Tennis: He's so obedient!

Chapter 202: Djokovic's joint training session, doping test results, arrests!
Jiang Hong strode forward, his gaze falling on Djokovic in front of him.

"My agent said that a player would train with me, and I never expected it to be you, Novak!"

He thought to himself, "Li Gong is usually quite reliable, so why is he being so hesitant this time?"

Jiang Hong originally thought that his sparring partner would be a player ranked around 50 or 60 in the ATP rankings.

But I didn't expect it.

Li Gong, you've given me a wonderful surprise!
For both Jiang Hong and Djokovic, this joint training session is a win-win situation.

After all, it's difficult to achieve high-intensity training results by training with lower-ranked players.

Before the Madrid Masters, Djokovic would most likely not have agreed to this arrangement, after all, Jiang Hong was still an unknown rookie in the tennis world at that time.

But the situation is very different now.

In the eyes of this world number three, Jiang Hong has already become a top player who can compete with him.

"How about it, Jiang? Are you a little disappointed knowing that your training partner is me?" Djokovic teased.

"How could that be! To be able to train with the world's third-ranked player is something I'd be more than happy to do!" Jiang Hong shook his head with a smile; this was absolutely the truth.

"But you've swept through all three of our world's top teams!" Djokovic shook his head, feigning frustration.

Jiang Hong naturally understood that this was a joke, and replied, "Didn't someone recently accomplish the feat of sweeping the top three to win the championship? I'm just following suit and testing the waters."

Djokovic immediately burst out laughing – he had done this before in Montreal, and in a more dramatic order of defeat.

He first defeated world number three Roddick, then world number two Nadal, and finally defeated world number one Federer.

However, Djokovic at that time was already a top player with a Masters title, or at least a super promising new star.

Unlike Jiang Hong, who was a dark horse who made a comeback from the qualifying rounds all the way to the main finals.

Moreover, his status as an Asian player makes him even less noticeable.

This isn't due to discrimination; the main issue is that no Asian player has ever won a Masters title since they started participating in professional tennis tournaments.

He didn't even touch the floor during the Masters final.

Therefore, Jiang Hong's experience seems more legendary.

"Winning the Paris Masters again won't be easy, and I'm hoping to win my third Masters title!" Djokovic said, half-jokingly and half-seriously.

"And Rafa and Roger are probably determined to win this championship!"

After all, apart from the Grand Slams and the Masters Cup, the Masters Tournament is the most prestigious tournament.

Unfortunately, Djokovic didn't mention the most competitive name – Nalbandian.

The main issue is that the opponent's performance fluctuates wildly.

It's possible that Federer could come back from a 0-2 deficit to win 3-2 against him in the year-end finals.

You could also be eliminated in the first round of a regular international tournament.

Jiang Hong raised an eyebrow and confidently replied, "I'd really like to try and win back-to-back Masters titles."

Upon hearing this, Djokovic couldn't help but mutter to himself.

I've never won back-to-back Masters titles before.

However, Jiang Hong's answer was not surprising. After all, it would be abnormal for a young player who has already won a Masters title not to have some ambition.

"I won't let you win the championship so easily!" A strong sense of confidence flashed in his eyes.

"We'll see!" Jiang Hong also put away his smile, his tone becoming serious.

Jiang Hong recalled in his mind that Djokovic's historical record at the Paris Masters was not outstanding, far inferior to that at the Madrid Masters, where he was eliminated early in the second round in his previous life.

But his appearance might rewrite everything—after all, Nalbandian's career highlights had already been unexpectedly replaced by him.

"Ready? If there are no problems, let's begin!" Djokovic asked, full of fighting spirit.

“Anytime is fine!” Jiang Hong nodded, taking out his racket and saying.

"Should you serve first or should I?" Djokovic asked.

"I'll do it," Jiang Hong replied after a moment's thought.

For him, it's difficult to make significant improvements in his serve return technique in just the few days leading up to the Paris Masters.

On the contrary, his serve is his trump card, so he might as well make his strengths even stronger.

Djokovic was delighted with this, as receiving serves has always been one of his strengths.

Jiang Hong had other plans. He wanted to take advantage of the training opportunity to carefully study Djokovic's serve return technique—he wouldn't have time to observe during the match, but he would have plenty of time to study and learn during training.

Djokovic walked to the baseline and assumed a receiving stance. Although this move differed slightly from Jiang Hong's usual one, the actual effectiveness was vastly different.

Jiang Hong's serve return technique is mostly honed through daily training, while Djokovic's form is more systematic and offers many lessons to be learned.

Jiang Hong tossed the ball, pushed off the ground, turned his body, and swung his racket in one smooth motion!
"Oh!"

The crisp sound of the ball hitting the court rang out, and the tennis ball hurtled out at a speed of 190 kilometers per hour, demonstrating an extremely high quality serve from the very first ball of the game.

