Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Jianguo Chen personally poured Dai Li a glass of wine and said, “Coach Li, taste this wine. I have kept this Maotai for 20 years.”
“A 20-year-old Maotai! If this bottle were sold, it would cost tens of thousands!” Dai Li did not hesitate. He took a sip from the wine glass, closed his eyes, and relished it. He said, “A 20-year-old Maotai really is something. After one gulp, the scent of the alcohol goes through and out the nose. I say, Old Chen, where did you find this rare bottle?”
“I brought it from China,” Jianguo Chen said.
“You specifically brought wine overseas?” Dai Li asked curiously.
“I thought that if Zhen Chen was able to qualify for the U.S. Open, then shouldn’t we celebrate? So I brought this bottle of wine, even though I’d never have thought that we’d actually drink it.” Jianguo Chen gave Dai Li a large amount of wine and said, “Coach Li, thank you very much. If it weren’t for you, Zhen Chen would not be competing in the U.S. Open. Thanks especially for Coach Wiggins’ training camp. Zhen had made a lot of progress in that one week of training.”
“It was also his own hard work,” Dai Li said with a smile on his face.
Jianguo stood up and raised his glass to toast Dai Li. “I, Jianguo Chen, am not great with words or speeches. In short, my gratitude to you is all in this wine.” Jianguo and Zhen downed their glasses.
“Old Chen, the real competition is next. Do you have a new goal?” Dai Li asked, smiling.
Jianguo Chen shook his head. “I am still very aware that it was not easy for Zhen Chen to make it this far. I know that, with his current ability being what it is, it is impossible for him to advance beyond the first round. After the next game is over, we will probably go home.”
“There actually is a small chance. If he’s lucky, Zhen Chen might face a wild card in the first round. If so, he might advance to the second round,” Dai Li said.
“I hope so.” Jianguo Chen did not show the slightest hint of optimism.
The tennis players were grouped according to their rankings. For example, the four major tennis tournaments had a total of 32 seed players. They were the top 32 players in the world. During the grouping, these 32 players were assigned to different groups. In the groupings, the seed players didn’t encounter each other in the first two rounds. It was not possible for these players to meet until the third round.
At the same time, the high-level players would also be separated as much as possible. For example, the top seed and the second seed would be in different groups. Unless it was the finals, it was impossible for them to meet. The top seed and the fourth seed, as well as the second and third seeds, could only encounter each other in the semi-finals.
Since there were 32 seed players, there would be 96 non-seed players. Many of these athletes cannon fodder who would be eliminated in the first round. Like those who qualified through the qualifiers, their world rankings were much lower. The weaker the cannon fodder athletes, the more likely they were to meet the top seed players in the first round.
When the athletes were grouped, they took extra care in placing the top seeds, which were the top 16. Their first-round opponents were basically there to be beaten. This guaranteed their entry into the second round. For example, the athletes who were ranked highly would often compete against the players who got in through the qualifying round first. Because the players who qualified through the qualifiers were weaker, the first round would be a guaranteed win for the highly ranked players.
For the organizers, if the dominant seed players were eliminated in the first round, the tournament would be less enjoyable as a whole.
The players who got in through the qualifiers were ranked below 110th. When faced with the top 10 players in the world, they would be utterly destroyed. There wouldn’t even be a chance to fight back. Therefore, it was basically impossible for players who had to go through qualifiers to advance to the second round. Their role in the Grand Slam was to become qualified cannon fodder to help the higher ranked athletes warm up and adapt to the rhythm of the game. They were supposed to lose the game and guarantee advancement for the top seeds.
Jianguo Chen knew that, although Zhen Chen had advanced to the Grand Slam tournament, he was still unable to shake his fate of being cannon fodder. In the first round, he had to face the top seeds, so Jianguo Chen did not expect Zhen Chen to enter the second round. Zhen Chen had no way of beating a seed player.
However, there was one way an athlete meant to lose in the first round could actually advance to the second. It was possible for Chen to meet a wildcard in the first round.
As mentioned before, the Grand Slam had eight wild cards slots. They were mainly for popular players, sponsored players, and local players. The organizers hoped that the local players could last a long time, as it normally made more people pay attention to the tournament. Therefore, when grouping, the organizers deliberately let the local wildcards encounter the players who had to go through qualifiers.
The thought was qualifier players were relatively weak, so the local wildcards had the opportunity to beat them. On the contrary, local wildcard players were weaker. If players who qualified through the qualifiers met them, they had a chance to win. It was much better than facing the seeded players.
To put it simply, if the first round was a match between a wildcard and someone who qualified through the qualifier, both sides had a shot to win. In fact, it would be a match between two weak players.
It was not uncommon, in tennis, for the organizers to guarantee advancement to local players. They would often arrange for a weak opponent to play local players. Sometimes, they even put two local wildcards in the same group. One year, at the China Open, the Chinese had three wildcards, but the Chinese players were really bad. They could not beat anyone else in the competition. The organizers simply arranged for two of the Chinese players to encounter each other in the first round, so that at least one Chinese player was guaranteed an advancement to the second round.
If Zhen Chen encountered a wildcard in the first round, he could at least put up a fight and have a chance of advancing to the second round. Of course, even if he were promoted to the second round, he would encounter a seeded player there.
As a professional, even though he was not one of the best, being able to get past the first round was a good thing.
Moreover, the prize money increased significantly the farther he made it.
…
When Jianguo Chen and Dai Li were drinking, Jianguo Chen’s cell phone buzzed and a text message appeared.
“It is a notice from the tournament. The first round of the U.S. Open has already been published. It can be checked on the official website,” Jianguo Chen said.
Dai Li took out his mobile phone and went to the website. He needed to know who Zhen Chen’s opponent would be.
Dai Li found the bracket and he saw the name of Zhen Chen immediately.
He saw it so quickly because Zhen Chen’s name was very high up. He was in the second position on the match map. The one who was placed first in the match map had to be a seed player. He was the player who was ranked number one worldwide.
Zhen Chen’s first opponent would be the world’s number one player!
“Who is it? Who is Zhen Chen playing in the first game?” Jianguo Chen asked hopefully. He still hoped that Zhen Chen’s luck might hold out and he might go against a wildcard in the first round.
Dai Li handed the mobile phone to Jianguo Chen and said, “He can’t advance. He’s facing Basel, the tennis king! Basel, the strongest tennis player of all time…”