In a sporting goods store, a salesperson is working hard to promote a new type of tennis racket.

"Sir, would you like to try this new type of tennis racket?" The salesperson handed the new tennis racket to the customer.

"A new type of tennis racket? Is there any difference from the previous tennis rackets? The customer asked.

"This tennis racket uses a new type of tennis string called artificial sheep gut." The salesperson opened his mouth and introduced.

"Artificial? It shouldn't have the sheep intestines like before, right? The customer said with a frown.

"Sir, this kind of artificial sheep intestine is similar in quality to the previous sheep intestine, and the price of the new tennis racket using artificial sheep intestine is much cheaper, and the price is only one-third of the original." The salesperson continued.

The customer hesitated for a few seconds, then shook his head: "Give me the tennis racket you used to have!" I still can't believe in man-made things. ”

The customer eventually bought a tennis racket with natural sheep intestines, while the salesperson at the sporting goods store sighed helplessly.

Although the price of this new tennis racket is cheaper, the sales are very poor, and customers do not approve of the artificial sheep intestines.

Tennis was hailed as an aristocratic sport, and in the forties it was played only by the wealthy. At that time, few students in public schools participated in tennis, and those young people who engaged in tennis were often students from private schools and from privileged families, and it was precisely because of the money in their families that they could afford expensive tennis rackets.

The cost of engaging in tennis is very high, so people from ordinary families will not touch this sport at all, while rich people are not bad for money, and they are also skeptical about cheap new tennis rackets, they would rather choose a tennis racket with natural sheep intestine than a tennis racket with a new type of sheep intestine, which also makes the sales of new tennis rackets not good.

……

Little Beckland stood in front of the warehouse door, watching the workers on the truck unloading, his face tinged with concern.

"Someone is coming to return it again." Little Beckland sighed helplessly, and continued: "Our tennis racket sales are very poor, and now many retailers have started to return them, you see, our warehouse is almost full of returns. On the company's side, I have stopped the production of artificial sheep intestines, and the tennis racket workshop will stop when the production of this batch of goods is completed. ”

Chen Qiang also frowned, he didn't expect this to happen. Chen Qiang thought that a tennis racket that was much cheaper than before would inevitably sweep the market quickly, but he didn't expect it to be this kind of cold reception, and the market did not recognize this new tennis racket.

According to the course of history, it is a trend to replace natural sheep intestines with artificial sheep intestines, and almost all tennis strings in the future are man-made, and cheaper artificial tennis strings will quickly occupy the market and become a mainstream. It is precisely because he is familiar with the development direction of history that Chen Qiang is full of confidence in artificial sheep intestines.

However, Chen Qiang's current experience is completely different from history, the artificial sheep intestine is not as popular as in history, but no one buys it, Chen Qiang's understanding of the historical process has deviated more than the first time.

"It shouldn't be like this, what went wrong? Is it just because artificial tennis strings appeared a few years earlier? Or am I in too much of a hurry to pull out the seedlings and help them to grow the opposite? Chen Qiang began to think.

Little Beckland next to him then gushed out: "Fortunately, the nylon rope has received orders from the military, so that we will not lose too much, if the military has some more orders, we can still make a profit." However, the purchase price given by the military is not very high, and we do not have much profit, and for now, the amount purchased by the military is still too small, and I don't know when they will purchase the next batch of nylon ropes. ”

Chen Qiang diverted the topic, he said: "I really can't figure it out, the difference between our tennis racket and the natural sheep intestine tennis racket is not big, and the price is only one-third of the natural sheep intestine tennis racket, why don't customers choose our products." ”

"I think it's because we don't promote it enough, and people don't recognize our new products. In fact, the emergence of a new product, the market also needs a process of acceptance and familiarization, you don't have to be too anxious, I believe that with the passage of time, our tennis rackets will sell better and better. Little Beckland comforted.

"yes, not enough promotion. Not only our products, but also tennis! Chen Qiang felt that he should have grasped the key point of the matter.

In the forties, although tennis was a worldwide sport, due to its status as an "aristocratic sport", the popularity of the sport was not as high as that of later generations.

Tennis really ushered in a great development, had to wait until 1968, when tennis entered the era of the open tournament, Wimbledon tennis first implemented a system of participation without distinguishing players, so that the participation in tennis has greatly increased, players can participate in competitions all over the world, by playing tennis to obtain a good income has become a possibility, since then professional tennis began to make great strides forward.

In 1972, the International Association of Men's Professional Tennis Players was founded, and in 1973, the International Women's Tennis Association was established, and then, there were more and more tournaments outside the four Grand Slams, and various levels of competitions came into being, and with more and more competitions, tennis players earned more and more money, and there were more and more professional tennis players, and the participation in tennis became higher and higher.

In the future, many people think that tennis is a very important sport, and there are so many tennis tournaments around the world every year, and the champions of the four Grand Slams have seven-figure US dollars; And there are so many stars in tennis that are known to the world, and many people who don't watch tennis can casually call a few tennis stars. The global influence of tennis is huge. In fact, tennis only became a performance sport at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and officially became a competition event at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

The development of tennis is a bit like the future of e-sports, before the 21st century, there was no such thing as e-sports, playing games is playing games. In 1998, during the Asian financial crisis, Koreans first developed e-sports, and then WCG tournaments brought together gamers from all over the world, and game masters from all over the world could compete in one another, so e-sports began to be promoted to the world.

In China, the debate about e-sports has also lasted for many years, young children regard e-sports as a dream, while parents think that it is not a proper job, and there are not a few people who criticize e-sports as a flood beast in the media, and Professor Yang, the "king of thunder and lightning", relies on electric shocks to treat Internet addiction is also fame and fortune.

