On April 17, Zhang Huasong and his entourage arrived in the Principality of Monaco, which is adjacent to France on the northern shore of the Mediterranean Sea.

The 2009 ATP Monte Carlo Masters will kick off on Sunday 19 April and end on the following Sunday 26 April over eight days.

After this year's restructuring, there are 9 Masters in ATP1000, and only the Monte Carlo Masters is not mandatory for top players.

Because although this event has a long history, Monaco is too small a country, too small a population, and the audience is not enough, and the attendance is worrying.

Without attendance, the organizing committee has much less advertising and ticket revenue than other Masters. Correspondingly, the prize money is also less, and the attraction of the top ATP players is not very sufficient.

Attendance is the number one factor!

That's why although tennis is not developed in China, there are ATP1000 Shanghai Masters and TA Crown Pearl Tournament (women's group of the Huaguo Tennis Open), because the attendance rate is guaranteed!

Therefore, when the International Tennis Association was preparing for the ATP reform, it was preparing to set the other eight Masters as ATP1000, and Monte Carlo was relegated to ATP 500, so that the top 30 players in the previous year's ATP year-end ranking would not be forced to participate.

But how could the Monte Carlo organizing committee be willing to be demoted?

There is already a shortage of audiences, little income, and fewer bonuses.

If they are relegated, they don't have to be compulsory, and the championship points are reduced by half, then the top players are even more reluctant to come.

Wouldn't this be a vicious circle?

Otherwise, the Masters, which has existed for more than 100 years, will be reduced to a situation worse than those ATP 250 events.

As a result, the Monte Carlo organizing committee appealed and asked many clay players such as Rafael Nadal and others to intercede for the historic event.

Naturally, these clay-clay players are reluctant to be relegated from the Monte Carlo Masters.

One less clay Masters would greatly reduce the income, fame, and influence of these clay players.

Therefore, the clay players led by Nadal all expressed their support, and the organizing committee also did a lot of work, and finally retained the qualification for the ATP1000 of the Monte Carlo Masters.

However, the ATP officials still insisted that top players should not be forced to participate in the Monte Carlo Masters, and only stipulated that they should be forced to participate in the other eight Masters.

As a result, the Monte Carlo Masters will retain the ATP1000 qualification and division, but the number of top players participating in the tournament will inevitably decrease each year.

Since there is no mandatory entry rule, there are bound to be top players who choose not to participate in this competition for various reasons.

The absence of top players will inevitably cause fans of these players not to watch the game, reducing the number of spectators. Moreover, the quality of the game will also decrease, and the attraction to neutral spectators will begin to decrease.

In the long run, this competition may still be difficult to escape the doom of relegation! It's just that I don't know if the organizing committee can think of other ways to keep their ATP1000 qualifications in the future!

This is the first year of the ATP restructuring, and sure enough, two of the top 10 players in the ATP world rankings did not participate in the Monte Carlo Masters.

Fortunately, the top four Nadal, Federer, Djokovic, and Andy Murray have all arrived. There is also Zhang Huasong, who is ranked seventh in the world after the Miami Masters, but has a lot of popularity with Federer, also came.

The two people who were absent couldn't catch up with Zhang Huasong in terms of popularity and number of fans.

Therefore, the ticket sales of this year's Monte Carlo Masters have not only not declined, but have increased slightly compared to previous years.

Many fans or track and field fans of Zhang Huasong, who had not watched tennis games before, came to watch the game live.

Actually, it's not about the game, it's about watching Zhang Huasong!

But despite this, when the first round of the game began, Zhang Huasong found out for the first time that he had participated in the competition, and the audience was not satisfied.

This is something that would never happen at the Australian Open Grand Slam, Indian Wells and Miami Masters.

It can only be said that Monaco is too small, Monte Carlo is even smaller, and the largest number of local citizens is not enough!

Probably only after reaching the finals will those from abroad be able to fill the seats!

There will be only men's competitions, no women's competitions.

There are 64 draws and 16 seeded players in the singles, who are evenly divided between the top and bottom halves.

Djokovic and Nadal were placed in the top half, while Zhang Huasong, Andy Murray and Federer were placed in the bottom half.

If nothing else, the top half of the zone is dominated by the king of clay, Nadal, and although Djokovic has changed his temperament, he is not yet up to the level of challenging Nadal on clay.

