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 .
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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 . "
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. . .
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 . "
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"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 .Please download our sponsor's game to support us!