Match point

Chapter 1207 Wind Direction Sign
The casinos in Monte Carlo, the marriage of Princess Grace, the gathering of the rich and famous, everything makes Monaco a layer of mystery.

In addition, there is the Monte Carlo Opera House built in 1879, which is still one of the top music halls in Europe; the Monte Carlo International Circus Festival is also world-renowned, continuing this traditional art that is almost extinct Form, can attract a large number of tourists every year.

For various reasons, this country with an insignificant area is infinitely attractive, but the "attraction" is attractive, which seems not enough to make people choose to settle here, nor is it enough to explain the amazing population density. Then, What is the core reason?

the answer is--

There is no personal income tax.

Because Monaco has no personal income tax system, it has attracted a considerable number of wealthy tax-avoiding immigrants, mainly from other European countries.

There are businessmen, there are actors, there are professional players... and so on and so forth.

In fact, most of the wealthy people who have settled in Monaco are businessmen with careers all over the world. They are the protagonists of this paradise; but for the general public, the names of those businessmen are completely unfamiliar and lack impact. The most important ones are those celebrities.

Especially the well-paid professional players, like F1 drivers, like professional football players, and so on.

In people's impression, F1 racing drivers generally live in Monte Carlo, but is this really the case?
Once, "The Times" did an interesting statistic.

Strictly speaking, it is not a complete statistics, nor is it a sampling statistics, but based on impressions, 49 known and confirmed professional players who have settled in Monte Carlo are selected, each of which is a familiar name, and then statistically analyzed their occupations--

Wei Wei was a little surprised by the answer.

The first place is tennis, 27th place; the second place is F1 racing driver, [-]th place.
The other [-] belonged to different sports, including skiing, equestrianism, cycling, golf, boxing and so on.

Numbers, the contrast is obvious.

As one of the highest-income individual sports in the world, tennis players' tournament bonuses and sponsorship income have undoubtedly always been at the forefront.

To some extent, they really desperately need a "paradise" like Monte Carlo; what's more, compared to Bahamas, another tax haven, Monte Carlo has convenient transportation and mature training grounds. Undoubtedly more friendly, life and training are both correct.

Currently, Djokovic lives in Monte Carlo.

Later, Medvedev, Zverev Jr., Sisipas, Berrettini, Aliasim, Hulkacs, Wawrinka, Cilic and other players all settled here.

By the way, Dimitrov's official residence is here as well, although he's mostly in Miami these days.

By the way, Nadal lives in Spain, Federer in Switzerland, and Murray in England.

Of course, the above is still not all.

In addition to the Casino, Rose Garden, Royal Palace, Ocean Park, etc., there are two important events in Monte Carlo that attract the attention of the world.

One is the F1 Grand Prix.

The Monaco Grand Prix has the longest history among all F1 events. Since the F1950 Grand Prix landed in Monte Carlo in 1, it has never left here. For more than half a century, it has witnessed countless classics because——

The streets of the city are the track of the F1 Grand Prix.

Here, there is only a very, very limited section of the spectator stand, and the city dweller is very proud to say that he watched the game from the balcony of his own house.

Usually, this is a street, and it is not until the official competition that the protective wall is added to form a temporary track.

It is for this reason that the circuit has barely changed since 1950 and remains one of the most difficult and dangerous circuits in F1, challenging every driver.

Because of the long history, the special track, and the great difficulty, this race is also known as the "Pearl in the Crown". Every racer is eager to win the championship here, otherwise his championship puzzle seems to be forever Neither is complete.

The second is the Tennis Masters.

If we talk about the Monte Carlo Masters, it was founded in 1987; but in fact, after the country club was established in 1897, events began to be held here——

The event time is only six years later than the French Open, and even older than the Australian Open among the four Grand Slams.

From Laver to Bjorn Berg, to Becker, Muster, and then to Kuerten and Ferrero, countless clay court masters have reached the top here.

Moreover, the fundamental reason why the Monte Carlo Masters has such a special historical status still needs to discuss the particularity of clay.

The structure and characteristics of the laterite itself are determined, and the influence of weather, altitude, humidity, etc. is very direct and very significant.

On the same court, the ball speed is relatively faster and bounces higher when played in sunny and dry weather; the ball speed is relatively slower and bounces lower when played in cloudy and humid weather; The bounce has also changed significantly, and environmental factors always exist objectively.

In addition, generally speaking, the higher the altitude, the lower the bounce and the faster the speed; the lower the altitude, the higher the bounce and the slower the speed.

Of course, this is not absolute, which also needs to consider the clay material, weather conditions, tennis brand, etc., but overall, the trend is true.

Judging from several major events in the clay court season, the speed of the ball and the height of the bounce are used as the standard, and they are arranged in order from fast to slow, from low to high, and the order is as follows:
Madrid, Rome, Barcelona, ​​Monte Carlo.

Simply put, Madrid has the fastest ball speed and Monte Carlo the slowest; Madrid has the lowest bounce and Monte Carlo has the highest bounce.

In fact, this is not unfamiliar.

Hard courts are divided into fast and slow courts. The Australian Open is a slow hard court, and the US Open is a fast hard court. The same is true for clay courts. Madrid is a fast clay court, and Monte Carlo is a slow court. In addition, the traditional clay court is a slow court. , while green clay and blue clay, the speed is getting faster and faster, and the bounce is getting higher and higher.

Taking the "King of Clay" Nadal as the standard, it can be seen that there are obvious differences in these clay courts.

For Nadal, it is obvious that the higher the bounce, the slower the ball speed, but overall, the clay court ball speed should not be too fast.

Therefore, the difference can be seen from the number of championships Nadal won in the above four events. Not to mention the impact of injuries, these differences exist objectively:
Madrid, five times.

Rome, ten times.

Barcelona, ​​twelve times.

Monte Carlo, eleven times.

That is to say, the same red soil is different, and the difference is even more obvious than that of hard court and grass, and the influence of weather and environment is more direct.

Even Nadal, the "King of Clay", has different states and performances on different venues in the same season.

It is precisely because of this that the special status of Monte Carlo has been highlighted——

Because Monte Carlo's competition environment, weather conditions, and clay attributes are the most similar and closest to Paris, and it is known as the weathervane of the French Open.

At the same time, Monte Carlo is also the most important and unmissable stop in the French Open warm-up match. The venue is the best adaptation to the training match.

(End of this chapter)