Chapter 0639 - The Youngest Grand Slam Winner Is Born
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In fact, Steffi Graf's journey to the French Open has not been smooth, and it has to do with the WTA's ranking system.
After participating in the Australian Open tennis tournament in Oceania, Xiao Nizi caught a cold and suffered a small injury during training, which scared the coaching staff to quickly adjust the plan for this baby bump, so she missed several recent WTA events.
At this stage, the WTA points rules are still very rigid, simply put, forcing athletes to participate in every event. As a result, Steffi Graf's world rankings have dropped a bit, leaving him with a seeding for the French Open, which is between the odds.
And that's not all, Steffi Graf seems to have had a bit of bad luck as he was placed in Group 8 and battled for the quarter-finals against Clay "Queen of Clay" Chris Evert.
This made the West German media complain, the clay court of the French Open was already full of uncertainty, and with the early encounter with the Ice Princess, their expectations for their talented girl to break into the semi-finals of a Grand Slam again were basically dashed.
As expected, after three rounds of elimination, only Steffi Graff and Chris Evert were left in the 16-man group.
However, the excitement and final result of this game far exceeded everyone's expectations.
In the first set, the pair battled to a tiebreaker, and Chris Evert won 7-5. This result seems to indicate that it is not unreasonable for everyone to be optimistic about the ice princess rather than the genius girl.
But the unexpected began here, and Stenfi Graf was not very old, but he was mentally strong. Unaffected by the opening loss. Next up was a 6-4 win to world No. 2 Chris Evert.
With just these two sets. It can be said that the final battle of the group stage is the most exciting women's singles match so far in this French Open; In the deciding set, Steffi Graf knocked out seeded Chris Evert with a score of 6:3, pushing him to a height comparable to the final.
Since then, Steffi Graf's form has dropped slightly, but he has been able to perform consistently, making it past the quarter-finals and semi-finals, where he will meet last year's French Open champion Martina Navratilova.
The French Open has added another legend, which has attracted heated discussions in the European media. It somewhat dispelled the gloom caused by the Heysel Stadium tragedy in the European Champions Cup final on May 29.
To know. In today's women's tennis world, dominated by Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert, who have long held the No. 1 and No. 2 rankings, the emergence of Steffi Graf is a generational changer.
If you think about it, Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert's generation has really reached the stage of abdicating and making way for Xian. The latter is 31 years old and already out; The former is 29 years old and is waiting for the 16-year-old juniors to challenge again.
Although Steffi Graf has been defeated by Martina Navratilova many times before, the momentum of the talented girl this year is obviously different, and even Chris Evert has won, which is not impossible for the current tennis queen to hate on the spot.
So. On the day of the French Open women's singles final, the Roland Garros Stadium has a capacity of more than 15,000 people. The seats were full, and everyone wanted to see for themselves whether there would be a miracle.
Before the match, Tang Huan said to Steffi Graf with a relaxed expression: "Don't be pressured, every game, you are refreshing your results, and this time to reach the Grand Slam final is enough." ”
Truth be told, Tang Huan didn't want Steffi Graf to go head-to-head, because her final opponent, Martina Navratilova, had the nickname "King Kong". This metaphor may seem a little inappropriate for a woman, but it is enough to describe the strength of this female tennis queen.
After becoming a naturalized American citizen, Martina Navratilova adopted the NBA's professional training system, which made her more and more physical, and has been in the world No. 1 for more than 150 weeks until now.
Moreover, Martina Navratilova is not only the long-time No. 1 in women's singles, but also in women's doubles.
In the total of these two years of competition, her defeat is in single digits, how domineering do you say this "female King Kong"!
However, Steffi Graf, who was not afraid of tigers as a newborn calf, apparently had other ideas, and eagerly replied, "I want to make my 16th birthday more meaningful." ”
"I've got your birthday party ready." Tang Huan smiled and rubbed Steffi Graf's head, "Compared to that 'female King Kong', you are still a flower bone, don't fight too hard and hurt yourself, you don't know the example of Tracy Austin." ”
Tracy Austin is a talented young American player, the fourth player to reach No. 1 in the WTA singles rankings, and has won two Grand Slam singles titles and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title, setting many "youngest" records.
Back in 1979, Tracy Austin ended her 125-match winning streak on clay by defeating Chris Evert in the semifinals of the Italian Open.
At the US Open that same year, Tracy Austin defeated Chris Evert in the women's singles final, shattering her dream of winning five consecutive championships and becoming the youngest ever US Open champion and Grand Slam champion at the age of 16 years and 9 months.
At the 1980 Wimbledon Tennis Championships in England, Tracy Austin, who reached the semifinals of the women's singles, teamed up with her brother John Austin to win the mixed doubles championship.
At the 1981 US Open, Tracy Austin won her second Grand Slam title, this time against Martina Navratilova, who was in a slump.
As a result of these performances, Tracy Austin became the youngest player to become the youngest ball queen in 1980 when she was 17 years, 3 months and 26 days after two world No. 1 appearances.
However, since 1982, Tracy Austin has been plagued by a back injury. Grades began to slip. All the majors they participated in were out early; 1983 year. On the eve of her 21st birthday, the talented girl in the United States dropped out of the top 10 in the world; After 1984, she basically disappeared from the professional stage.
Tang Huan gave the example of the fall of Tracy Austin, a genius, naturally to warn Stuffie Graf, but it had the opposite effect, the other party directly thought of those "youngest" records, and it can only be said that the idea of using the results of the game to please Tang Huan in Xiao Nizi's heart is too deep-rooted.