As for the second half, it's a bit confusing.

Judging from the strong momentum of winning consecutive championships at the Australian Open, Indian Wells Masters, and Miami Masters, Zhang Huasong should have a higher probability of advancing to the finals.

However, this is a clay court, which is very different from the ball speed and bounce height of the hard court, and the players' movement and force are also different from other courts.

Historically, many people who have won the other three Grand Slam titles have never won the French Open on clay, such as Federer, who has yet to win the French Open.

And many of the kings of clay, who have won many titles on clay, have never won a single of their three other Grand Slam titles in their lifetimes.

This proves that the difference in the course and the impact on the players is huge.

Zhang Huasong started to learn tennis in Peking last year, to the Australian Open Asian Wild Card Tournament, to the Australian Open, to Indian Wells, to Miami, all on hard courts.

To put it mildly, Zhang Huasong has never set foot on a clay court so far, and he doesn't even know what it's like to step on a clay court.

In this case, it is unknown whether Zhang Huasong, who is participating in the clay tournament for the first time, can perform as strongly as the previous three hard court events!

However, Zhang Huasong's name as an all-round genius is now very loud, and no one dares to make a negative judgment on Zhang Huasong easily.

Everyone can only watch Zhang Huasong's first game and then judge.

In the first round, Zhang Huasong met a clay-type player.

When the match began, Zhang Huasong did feel the huge difference between the clay court and the hard court.

Although the skills given to him by the system can be adapted to all venues, he is a human being, not a machine, and does not enter a program to work.

All the matches and training I participated in before were on hard courts, and it was really uncomfortable to suddenly come to the clay court.

In the first set, although Zhang Huasong won with strong strength, the opponent with an ATP ranking of only more than 40 dragged the first set into a tie-break.

Zhang Huasong finally won the tie-break with a bit of luck and won the first set.

The first time he played on the clay court, he encountered another clay-type player, and Zhang Huasong's performance did not surprise the audience and reporters.

It's amazing enough to win the first set!

A reporter sighed: "Although winning the first set is a bit thrilling, Zhang Huasong is the first time to set foot on the clay court after all. Against clay-style players, he can win. It's so fast to adapt, it's an all-round genius. ”

The others chimed in: "Yes! With Zhang Huasong's genius and adaptability, it is estimated that it will be difficult for the opponent to turn the tables in the second set. After all, Zhang Huasong is the one who has defeated all the top four people in the world such as Nadal and Federer, and the opponent is too weak, even if he has the advantage of clay court, it is difficult to defeat Zhang Huasong. ”

In fact, it was as everyone expected.

After winning the first set, Zhang Huasong got used to the difference in ball speed, landing and bounce height on clay and hard courts.

With the speed of adaptation of the skills Zhang Huasong obtained from the system, there was no suspense in the second set: 6-3.

The opponent was unable to bite the score this time and dragged it into a tie-break.

Zhang Huasong's first clay match was still won with an aggregate score of 2-0.

However, the opponent Zhang Huasong encountered was too weak, only ranked more than 40, and it was normal to meet Zhang Huasong, who could even beat the top four in the world.

I don't know, when Zhang Huasong meets a stronger clay player, even the king of clay Nadal, can he still win?

For Zhang Huasong, this is indeed a test!

After the first match, Zhang Huasong felt a lot of pressure.

But now that the game has begun, it's too late to train on a temporary basis, so we can only continue to play.

In the second round, Zhang Huasong faced a hard-court player who was also not good at clay.

Since both sides are not good at red clay, Zhang Huasong will definitely have the advantage. With a stronger comprehensive strength, Zhang Huasong easily defeated his opponent with a score of 6-2, 6-1 in two sets to advance to the next round.

Participating in the clay tournament for the first time, he defeated his opponent with a score of 2-0 in two consecutive rounds to advance to the next round, Zhang Huasong's adaptation speed was really terrifying, and both media reporters and spectators could only express their amazement.

However, in the third round, when Zhang's opponent turned into ATP world No. 9 Russian Nikolai Davydenko, reporters knew that the time to test Zhang Huasong had come.

Davydenko has never won a Grand Slam title, and his world rankings have never reached the heights of Nadal, Federer, Djokovic and others.

However, on clay, Davydenko has an extraordinary talent.

