Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Basel, the tennis king, was the undisputed ruler of the tennis world. Basel won every youth championships when he was young. He became a professional tennis player at the age of seventeen. It took him six years to become number one. In the following seven or eight years, besides periods where he was injured, he had never been ousted from the throne. He was the champion of dozens of Grand Slams, as well as nearly a hundred world championships. All of this demonstrated Basel’s dominance in the tennis world.
Dai Li could guess without using his detector that such a player was definitely an S+ level talent with a personal ability value of 950 or more. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to rule over the tennis world.
Zhen Chen’s opponent in the first round was Basel. This was an opponent that he could never overcome in his entire life. Everyone knew how the match would go as soon as they saw who he was playing. He did not have the slightest chance of qualifying for the second round.
Zhen Chen became Basel’s first opponent. The organizer must’ve deliberately made it so. Zhen Chen was barely in the top 200 tennis players. Going by the world ranking, Zhen Chen was the weakest player in the tournament.
Basel was the world’s number one tennis player and the top seed of the tournament. According to tradition, the top seed was received extra care. The organizers couldn’t let Basel be eliminated in the first round. They just arranged for a weak opponent to face him so Basel could win even if he were in a bad state. If Basel had an easy time winning, he would be able to retain his strength and make the subsequent games more exciting. This would raise ratings of the competition.
Thus, Zhen Chen, the weakest cannon fodder, was the opponent in Basel’s first match.
…
Zhen Chen never thought that he would be able to play at the Centre Court. He thought this was the only time in his entire professional career that he would be able to play here.
Zhen Chen had also never thought that he would be able to compete against the tennis king, Basel. Zhen Chen thought that using the word “compete” wasn’t accurate. He was not qualified to compete against Basel. He would just be a stepping stone for Basel. He was not able to pose any sort of threat to him.
Basel is right in front of me! Zhen Chen stood on the court. He was still slightly dazed. He was reminiscing about shaking hands with Basel. After all, Basel was Zhen Chen’s idol.
Zhen Chen was not qualified to play at the Centre Court. He was soaking up the light radiating from Basel. Basel was the number one seed. E was the best in the tennis world. He only competed at the Centre Court or the No.1 Court. Arranging a match for Basel at a No. 2 Court with excellent facilities would be an insult to Basel.
Therefore, by competing against Basel, Zhen Chen had the chance to play at the Centre Court.
Basel did not go out of his way to think about his first opponent. He had no reason to. The gap between Zhen Chen and Basel was too large. He had no reason to waste his energy on Zhen Chen. Before the game, he didn’t even watch videos of Zhen Chen’s past matches. He did not attempt to understand Zhen Chen’s technique.
On the day of the game, Basel saw the young athlete from China for the first time on the court. He also saw his the starstruck expression on his face. Basel had seen too much of this expression. Every Grand Slam, in the first few rounds, he would saw this expression on his opponent’s face. Sometimes even the seeded players were his fans.
I have never seen this young guy before. It isn’t easy to get into the U.S. Open. He seems to be my fan. I’ll relax a little later. I don’t want to play too hard. Otherwise, I might hurt his self-confidence, Basel thought. Basel appeared to be extremely relaxed at that moment. He was at the Centre Court, but it was as if he was just at any regular practice court.
Although this was an irrelevant round this Basel’s debut in this U.S. Open. Therefore, this game was important to the TV broadcasters. After the players from both sides appeared, the commentators introduced them. Of course, they mainly cared about Basel. As for Zhen Chen, it was a few words. No one cared about the cannon fodder.
“Basel’s opponent is a young player that barely made it into the top 200. He got into the U.S. Open through the qualifiers. Among the 16 players who qualified through the qualifier, his world ranking is the lowest. There really isn’t much suspense for today’s match,” the commentator said.
Another commentator immediately agreed. “That is correct. The conclusion of today’s match has already been determined. The score will be 3 to 0. This game is mainly for us to see Basel’s current state. However, I am worried that the game will be over before we get to see Basel’s real strength.”
“It is inevitable that this game will end quickly. I think Basel will end the match within half an hour. For Basel, this game is just a small warm-up.”
…
In the audience, Jianguo Chen looked very nervous.
In a tennis match, coaches were not allowed to advise the athletes on the court. Throughout the match, the athletes were on their own. So Jianguo Chen could only sit in the audience and look at his son with anxiety in his eyes.
“Old Chen, don’t be nervous. Being able to compete against Basel is already a reward. Most professional players won’t experience this in their lives,” Dai Li said.
“I know, I know, I know…” Jianguo Chen said “I know” three times in a row. One could easily see how stressed the man was.
Dai Li continued, “Look at it from another perspective. Zhen Chen will gain a lot of exposure. This match is broadcast live all over the world. At least people will know Zhen Chen exists after this.”
“That is true. Gaining exposure is a good thing.” Jianguo Chen replied without thinking. The tone of his voice revealed that he was inattentive.
Perhaps to Jianguo Chen, this was not just a simple tennis match. It had become a special event, a grand ceremony that overwhelmed him.
Dai Li did not pay attention to Jianguo Chen. The result of this game had already been determined. Zhen Chen was in no way an opponent to Basel. What Dai Li wanted, for now, was for Zhen Chen to perform slightly better. Even if he lost the game, he had to have his own flair.
Dai Li suddenly remembered something.
Right! The reward for being promoted! There was a title called ‘Evenly Matched’. I have never used it before. This title can only be used during a sport that involves head-to-head competition. The track and field competition was not head-to-head, so I didn’t have a chance to use it. Perhaps I can try to use this ‘Even Matched’ title to see its effect.
Once Dai Li thought of this, he looked at the two players on the court. He smiled. This was a competition between a king and cannon fodder. Their strengths were far apart, sot was the perfect time to test the effects of “Evenly Matched.”
The next moment, Dai Li equipped the “Evenly Matched” title.