The stadium at the Capital Tennis Center was packed. Today is the day of the men's singles final of the China Open. Zhang Guan, the top seed in the tournament, will face Spaniard Robredo, the third seed in the tournament.
This was Zhang Guan's first time participating in a tennis tour. He hurried back to China after the US Open. When he arrived, the second day of the China Open had already begun.
Of course, Zhang Guan was unable to participate in that day's game, and his opponent, another national team player with a wild card, directly chose to abstain, which was equivalent to walking Zhang Guan into the second round, and also bought Zhang Guan some rest time. .
In the next five days, Zhang Guan will face a schedule of five games in five days. Although there are games every day, it actually does not consume much physical energy. Because the men's singles at the China Open is a best-of-three-set match, and there is no long-set tiebreaker, the physical exertion on the athletes is much smaller.
In men's tennis singles competitions, the Davis Cup, ATP year-end finals and the four Grand Slam Opens adopt a best-of-five-set system, while others such as the Masters, Tour, Gold Tournament, etc. all use a best-of-five-set system. The game is won, so the game time is shortened a lot, the rhythm of the game is more compact, the intensity of the game is reduced, and the athletes can withstand continuous games.
Due to the competition time, the seeded players at the China Open are all players who were eliminated early at the US Open, such as Ljubicic, Gonzalez, and Lee Hyung-taek, etc. Of course, there is an exception, and that is model worker Davydenko. After being eliminated from the US Open, he flew to the China Open to compete non-stop.
Zhang Guan came with a Grand Slam and was fighting on home soil. It can be said that he had the right time, place and people. Although he was walked in the first round, no one could stop Zhang Guan in the following rounds. Those who advance to the championship are very easy.
Zhang Guan's opponent in the second round was Croatian Marin Cilic, a young player who was only 19 years old. For Cilic, it was already a great honor to play against Zhang Guan, the legendary player who holds the Grand Slam. As for victory, it was even more of a luxury. As a result, Zhang Guan easily won 6-2/6-1 and advanced to the next round. Round three.
There were only thirty-two players participating in the China Open. The third round was actually the quarter-finals. Zhang Guan met the German Nicholas Kiefer in the third round. Kiefer was a thirty-year-old veteran. He was once ranked fourth in the world, but in recent years, with the increase of age and injuries, his condition has declined. Zhang Guan easily advanced to the semi-finals with two 6-3s.
In the semifinals, Zhang Guan met Ljubicic. The Croatian slugger's condition has indeed declined significantly this year. Although his serve is still strong and worthy of the title of "ACE Ball" master, his movement is much worse. Against a player like Zhang Guan who is good at changing the rhythm of offense and defense, if you can't keep up with your movements, you can just surrender.
Zhang Guan defeated Ljubicic with a score of 6-4/6-3 and advanced to the final. His opponent in the final was Spaniard Robredo.
Robredo is different from other Spanish players. He is the kind of player who can perform stably on any court. Before Nadal's rise, Robredo was the face of Spanish tennis.
However, under Zhang Guan's active attack, he did not last long and was quickly defeated. Zhang Guan easily defeated Robredo with a score of 6-4/6-1 and successfully won the China Open championship.
After more than 20 years of history, the China Open has finally welcomed a local champion, which is of great significance to the entire China Open. Organizers, sponsors, and audiences all wanted to see this ending, but Zhang Guan still did not disappoint everyone.
…
After the China Open, there will be a series of tour events, gold tournaments and two Masters tournaments this season. When all the games were over, the Shanghai Masters, the last event of the season, also kicked off.
The annual Masters is the ATP's year-end competition. Only the top eight players can participate in this competition. The ninth and tenth ranked players in the world will serve as substitutes.
Zhang Guan has won the four Grand Slam championships, plus the China Open championship, with a total of 8,500 points, ranking first in the world. The second and third are Federer and Nadal respectively, followed by Djokovic, Davydenko, Roddick, Ferrer and Gonzalez. This year's Masters will also be attended by these eight players to determine the final champion.
The schedule of the Masters is different from other competitions. The eight players are first divided into two groups for a round-robin. The round-robin is a best-of-three-set system, and small points are calculated. The top two in the group appear, and then the weaker ones compete in the knockout round. That is, the first in Group A will play against the second in Group B, and the first in Group B will play against the second in Group A. The winner will advance to the finals. The final will be a best-of-five set.
In the group stage, Zhang Guan, Nadal, Djokovic and Ferrer were placed in one group, while Federer, Davydenko, Roddick and Gonzalez were placed in another group. After fierce competition, Zhang Guan won all three matches and qualified, while Ferrer defeated Nadal by relying on the advantage of winning and losing, and obtained another qualifying spot. The other group's spots were taken by Federer and Roddick.
In the semi-finals, Zhang Guan faced Roddick again. This time, unlike the US Open, this was Zhang Guan's home court. Zhang Guan, who was in the right place at the right time, defeated Roddick 2-0 and advanced to the final. Federer also defeated Ferrer and reached the final.
Zhang Guan and Federer met again in the final, their fifth duel this year.
…
On the last match day of the Shanghai Tennis Masters Cup finals, in the grand singles final, Chinese player Zhang Guan faced Swiss champion Roger Federer. As a result, the world's number one player Zhang Guan won 7-6/7-5/6 in this battle. -2 swept Federer again.
In a restaurant on the Bund, Zhang Guan hosted a banquet for Federer.
"I lost to you again! I never thought that I would lose to the same opponent five times in one year!" Federer smiled and then said: "I remember you have never lost in tennis. !Never lost even one set."
"Actually, I have lost before." Zhang Guan replied with the same smile: "Last year, I was often tortured like a dog by Martha."
"Sharapova can't beat you now! And no one in the world can beat you." Federer continued: "What do I need to do to beat you?"
"I won't tell you how to defeat me! This is my secret!" Zhang Guan looked up into the distance and continued: "This season is over, a wonderful season, a wonderful ending!"
"A wonderful ending? This must have just begun for you!" Federer emphasized his tone, and then said: "Your era has just begun."
"Roger, you know, next year is the Olympic year." Zhang Guan stopped talking, but Federer's expression seemed a little baffled.
Zhang Guan said: "Next year is the year of the Olympics. It is the first time that my country will host the Olympics. This has a special meaning for us. You should be able to understand it!"
Federer nodded: "So? Do you want to give up tennis, focus on preparing for the Olympics, and continue your track and field?"
"It's not like giving up tennis. It's just that there are so many fun and interesting sports in the world, and I want to try them. Continuously meeting new challenges is also challenging myself. Each different sports is very important to me. It sounds like a peak, waiting for me to conquer!" Zhang Guan said here, and the ringtone of his cell phone suddenly rang.
"Sorry, Roger, let me take a call." Zhang Guan walked aside and picked up the phone.
He Yiming's voice came from the other end of the phone: "Zhang Guan, the Basketball Association just sent someone to contact me. They asked if you are interested in going to the men's basketball training center for a trial? It's a basketball trial!"
Tomorrow I will start a new volume of "The Road to Almighty". I am still refining the outline, and today is just one chapter. In addition, I want to report something to you. I have to rush to the sales list next Monday, so the update this weekend will be postponed to next Monday. I will update more next Monday. Because this matter is quite important, I also ask you to subscribe more on Monday. Book friends who are able to reward can also please help next Monday. It will be very helpful to hedge the sales list. Thank you all.
(End of chapter)