On January 15, the 2007 Australian Tennis Open officially began.
On the first day of the game, many big names were unveiled. In men's events, such as Federer, Roddick, Djokovic, and Safin, all defeated their respective opponents. The only upset is the fourth seed of the game. Croatian star Ljubicic lost to American player Fish. Although Fish once entered the top 20 in the world, in recent years because of a wrist injury, he could only win the championship in some low-level events. This time in the Australian Open, he did not qualify for the seed, but his result was a 3:1 in the game's total score and easily eliminated the world's fourth-ranked Ljubicic and advanced to the second round.
In the women's event, Maurice, Williams, Kuznetsova, Petrova, Dementieva, Jankovic, and others also defeated their respective opponents.
Zhang Guan and Sharapova's match was scheduled on the second day, so they did not appear on the first day of the Australian Open.
...
"Your opponent in the next game is O. Rochus." After coach Joyce finished speaking, he carefully looked at Zhang Guan's reaction, and then with some helpless exploration, said, "It seems that you have not heard of this player."
Zhang Guan answered honestly, "I don't know him. You know, I don't know many players, I only know the well-known players such as Federer and Nadal."
"Rochus is a well-known player, he is a Belgian tennis player's brother, he won the French Open men's doubles championship in 2004." Coach Joyce introduced.
"French Open men's doubles champion! That should be very strong, but this time he is not a seed player, what is his world ranking?" Zhang Guan immediately asked.
"Rochus's highest ranking in the world is twenty-fourth, but now he is already out of fifty, so he is not a seed player." Coach Joyce then introduced, "Rochus's registered height at ATP is 168 centimeters, but his actual height is only 165 centimeters. It can be said that he is the shortest of the active professional ATP tennis players."
"Oh!" Zhang Guan suddenly relaxed a lot. In Zhang Guan's view, the height of 165 cm in tennis is a disadvantage in the game, not to mention Zhang Guan's height exceeds 190 cm, the height difference is so big, Zhang Guan felt that his advantage is even greater.
However, Coach Joyce said next, "The European media gave Roches a nickname, called: Giant Killer."
"What? Such an arrogant nickname!" Zhang Guan's eyes widened.
"Arrogant? It's nothing like you, you dare to shout that would win the Australian Open championship! It's embarrassing to say that people are arrogant, and Rochus has won the doubles champion of Wimbled anyway." Sharapova interjected from the side.
Zhang Guan smiled embarrassingly and motioned for Joyce to explain. Joyce then introduced, "Don't underestimate Rochus. Although he is only 165 centimeters tall, his technique is very good. If he is taller, with his skills, there must be more than the current achievements he has."
"What are the characteristics of Rochus?" Zhang Guan asked seriously.
"In a nutshell, Rochus's characteristics are stalemate and stability. Rochus' footsteps are very fast, his playstyle is very tenacious, his stalemate ability is very strong, and the catch and return are very stable, sometimes even when the opportunity arises, he will not take the initiative to attack, but will continue to hold hands with his opponents. So his style of play is very grueling. For players who rely on serving and have poor holding ability, Rochus's playstyle is to restrain them; at the same time, for players who are unstable on the spot, it is easy to be defeated by Rochus." Joyce said.
"How should the game be played? How should I target him?" Zhang Guan asked.
"I think you have an absolute advantage now because you have never participated in a tennis match, so no one knows your characteristics and play style, and they can't target you. Rochus does not understand you, so I suggest choosing the method of quick battle and quick decision first, playing a little more aggressively, and giving Rochus a surprise. If a quick battle cannot be won, it must be held with Rochus. I want to use your current strength. Even if there is a stalemate, Rochus is not your opponent." Coach Joyce extended a finger, and then said, "In the game, the most important thing you need to pay attention to is to play stably, your strength is stronger than Rochus. As long as you are stable, victory will belong to you!"
At this time, Sharapova walked by and delivered a glass of juice to Coach Joyce. At the same time, she said to Zhang Guan, "During the game, you should be more careful. Don't relax because you feel that the opponent is short. These kinds of short players often have a lot of experience with the tall players, because their opponents are always taller than them, so they are very difficult to deal with, just like Henin, also a Belgian!"
When Sharapova said this, there was a feeling of childishness in the tone. The height of Belgian tennis queen Henin is only 167 centimeters, which is considered short among women athletes, but Sharapova has suffered many losses. For example, last year's Australian Open, Henin eliminated Sharapova.
Coach Joyce moistened his mouth with juice, and then said, "Zhang Guan, except for me and Maria, I think no one knows how powerful your strength is. I think tomorrow's game will give a big surprise to the world! By then, the entire Australian Open will be shocked by you!"
...
Olivier Rochus looked at the matchup table, a proud smile appeared on his face.
"I really won the first prize. I didn't expect my opponent to be Zhang Guan in the first round! I heard that it should have been Guccione. If it was Guccione, I'm afraid I'll have to work hard. It's the men's doubles player! But if it is Zhang Guan... Hahaha!" Rochus couldn't help but laugh happily.
"A person who has never played a professional game, a person who obtained an ATP professional tennis player certificate by charity performance, a person who can obtain a wild card by a sponsorship relationship, and more importantly, he is a track and field athlete. What is the difference between this and the first round goodbye!"
"No, there is a difference! Zhang Guan's first participation in a tennis match will inevitably attract the attention of the world, and maybe it will be a global live broadcast! If I beat Zhang Guan in the match, it will be tomorrow's headline!"
Rochus suddenly felt that happiness came so suddenly, for an athlete who is not even a seed player, he can also get a high media exposure rate while abusing vegetables, which is a big prize!
At this moment, Rochus' cell phone rang, which was called by his agent.
Rochus picked up the phone and said, "What's the matter, Tom?"
"It's about tomorrow's game. I just received a call from the sponsor here. They hope that your game against Zhang Guan will not end so quickly. Try to spend as long as possible. It is best to spend more than three hours in the whole game. For this, they provided you with a 100,000 US dollar bonus, as long as you can delay the time to more than three hours, this 100,000 US dollars is yours. You should understand what this means!" The agent said.
"I understand that the sponsor wants to increase the exposure rate!" Roches than jokes, "But three hours is really difficult! I'm afraid that Zhang Guan will be exploded in thirty minutes! Haha Haha... but you can rest assured that in that case, I will secretly release the water and deliberately let him win some games "