Zhang Guan was sitting next to the computer, watching the media's post-match interview with yesterday's Wimbledon final, and what was playing now was the interview video with Nadal.
"I feel like I'm honored to have lost. You know, in the pre-match survey, nearly half of the people thought it was impossible for me to reach the Wimbledon finals, so for me, reaching the finals is already pretty good. ." Nadal smiled self-deprecatingly, and then said: "I am a good loser!"
Zhang Guan smiled in front of the computer. He remembered that he said to Nadal after the game, "You played well." Unexpectedly, Nadal said that he was a "good loser."
Nadal continued to say in the video: "The gap? On the grass court, the gap between me and Zhang Guan is indeed a bit big. But I think the gap between any player and him is very big, unless it is Sampras at his peak." When we get to the court, we can probably compete with Zhang Guan at Wimbledon!"
Nadal shrugged his shoulders: "At this time tomorrow, I will enjoy a good time on the beach in Mallorca. To be honest, I am extremely satisfied with my series of performances at this Wimbledon. From the French Open to Wimbledon , continuous games are indeed very tiring, so I need to relax and take a vacation to adjust my condition. It is the rainy season in the UK now, and these days, besides rain, I am waiting for rain, which is too depressing. .Now I really can’t wait to enjoy the sunshine on the Iberian Peninsula!”
Just listen to Zhang Guan say: "Nadal is going on vacation. Mallorca is a 'Mediterranean Paradise'. It should be a good time to go there this season, with sunshine, sandy beaches, and sea breeze..."
"There are many beauties!" Sharapova interjected: "Do you also want to go?"
"I just want to ask if you have any plans, such as going on vacation," Zhang Guan said.
Sharapova shook her head: "I want to train."
"Training?" Zhang Guan was a little confused: "Are you still injured..."
"That also requires training." Sharapova said a little irritably: "You have already won three Grand Slams, and I only have two."
"Uh..." Zhang Guan felt Sharapova's attitude and didn't know what to say for a moment. He knew that Sharapova was actually very strong, but he did not expect that his three Grand Slams would actually put pressure on Sharapova. He wanted to persuade Sharapova not to work so hard. , but he felt that that might have the opposite effect.
"Maybe I shouldn't come to play tennis." Zhang Guan looked at Sharapova with some worry.
Just at this moment, Zhang Guan's cell phone rang, diverting his attention.
Zhang Guan picked up his phone and saw a text message from Zhuge Wenbo. There were only seven short words in the text message: Congratulations, you are number one in the world!
"No. 1 in the world? By the way, today is Monday. ATP has announced a new world ranking. Could it be that I have risen to No. 1 in the world?" Zhang Guan thought of this and immediately entered the official website of ATP to check the new issue. World Ranking.
In the recently announced world ranking of tennis men's singles, Zhang Guan has been ranked first. He has won three Grand Slam championships this year. Each championship is worth 2,000 points, so now he has exactly 6,000 points. .
Federer ranked second. This is the first time in the past three years that his points have been below 6,000. At his peak, Federer had to maintain around 8,000 points all year round. However, due to the emergence of Zhang Guan, Federer first lost an Australian Open championship, did not win the runner-up at the French Open, and Wimbledon also stopped in the semi-finals. I got 1800 points, so the points dropped directly to below 6000.
Nadal, who is in third place, still has a score of just over 4,000 points. He was the runner-up at Wimbledon last year, so there is no big change in his points after Wimbledon.
On the contrary, Djokovic, because he entered the semi-finals of Wimbledon, moved up one place and became the fourth in the world.
"I'm ranked number one in the world!" Zhang Guan said softly.
…
For the media, Zhang Guan ascending to the world No. 1 throne is obviously more attractive than the Wimbledon champion. There are many tennis competitions every year, and there are also many championships. Even at the Grand Slam level, Zhang Guan has won two. Now the third Grand Slam championship obviously does not have the sensational effect of the previous Australian Open.
But the world's No. 1 is different. There is only one No. 1 in the world, and it represents the top in this field. Zhang Guan switched from track and field to tennis. In only seven months, he stood at the top of tennis again. The key is that Zhang Guan pushed Federer into second place.
