Tennis: He's so obedient!

Chapter 158 Departure to Madrid, Seed No. 12 (Please Subscribe)
Jiang Hong glanced at the caller ID and discovered that it was Li Gong calling.

"Hey! Lao Li, is there something you need?" Jiang Hong answered the phone and put it to his ear.

After all, Li Gong hadn't contacted him these past few days, as he'd been dealing with matters concerning his agency.

However, Jiang Hong is currently the company's most high-profile client.

Because of Jiang Hong's fame, many companies have directly offered him endorsements for their products.

However, as a professional sports agent, Li Gong certainly can't accept every type of product; he needs to consider the impact.

Furthermore, we also need to discuss matters concerning pricing.

"I've already bought your plane ticket for tomorrow. You need to go to Madrid early this time to get used to the environment. The qualifiers are about to start."

Jiang Hong has registered for the Madrid Masters, and the schedule has been released.

According to the timeline, we were supposed to leave in the next few days.

This time, Li Gong said he wouldn't be going to Europe with Jiang Hong, but he arranged for an assistant to be responsible for Jiang Hong's team's accommodation, airfare, and the collection of competition materials.

Around noon that day, the other party flew from Shanghai to Chang'an, and the team officially met.

The other person was a young man who was about 1.8 meters tall and looked like he had just graduated from university. His name was Mark Jie.

He was exposed to tennis from a young age and played in many junior tournaments, achieving good results in those tournaments.

He applied for offers from top American universities through his status as a tennis student-athlete.

During my college years, I also participated in the school team and played in the NCAA, but my results were not very good.

Turning professional was out of the question, but he successfully joined IMG through his prestigious university degree and past tennis experience.

However, he was still quite far from becoming an agent and was assigned to be Jiang Hong's assistant.

This is a common path for many people who have played tennis since childhood, have some talent, but cannot reach the professional level.

However, Mark Jie was still very excited about becoming Jiang Hong's assistant.

Upon seeing Jiang Hong for the first time, the other party excitedly exclaimed, "Brother Jiang, you are my idol! I'm so happy to serve you!"

"You've heard my story?" Jiang Hong raised an eyebrow, then looked me up and down and said, "And you seem to be older than me, don't you?"

“The best comes first!” Mark Jie laughed, then continued, “Brother Jiang, everyone in China who likes tennis knows your legendary story. You practiced for a year and a half and successfully won the China Open and made it to the East Open finals.”

"I'm also very happy to be working with you!" Jiang Hong chuckled, then changed the subject, "However, being my assistant is quite tough..."

Mark Jie immediately understood Jiang Hong's implication and quickly said, "Brother Jiang, don't worry, I've already worked as an assistant to other players for half a year, so it's no problem!"

That evening, Jiang Hong told his parents again about his trip to Europe.

Because the time allotted for this trip back to China was too short, Jiang Hong did not go home.

However, I bought my parents a computer so they can make video calls.

The two were clearly worried about Jiang Hong going abroad, but neither of them tried to dissuade him.

After all, the children have grown up to the point where they can no longer be helped. At this point, all we can do is not interfere with their decisions!
He just kept reminding Jiang Hong of all sorts of little things.

What Jiang Hong would have found tedious in his previous life now sounds incredibly heartwarming.

……

After getting off the plane, Jiang Hong didn't smell the so-called sweetness. Instead, a gust of wind blew by and he smelled the odor of car exhaust. He reached out and wrapped his clothes tighter, feeling a bit chilly.

Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain.

However, the most famous name for Madrid in China is undoubtedly Real Madrid, the football super club.

Even though Jiang Hong wasn't particularly interested in football, he had still heard of Real Madrid.

After Jiang Hong and his entourage got off the plane, they went straight to the hotel arranged by the organizing committee. The InterContinental Madrid Hotel is very close to Real Madrid's home stadium, the Bernabéu Stadium.

Even the qualifying players are provided with accommodation by the organizing committee, which is much better than many other events.

The Madrid Masters was moved to Madrid in 2002; it was originally the Stuttgart Masters.

This year's Madrid Masters is still an indoor hard court tournament, but after 2009 it will become a clay court tournament and will be held at the Magic Box Court.

Jiang Hong's previous matches were mostly on outdoor hard courts, this is his first time playing an indoor match.

"I'm actually kind of looking forward to it!"

Because Jiang Hong possesses the ability to resist stimulants, there is no need to worry about accidentally ingesting stimulants or similar substances.

So of course I had to try the local food. First, I tried the Spanish paella. The seafood was good, but the rice tasted a bit undercooked.

Jiang Hong also saw Iberian ham in the restaurant, something he had heard food bloggers raving about all the time before his rebirth.

He took a bite, and although it was not bad, it wasn't that exaggerated. They even said it had a hazelnut flavor, but Jiang Hong couldn't taste it at all.

Jiang Hong tried everything, including Galician octopus, potato pancakes, and tomato soup.

how to say!

Two words—not bad!
After finishing his meal, Jiang Hong strolled around the hotel for a bit before returning to his room to rest.

dong dong dong~
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

"Brother Jiang, the qualifying draw is out!" Mark Jie hurriedly pushed open the door and walked in.