However, in recent years, many people engaged in e-sports have made money, and even e-sports practitioners have earned money that cannot be spent in several lifetimes, and there are fewer and fewer discussions about whether e-sports is a flood beast, and Chinese are still very realistic, and the industry of making money by labor and eating with skills is really not able to spray. Some parents have even begun to support their children to pursue careers in the esports industry, after all, many people who get a PhD and then get a decent job may not have well-known esports players who have earned more money in those years.

The situation in Europe and the United States is similar, as e-sports can make money, playing games has become professional, professional teams are born, and the professionalism of e-sports is more perfect. Some teams have been in business for more than ten years, and some teams have been able to achieve world-class results with individual teams. For example, the world's top teams in League of Legends, G2 and Fnatic, are also world-class teams in CS:GO; The top teams in CS:GO, Liquid, Faze and NaVi are also ranked in the top five in the world when it comes to PUBG. The operation of e-sports clubs in Europe and the United States has become a systematic thing, and the contracts, sales, and leases of e-sports players are very similar to professional football leagues.

It can be said that the development of e-sports is very similar to the development of tennis, from the initial niche to the future popularization, the main reason is because practitioners can make money from it, and even make a lot of money. A sport that can make a lot of money will not be able to develop.

The same is true for other sports, but any sports that can be developed and made bigger and stronger can make money from it, such as football and basketball, and the commercial operation is very mature. And those sports that don't make money are basically half-dead, with few employees and little mass participation.

Tennis in the forties has not yet entered the era of the Open Championship, and the participation of practitioners and the masses is far less than that of later generations, and it is difficult to make money with tennis, but in the United States, it is possible to survive by playing tennis to earn money. The commercialization of sports in the United States is the most developed, and there are not only many tennis competitions, but also prize money. Therefore, in the United States, tennis should have the soil for promotion and development.

"The United States has a population of more than 100 million, Americans also love sports, the commercialization of sports in the United States is also very high, and the potential of tennis is very high, and my new tennis racket should not lack a market. The problem lies in promotion. ”

Thinking of this, Chen Qiang suddenly said: "I think I should go to the US Open again!" ”

"What are you? Did I hear you right, you're going to the US Open? Little Beckland asked in surprise.

"Yes, didn't you just say that our new racket is not well promoted, so it can't be sold, I plan to use our new racket to participate in this year's US Open, and it is best to come back with the champion of the US Open, so as to prove that our new racket is definitely not inferior to the traditional natural sheep gut racket!" Chen Qiang said.

"It makes sense to say that when it comes to promoting a new racket, there is no occasion that compares to the US Open." Little Beckland nodded.

Chen Qiang continued: "And our rackets are cheaper, and ordinary people can afford them, so I plan to take this opportunity to cooperate with some tennis promoters to allow more people to participate in tennis." The more people who play tennis, the better our rackets sell. We don't just need to capture existing customers, but also nurture potential new ones."

"Great idea! Chen, I feel more and more that you are more suitable for business than I am. You really should come to me as CEO. Little Beckland said with a smile.

……

In 1943, due to the impact of World War II, Wimbledon and the Australian Open were suspended.

As early as the outbreak of the war in Europe, Wimbledon was suspended, and as for the Australian Open, it was because after the outbreak of the Pacific War, Japan began to bomb Australia, so it had to be suspended.

The French Open, on the other hand, has resumed. In World War II, the French surrendered relatively early, and the German army was always on the offensive, so the French mainland was relatively peaceful. After the French Open in 1939, war broke out in Europe, followed by the surrender of France in 1940, which led to the suspension of the French Open, and by 1941, Germany had taken over the continent and the French Open was reopened, and from 1941 to 1945 the French Open was played as a tour. However, because France was under German control at the time, the international tennis world did not recognize the French Open from 1941 to 1945 as a Grand Slam tournament. The U.S. Open is the only Grand Slam tournament that existed during World War II.

The U.S. homeland was not affected by the war, so the U.S. Open was never suspended.

The 1943 U.S. Open was also held at the West Side Tennis Club on the outskirts of New York City, but it lasted only six days, and the number of participants in the tournament was much smaller than before, such as the men's singles competition, a total of 36 players participated, and these 36 people were also invited by the organizers with great difficulty.

Because of the war, those good tennis players also joined the army. These young people who have received higher education will have a relatively high starting point to join the US military, at least they will not be the big head soldiers who charge into battle, and many rich children are very willing to go to the army to gild.

This has also made the number of players who have signed up for the US Open scarce, and the organizers have to fill up the number of participants by invitation. And the level of players has also dropped significantly compared to the US Open in previous years.

In the future, there will be 128 places in the four major tennis tournaments, and all professional tennis players still want to participate, and athletes who can participate in the four major tennis tournaments are desperately trying to qualify, even if it is a good thing to advance to one more round. In 1943, the only Grand Slam tournament, the organizers sent out invitations, and the players did not necessarily want to participate.

In future Grand Slam tournaments, the top 36 players in the world will be considered seeded, and for unseeded players, if they can reach the round of 36, it will be a great victory, the world ranking will rise, and sponsors will be happy to provide a good endorsement contract. And at the 1943 U.S. Open, as long as you came to the tournament, it was the round of 36.

Chen Qiang once won the US Open, he signed up for the US Open again, the organizer is naturally the green light all the way, in recent years, the strength of the participating players is getting worse and worse, the enjoyment of the game is getting lower and lower, the organizers wish there were masters to participate in the US Open.

For Chen Qiang, the difficulty of this year's US Open is much lower than the last time he participated in the US Open. With fewer participants, less competition, and lower player levels, Chen Qiang's road to winning the championship will be easier.