Federer has been firmly at the top of the world since 2004. He won three Grand Slam championships in 2004, two Grand Slam championships in 2005, and three Grand Slam championships in 2006. At that time, the gap between him and the world's No. 2 Nadal was nearly 3,000 points. Federer's advantage seems unassailable, and no one thinks Federer will lose the world No. 1 ranking. This year, Zhang Guan suddenly emerged, pushing Federer, who was in good form, to the second place in the world.
Domestic media obviously pay more attention to this. Any "world number one" is the most eye-catching thing for readers. Therefore, while reporting on Zhang Guan's Wimbledon championship, the domestic media also focused on promoting Zhang Guan's ranking in the world. The first thing.
At this time, Director Liu of the Tennis Center was also in pain and happiness. The happiness was because Zhang Guan won the Wimbledon championship and was ranked No. 1 in the world, but the pain was because of the headache of the China Tennis Open in September. .
This year’s China Open is from September 10th to September 16th, which is similar to previous years. However, the US Open, one of the four Grand Slams, is from August 27th to September 9th. , although the China Open and the US Open are next to each other in time, for the players participating in the US Open finals, the time overlaps.
The finals of tennis matches are usually held in the afternoon of local time. There is a twelve-hour time difference between China and the United States. Therefore, when the US Open finals start on September 9 in the United States, it has already reached the early morning of September 10 in China. By the time the United States The tennis finals are over and it’s almost dawn in China. In addition, it takes more than ten hours to fly from New York to Beijing. Calculating from this, it is impossible for the players participating in the US Open finals to go to China to participate in the China Open the next day. .
If Zhang Guan participates in the US Open and reaches the finals, he will definitely not be able to catch up with the China Open held the next day. Between the US Open and the China Open, the US Open, one of the Grand Slams, is of course more important. Moreover, Zhang Guanshuai still has one US Open champion left to win the Grand Slam. The Tennis Center must also ensure that Zhang Guanshuai participates first. US Open.
But the China Open is equally important. The China Open needs a local player who can win the championship. The broadcasters need Zhang Guan to appear on the court. Sponsors have even bluntly stated that as long as Zhang Guan participates in the China Open, the sponsorship fee can be increased.
In order to allow Zhang Guan to compete, the Tennis Center even applied to the World Tennis Federation to postpone the Chinese Open, but the International Tennis Federation did not agree. The reason was that the event plan had been determined as early as the end of last year and could not be changed.
"These foreigners are so rigid! They just postponed the competition for a day or two." Director Liu looked anxious: "If Zhang Guan reaches the US Open finals, is he really required to give up the China Open? No, Zhang Guan must be allowed to participate in the China Open. It seems that we have to find some other ways."
Director Liu closed his eyes. After a moment, an idea suddenly occurred to him. He took the file box about China Open and looked through the relevant information carefully.
"There is a way! As long as Zhang Guan participates, he will definitely be the No. 1 seed. Then we will arrange a wild card player for Zhang Guan in the first round to ensure that Zhang Guan can advance to the second round smoothly. If Zhang Guan can come back in time, Let him play the game. If he can't make it in time, you can let the wild card player abstain!" Director Liu nodded with satisfaction, obviously very satisfied with his arrangement.
Wild card places are basically reserved for local players. At this year’s China Open, the national tennis team has two wild cards in the men’s singles event. If Zhang Guan plays against a wild card player in the first round, he will actually be playing against the national team. As a player on the tennis team, this is equivalent to Zhang Guan being promoted to the second round by default. Even if Zhang Guan cannot come back from the United States in time, this wild card player can directly abstain, and Zhang Guan can still enter the second round. But this wild card player will definitely be sacrificed.
It is not easy for domestic men's tennis players to participate in the China Open, especially for wild card players, who may only have this opportunity once in a lifetime. But in order to protect Zhang Guan, he had to make sacrifices!
Thinking of this, Director Liu sighed in disappointment.
"In order to win the title, we can only sacrifice a wild card. However, this sacrifice will never be wasted. This sacrifice can bring people's attention to tennis and the development of our tennis, so it is worth it. I believe One day, we will have more and more tennis players standing on the world stage!"
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(End of chapter)