Jiang Hong reached out and closed the door. The competition was starting the day after tomorrow, and the roster had finally been released.

Because the Madrid Masters is the first Masters tournament after the US Open, all the world's top players have gathered here. Jiang Hong, ranked 91st in the ATP rankings, would qualify directly for the main draw of any of the four Grand Slams, but at the Madrid Masters, he has to play through the qualifying rounds.

The Madrid Masters has a total of 64 spots in the draw.

However, all 16 seeded players received a bye and directly entered the round of 32, 23 players qualified directly through their rankings, and the rest were wildcards and qualifying spots.

Jiang Hong sat on the sofa and gestured for Mark Jie to continue.

"This year's Madrid Masters qualifying tournament has a total of 24 draws, with 6 main draw spots up for grabs through two rounds of competition!"

Mark stopped abruptly halfway through his speech, and Jiang Hong looked up at him.

"Brother Jiang, you are the 12th seed in the qualifying rounds. Your first-round opponent is Nenad Zimonjic, a wildcard player from Serbia. He is ranked 554th in the ATP rankings, was born in 1976, turned professional in 1995, and his highest singles ranking was 176th in 1999. He is a doubles player and has won a Grand Slam mixed doubles title!"

It must be said that Serbia has a very strong sporting ability, producing many stars in football, basketball, and tennis.

Jiang Hong went to Tokyo to grab points, and this time he actually got to be a seeded player again, although he was the 12th seed, the lowest ranked seed.

In fact, the 92nd place also participated in the qualifying rounds, but was squeezed out of the seeding spot by Jiang Hong.

Ultimately, they will have to face the No. 7 seed.

"Brother Jiang, if nothing unexpected happens, you'll be facing the number one seed, Gulbis, in the second round!"

Jiang Hong was a little curious, so he looked up and asked Mark Jie.

What is his ATP ranking?

"Ranked 48th in the ATP rankings!"

It has to be said that the competition at this Madrid Masters was so fierce that even ATP 48 players had to play in the qualifying rounds.

Although Jiang Hong's opponent was a player with a rating of 500+, he still took a look at the opponent's match data.

After all, if things were to go wrong unexpectedly, Jiang Hong would probably regret it terribly.

Jiang Hong's goal this time is to at least face one of the three giants.

This means that Jiang Hong would have to make it into the top 32 to have this opportunity.

Because all three giants received a bye and directly entered the top 32.

……

CCTV-5 has acquired the broadcasting rights for the Madrid Masters. Since Jiang Hong's emergence, the popularity of tennis in China has increased significantly.

Moreover, Federer and Nadal both have a large fan base in China, and both of them will be participating in the Madrid Masters, so the match will be broadcast live.

However, the broadcasting team has not yet set off, since broadcasting also requires costs, and it usually only starts from the quarterfinals.

Before the quarterfinals, only some key matches are likely to be broadcast.

Zhang Sheng was arranged to go to Madrid for a live broadcast, which can be considered a publicly funded trip.

He received the list of participants for the main competition and couldn't help but sigh.

"I wonder when Chinese players will be able to participate in the Masters Tournament!"

After all, the Masters qualifiers are a very competitive field, and there's always a chance of losing.

Therefore, the fact that Jiang Hong participated in the Madrid Masters was not disclosed to the outside world.

“Brother Zhang, Jiang Hong is perfect!” a young man next to him immediately said confidently.

“Jiang Hong does have a chance, but it will probably have to wait until next year!” Zhang Sheng shook his head, after all, Jiang Hong’s ranking is not high enough at present.

The young man next to him frowned upon hearing this: "That's not right, I clearly saw it just now!"

Suddenly, he grabbed a piece of paper from the table. "This is it!"

Looking up, I saw the Madrid Masters Qualifying Tournament participant list, and J Hong was indeed listed, with his national flag attached.

"Jiang Hongzhen has indeed participated in the Madrid Masters qualifiers!"

Zhang Sheng immediately took out his phone and dialed Jiang Hong's number.

Jiang Hong looked at the caller ID and asked with some confusion, "Hello, Teacher Zhang Sheng!"

"Jiang Hong, don't be shy, just call me by my name!" Zhang Sheng said with a laugh.

After exchanging pleasantries, Jiang Hong couldn't help but ask, "You didn't call just to chat about everyday things, did you?"

Only then did Zhang Sheng remember the important matter, "Jiang Hong, did you participate in the qualifying rounds of the Madrid Masters?"

Jiang Hong was taken aback. How did Zhang Sheng know?

"You're really quick on the ups and downs!"

"The main reason is that our station is preparing to broadcast the Madrid Masters live, and we happened to see your name on the qualifier list. So, are you confident that you can get through the qualifiers and enter the main draw?" Zhang Sheng asked excitedly.

As a tennis fan, I certainly hope to see Chinese players in these top-level competitions.

After hearing what the other party said, Jiang Hong immediately understood why Zhang Sheng knew about his participation in the competition.

"I can't say for sure. There are many top players in the qualifiers. I'm just here to experience the atmosphere of the Masters Tournament. I'll do my best!"

Although Jiang Hong is confident of making it into the main competition, he won't say it out loud.

After chatting for a while, Zhang Sheng encouraged Jiang Hong before hanging up the phone.

(End of this chapter)