 million. Of course, the highest bonus is the Masters Cup held in China every November. , the total bonus in 2007 reached 3.7 million US dollars.
In terms of the number of participants, the Masters held in Europe usually has 64 players, which is only half of the Grand Slam. The two Masters held in the United States have 128 places, which is the same as the Grand Slam. So The competition is as fierce as the Grand Slams.
High points, high prize money, large number of participants, and fierce competition make these two Masters tournaments in the United States the most important tournaments after the Australian Open and before the French Open. The level of participating players is also the same as that of the Grand Slam.
Just listen to Sharapova's introduction: "The total men's prize money in the Indian Wells Masters seems to be 3.17 million US dollars. The title sponsor of this competition is Pacific Life Insurance, so the women's competition is also called the Pacific Life Insurance Cup. . The women’s competition is a first-level tour with 96 draws, and the prize money is also 2.1 million US dollars.”
"The difference between the men's and women's bonuses is more than 1 million US dollars!" Zhang Guan said with a smile.
"Isn't it strange? In tennis competitions, the prize money for men's events is much higher than that for women. In the past, even the Grand Slams were like this. Now among the four Grand Slams, in addition to the French Open, the other three men's and women's singles The prize money is already the same. But on the tour, the prize money for women's singles is still much better than that for men's singles." Sharapova paused and then said: "But in the Miami station, the prize money for men and women is the same. "
"The Miami station of the Masters? The one after Indian Wells?" Zhang Guan asked.
"Yes, that's it. The total prize money for the men's singles is 3.45 million US dollars, the highest among all Masters series. The sponsor of this competition is Sony Ericsson." Sharapova said and laughed: "The women's competition is called Sony The total prize money for the Ericsson Cup is also US$3.45 million!”
"How much prize money is there for a typical first-level women's singles event?" Zhang Guan asked.
"1.34 million U.S. dollars. And there is a difference between 64 draws and 32 draws." Sharapova continued: "Now you know, the difference in prize money between men and women in tennis is very large, and in the men's Masters Series, the prize money exceeds 300 These are the only two tournaments in the United States that offer 10,000 US dollars, are you sure you don’t want to participate?”
Zhang Guan still shook his head: "3 million is just the total bonus, and it has to be divided up layer by layer. Even if you win the championship, the bonus will probably be less than 1 million! It's too little, don't go!"
"One million US dollars is not enough for you?" Sharapova glared at Zhang Guan.
At this moment, Zhang Guan said to the driver: "Master driver, pull over and stop ahead, where the decoration fence is."
The driver slowly stopped the car. He looked at the store that was being renovated, and said to himself that from the end of last year to now, this store has been renovated for several months. This location has such a good flow of people that several have been closed. Month, I am afraid the boss will suffer a lot of losses.
Zhang Guan got out of the car first, and then made a "please" gesture.
"What are you doing here?" Sharapova asked.
"Does it look familiar?" Zhang Guan smiled: "We have been here before!"
Sharapova looked around, as if she remembered something, and then she said: "I remember, we were shopping here at that time! I remember there was a store that was very exquisitely decorated, and I still have the impression that it seemed like over there?"
Sharapova raised her finger and saw that it was the store that was blocked by decoration. The fence reads "Under renovation, closed for business" and "For safety, please do not approach" in Chinese and "Because" respectively.
"Why is it being renovated? Is it because the business is not good and the shop owner wants to change his career?" Sharapova looked around and then said: "There is still a lot of people here. There shouldn't be no customers. That means poor management!" "
"Not necessarily, maybe the landlord doesn't want to continue renting." Zhang Guan smiled and pulled Sharapova over.
"Hey, it says in English 'For safety, please stay away'. Isn't that what it says in Chinese?" Sharapova asked.
"It means the same thing in Chinese. But I think this store has been renovated!" Zhang Guan pulled Sharapova forward and stopped not far in front of the fence.
The next moment, the entire fence came down, and a decorated shop appeared in front of the two people.
A signboard made of candy patterns posted on the city. The letters on the door are exactly Sharapova’s English name: Maria-Sharapova!
The second chapter has been delivered, please give me a guaranteed monthly ticket, thank you book friend "" Onizuka, ￡ Gunpowder ￡ 10,000 points for the great reward.
(End of chapter)