"I see." Steffy Graf, who squinted his eyes comfortably like a kitten, obediently agreed. Secretly, he clenched his little fists tightly.
The strength of this belief can be seen from the result of the first set of the final, when Steffi Graf gave the tennis queen a straight blow and won the first set 6-3.
Seeing this scene, tens of thousands of spectators on the Central Stadium gasped, what a Lori is fierce!
Steffi Graf's outstanding physicality, fast running, perfect footwork, precise positioning; The excellent serve and ferocious forehand attack left an extremely deep impression on everyone.
Martina Navratilova, who lost the opening set, threw her racket in frustration. Steffi Graf has been a loser before, and she believes she has a psychological advantage and is familiar with the style and technical characteristics of her opponents. I didn't expect this little bean sprout to be improving all the time. The details of the game are constantly improving, and this time it feels a little strange to me. As a result, he was caught off guard.
Martina Navratilova's golden years of athletic career, although the countdown has begun, she is still at the peak of her physical and intellectual strength, and after a little summary of her gains and losses, she recovered the disadvantage in the second set with a score of 6-4, fully showing her old spiciness.
As a result, the deciding set became more and more exciting, and each game was fought back and forth for a long time, which was wonderful, and the stadium resounded with warm applause from time to time.
Tang Huan, who was sitting in the audience, had a grim face and frowned slightly. Or that's the reason, the little Lori that she carefully cultivated, although she is a genius, is a flower bone that has not grown after all, and in the face of the brutal impact of the "female King Kong", the outcome is unpredictable.
On the court, Martina Navratilova roared from time to time, with an indomitable murderous aura on every beat; Steffi Graf stared intently at his opponent with a small face, like an elf in his movements.
When the score reached 6-5 and Steffi Graf took a surprise lead by one set, the atmosphere in the court was so tense that even Martina Navratilova's roar died down, and the TV host was mute.
It wasn't until Steffi Graf struggled to win the first set again and win the match that the tense nerves of tens of thousands of people in the court were released, and the mountain erupted in shaking applause and cheers.
The host and guest on TV said incoherently: "Oh my God, it's incredible, the youngest Grand Slam winner in history has been born, you know, the German genius is just a few days away from turning 16." ”
"Steffi Graf, who won a Grand Slam for the first time, will receive 1,262,700 francs for the first prize, and Martina Navratilova, who lost the championship, will receive 640,500 francs for the second place."
After this victory, Steffi Graf will not only greatly improve his WTA rankings, but also increase his commercial endorsement value. She hadn't accepted any commercials before, but now it seems that her agent is confident and shrewd enough. ”
"I heard that Adidas, two well-known sporting goods companies in Germany, Adidas and Puma, are fighting openly and secretly for the endorsement of Steffi Graf's products."
"It's just that they may not be the first merchant to successfully sign a contract, and EA, a well-known video game manufacturer, is also eyeing it."
The discussions between the host and the guests, and even the gossip, made the Grand Slam summit of the talented girl more and more legendary.
In her post-match speech, Martina Navratilova accepted her defeat, "I was in good shape today and had no problems. ”
"If I had to say that there was a problem, I think it should be that I haven't played against Graf for a long time, and the progress of her confrontation with Japan has made me feel strange."
"However, I quickly adapted and made up for the disadvantage in the second set."
"As for my failure in the end, maybe it should be down to providence, I believe that many of the spectators here wanted to see a miracle born, and Graf complied with this request and did it."
The host then asked: "Does Steffi Graf's victory mean that the women's tennis world is about to start changing?" ”
Martina Navratilova shook her head and replied forcefully: "It's too early to tell, Chris Evert and I are still at our peak, and we will be competing at Wimbledon in a month's time. ”
When Steffi Graf, the focus of the audience, finally took the microphone to speak, the host on the opposite side asked "Why are you in such good shape today?", Xiao Nizi replied coquettishly, "I mainly want to celebrate my birthday in a few days, so that I can receive more gifts." It made the audience laugh.
Tang Huan was also amused, and it was difficult to break the record of the youngest Grand Slam winner created by Guy Steff Graf, who was a cute man.
The original record holder was Martina Hingis at the 16-year-old and three-month-old Australian Open in 1997, but now Steffi Graf is a few days away from turning 16.
Anyway, in Tang Huan's star family, another bright star has risen, which is a great thing, such as Xiaobawang's home TV game console, and some Fangyuan personal computer models have a more energetic idol star to endorse.
As for the business endorsements pursued by Adidas and Puma, two competitors of the same origin, Tang Huan asked the agent team to consider it, and it was time for Xiao Lori to start earning some pocket money, depending on which of you is willing to give a contract with more favorable conditions to your talented girl compatriots.
Of course, Tang Huan also kept his promise and held a lively and grand birthday party for Steffi Graf without paparazzi.
Another Grand Slam, the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in England, is just around the corner, and Stepfi Graf is not young and frivolous, and after celebrating his birthday happily, he is ready to go.
As for the commercial endorsements of those big brands with favorable conditions, they can only be fully fulfilled after this intensive period of events.
After witnessing the soaring of the little Loli he cultivated in the French Open, Tang Huan left for Munich, Germany, to visit the headquarters of Siemens.
Last time, he intended to compete for 20 percent of Intel's shares in IBM's hands, and Tang Huan, who had the winning ticket, once squeezed the other party with words, "You still have to run the promising business of power plants, why bother to go to the circle of American semiconductors to dislike people?" ”
Siemens CEO Karl Heinz Casker was choked and rolled his eyes, but when he saw another purchase contract that Tang Huan had received, he simply admitted it. (To be continued.) )