Davydenko's world ranking is based on many low-level clay champions.

So far, Davydenko has won more than 20 ATP1000, ATP 500 and ATP 250 Tour titles in his career, including more than a dozen on clay.

Others are hard, grass or indoor carpet courts.

On clay, Davydenko can be ranked in the top three of active players, and even Nadal can't beat when he's in good form.

Zhang Huasong, who participated in the clay event for the first time, was a little sad at this level.

And for Davydenko, this is a golden opportunity. Before the game started, Davydenko was already eager to try, and looked at Zhang Huasong frequently in the lounge, his eyes were full of fighting spirit.

Davydenko has been debuting for ten years and has yet to win a Grand Slam title. The first tournament of Zhang Huasong's debut was the Australian Open Grand Slam, and he reached the final and finally won the championship in one fell swoop.

Speaking of which, Davydenko is a little envious and jealous.

However, after all, he is much older, and he will not make a big deal of nonsense to reporters, saying that he wants to defeat Zhang Huasong before the game. However, he will show it with action during the game.

On clay, where he has an advantage, Davydenko will be hoping to prove himself against Zhang Huasong, an international superstar who is in the limelight. also relied on defeating Zhang Huasong to let more media and audiences know him and expand his fame.

After all, Zhang Huasong has not lost a tennis match since he entered the industry. If he can become the first person to defeat Zhang Huasong, with Zhang Huasong's popularity, he will be a big name.

It was in such a state full of fighting spirit that after the start of the game, Davydenko relied on his clay advantage and years of experience to attack frequently, and Zhang Huasong was overwhelmed.

Davydenko's strength is indeed much stronger than the two people Zhang Huasong met before.

After all, Zhang Huasong has only played two clay matches before, and although he has some experience, it is still very insufficient compared to Davydenko's many years of clay experience.

As a result, despite Zhang Huasong's hard work, he finally lost to Davydenko with a score of 5-7 and lost the first set.

A commentator exclaimed:

"Hey, Zhang Huasong finally lost! Zhang, who won two Masters titles in a row without dropping a set in Indian Wells and Miami, finally lost the first set against clay's Davydenko in the third round of the Monte Carlo Masters. This was the first set Zhang Huasong lost since the Australian Open. ”

"Zhang Huasong is in danger! The Masters is a best-of-three format, and Zhang Huasong has already lost the first set. If he loses one more set, he'll be knocked out. ”

"Davydenko's strength on clay is indeed extraordinary, and it is normal for Zhang Huasong, who is participating in a clay tournament for the first time, not to win."

However, Zhang Huasong was not powerless, he still won 5 games, and the gap was not big. With the experience of the first set, after knowing Davydenko's style of play, Zhang Huasong, who is known as an all-round talent, may really have the possibility of reversing the game. ”

"Yes, Zhang Huasong's whole person, we can't judge easily, let's take a look at Zhang Huasong's next performance!"

On the court, Zhang Huasong has already felt the strength of a professional clay player.

Although Zhang Huasong knew that Davydenko was a professional clay-type player, he was still a little caught off guard and tired when he really faced him.

However, although the first set was lost, there was also a gain.

Zhang Huasong's strong memory, learning ability, and the skills and experience that have been systematically instilled in his mind are slowly working.

In the second set, Zhang Huasong felt that his winning rate was probably a little bigger.

Sure enough, in the second set, Zhang Huasong, who was prepared, was no longer as difficult to deal with as the first set. However, Davydenko found that Zhang Huasong had improved a lot from the first set, which made him difficult to parry.

Can you still improve while playing during the game?

Thinking of this, Davydenko was shocked. It turned out that Zhang Huasong was able to be an all-round genius to such a point, which was really a monster.

In the back and forth tug-of-war between the two, Zhang Huasong, who had the experience at the bottom of the first set, really dragged the second set into the tie-break, and won the tie-break game with his service advantage in this game and won the second set.

In the third set, with the experience of the first two sets, Zhang Huasong won more easily, and finally defeated Davydenko with a score of 6-4.

In the end, Zhang Huasong won two sets in a row after losing one set, and successfully reversed the reversal, defeating the world No. 9 and professional clay player Davydenko with a score of 2-1 to advance to the quarterfinals of the Monte Carlo Clay Masters.

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