Match point

Chapter 845 Never Walk Alone
History is being rewritten.

To be precise, the moment when Gao Wen reached the summit of Flushing, the track of history had already changed. The world split into two roads at a fork and entered another parallel time and space.

But now, the changes are becoming more and more obvious.

Standing in the long river of history that Gao Wen was familiar with, Zhang Ze had indeed created history.

In February 2017, in San Francisco, Zhang Ze won a challenge championship. This is also the first challenge championship trophy in the Chinese men's tennis singles field.

However, that is a challenge match, not even counted as an official ATP level challenge match, and it is a world of difference compared to the Grand Slam.

According to the original historical trajectory, it was the peak of Zhang Ze's career. He was 27 years old when he won the championship for the first time, and the ceiling gradually became prominent. The influence of age and injuries also made Zhang Ze's career intermittent. Challenges are somewhat difficult.

Later, Zhang Ze also left the international arena, and mainly competed in the Challenge and Hope matches held in China to continue his career.

Ranked 154th in the world, and played in the first round of the Australian Open twice in a row in 2014 and 2015, all of that is the "glory" left in the past, like a dream that is too good to be true, but it can never go back.

The Australian Open in 2015 was the last time Zhang Ze participated in the Grand Slam. Although after that, he still participated in the qualifying rounds, but he still failed to break through; and the wild card competition gradually ushered in younger players The shock, that is another scene.

Unfortunately, until the end of the history that Gao Wen knew well, in the parallel world, Chinese men's players were always hard to find a victory in the Grand Slam singles arena.

From Wu Yibing to Shang Juncheng, these younger generation players shoulder the important task of breakthrough.

but!

In the parallel time and space, a tiny butterfly flapped its wings, and then caused a storm at the other end of the earth.

Breakthrough, here it comes.

From 2012 to 2014, from breaking three hurdles in a row in the qualifying round to reversing the first round of the five-set battle, Zhang Ze struggled and faltered all the way, but finally seized his own opportunity and bloomed proudly!

Zhang Ze finally ushered in his own shining moment.

Match point.

When Hewitt returned the ball to the net for the last time, Zhang Ze couldn't believe that everything really happened. The hard work and tension of more than three hours made his knees weak for a while, and he couldn't control his strength, so he fell to his knees On the ground, he buried his head deeply in the palm of his hand and curled up into a ball.

For a brief, very, very brief moment, hot tears blurred vision.

Perhaps, for top professional players, the first round of a Grand Slam is nothing at all. It is as simple as drinking water and eating, and there is nothing to celebrate.

However, for Zhang Ze, it was a full three years of expectations and dreams. He doubted, hesitated, worried, even regretted, hated, and sad. On the other hand, emotions cannot be controlled at all.

The man did not shed tears, but he did not go to the sad place.

These are tears of happiness.

Zhang Ze curled up into a ball like a hedgehog, hugging his knees, his shoulders trembling uncontrollably.

At the Rod Laver Stadium, only a sparse crowd was cheering for him. Most of the Australian fans turned and went to the bathroom or even left the stadium directly, refusing the sad scene in front of them. In the ears of the choice, it is the most beautiful symphony in the world.

And it's not just Zhang Ze?
In the CCTV live broadcast room, Zhang Sheng, who arrived in Melbourne Park this year to be in charge of live commentary, was also full of emotions at this time, and his voice was slightly choked.

"... People always say that the distance from victory is only a layer of window paper, which can be broken with a light poke."

"But only when you are really in competitive sports do you know that the layer of window paper looks simple, but in fact it takes two or even three generations of people to pierce it. Sometimes it is even the ceiling, blocking thousands of players. , can never be broken through.”

"For Zhang Ze, it took him three years."

"As for Huaxia Men's Tennis, it took us 17 years, or even longer."

Last time in Flushing, Gao Wen's breakthrough was so sudden that he jumped out of the cracks in the rocks, so that Zhan Jun and Hu Litao were a little at a loss and couldn't react for a while.

But this time in Melbourne Park, the sense of reality hit the bridge of the nose hard, and even Zhang Sheng, who is usually calm and rational, was inevitably moved.

"Now, from Gao Wen to Zhang Ze, it took us just six months to usher in another breakthrough."

"Tonight, here at Rod Laver Stadium, we're witnessing history together."

Smile, bloom in tears.

Then, Zhang Ze could feel someone patting him on the shoulder.

Raising his head suddenly, Zhang Ze saw Hewitt's outstretched right hand at a glance.

At some point, Hewitt came to this side of the field and extended an olive branch to Zhang Ze.

Looking at the aging Hewitt in front of him, Zhang Ze thought of Gao Wen, because Hewitt and Gao Wen are the same, they are both silly dreamers, they still believe in dreams and miracles, and they still live in Running purely and simply, just because of love.

"You are not alone."

Zhang Ze thought of this sentence again, then held Hewitt's right hand, stood up, and gave the great opponent in front of him a big hug.

In my mind, my heart was surging and turbulent, and a wave of ambition was ignited like this, and finally evolved into a smile on the corner of my mouth, just like this blooming.

The east corner is lost, and the mulberry elm is harvested.

No one expected that this year, China's women's singles field suffered frequent defeats and a downturn, creating the worst record in recent years, but it ushered in frequent successes in the men's singles field!

boom!
Boom boom boom!
The Chinese media and tennis fans immediately swept away the gloom, cheers and shouts showed a blowout trend, the noise and sensation of fireworks celebrations on the social network, and the rolling heat wave spread out in an unstoppable manner.

From the US Open to the Australian Open, the second breakthrough in men's singles came so quickly!
Compared with last year's US Open, the attention of this year's Australian Open has increased significantly. It is all because of Gao Wen. From the Australian Open Organizing Committee to Nike's official promotion to CCTV's prime-time attention, everything revolves around Gao Wen. Looking forward to And the degree of attention has indeed reached an unprecedented height——

A star is born.

Everyone is looking forward to Gao Wen's performance in the second Grand Slam event, and the easy victory in the first round made the fans even more rejoicing.

Especially because of the time difference, the Australian Open is undoubtedly the event that best fits the Chinese time zone among the four Grand Slams. You don’t need to go to bed late and get up early to watch the live broadcast, which also allows the audience to join the ranks of watching the game without any burden.

Due to various reasons, the attention and discussion of the Australian Open has really taken on a new look, so that the TV staff who broadcast live on the front line in Melbourne can also deeply feel the heat wave.

Then, Zhang Ze won.

(End of this chapter)