"Here it comes! Outside serve!"

Djokovic's eyes were fixed on Jiang Hong's movements.

After all, he was defeated by Jiang Hong in the Madrid Masters, and he was clearly eager for revenge.

We might encounter it again in a match, but we'll have to return it to the training ground first.

The moment Jiang Hong hit the ball, Djokovic had already started his run—

Pushing off with his right foot and turning sideways, the racket traces a sharp arc in front of him. Instead of opting for the conventional block and serve return, he launches an attack directly!

With a powerful backhand smash, the tennis ball hurtled towards Jiang Hong's open forehand side like a cannonball.

"It's really amazing!"

Jiang Hong's pupils contracted sharply, and he immediately slid sideways, hastily drawing back his forehand to block the ball back to the midfield.

But Djokovic anticipated this, taking a half step forward and unleashing a powerful forehand shot from a wide angle, which landed precisely in the corner of the baseline.

"Oh!"

The tennis ball bounced off the baseline after landing.

Djokovic looked at Jiang Hong with a hint of pride and said, "How was that? Not bad, right?"

Jiang Hong shook his head and said seriously, "Not just good, it's absolutely brilliant!"

Djokovic was taken aback at first, then burst into laughter.

Jiang Hong was not frustrated by conceding the goal; on the contrary, he was somewhat excited—discovering his shortcomings in training is far more valuable than losing on the field.

As training progressed, both players gradually improved their form. Jiang Hong's serve power continued to increase, while Djokovic's return attack, although somewhat weakened, demonstrated formidable strength in other aspects.

Two hours later, the joint practice session ended.

The two men, their faces covered in sweat, wiped themselves with towels and sat on a bench by the field to replenish their fluids.

“Jiang, I admit that if I want to win the Paris Masters, you are definitely one of my strongest opponents,” Djokovic said, turning his head, then adding, “But in the end, I will be the winner.”

As an opponent, he won't be overly modest.

"That's not necessarily true." Jiang Hong took a sip of water and said casually, "We might not even have a chance to meet. There are too many unexpected things that can happen in a competition."

Then, changing the subject with confidence, she said, "And even if we meet, I'll definitely be the one to win."

Faced with Jiang Hong's confidence, Djokovic feigned displeasure and retorted, "Hey, aren't you being a bit too arrogant? My ranking is more than 20 places higher than yours!"

After practicing together, the two became familiar with each other and there was no longer any formality between them.

Jiang Hong looked up at Djokovic and smiled, "Tennis isn't about rankings. For example, if you faced Federer or Nadal, would you just give up?"

Djokovic immediately denied it: "Of course not!"

After all, he's waiting to defeat Nadal and Djokovic to win the Grand Slam.

Of course, it seems that there is now another opponent standing in his way of winning a Grand Slam.

However, none of this can stop Djokovic's desire for a Grand Slam.

"But your win rate against me is still 0!" Jiang Hong said with a hint of smugness. "Looking at it this way, it seems like I have a better chance of winning the match!"

"Jiang, we've only played once! Don't mistake a single, accidental match for a certainty!" Djokovic quickly corrected him.

"Then let's talk after you beat me!" Jiang Hong said, indicating that he didn't understand.

Winning once is certainly not a given, but let's talk about chance after you win.

At this time, Djokovic had not yet become the superstar he would become; both were spirited young men who joked without restraint.

Jiang Hong felt secretly pleased. It was really nice to be able to suppress the "Great Demon King" during his growth period.

Djokovic feigned anger and said, "If I were to face you at the Paris Masters, I would definitely change my winning percentage!"

Jiang Hong shrugged indifferently at Djokovic's boastful words: "Then I look forward to meeting you in Paris."

After a short rest, Djokovic stood up: "That's enough for today. I'm going shopping with my girlfriend this afternoon. We'll continue tomorrow!"

After saying that, he picked up his racket and waved to Jiang Hong with a flourish.

"Tsk tsk, the stench of being in love." Jiang Hong curled his lip.

If you can't change your head-to-head winning percentage, you start attacking from outside the game, right?

He recalled that Djokovic's girlfriend was a high school classmate, and the two did not officially start dating until several years after he became a professional player.

However, Djokovic's relationship is quite rare in the sports world. The two got engaged in 2013 and married in 2014, and there were no major issues afterward.

The three giants of tennis don't have many romantic scandals.

For example, Nadal got together with his childhood sweetheart and married her in 2019 after a long-term relationship.

Federer's girlfriend, also a tennis player, was someone he met at the Sydney Olympics. They became a couple and got married in 2009.

After Djokovic left, Jiang Hong did not linger, as the training session for the day was not yet complete.

Jiang Hong suddenly had a mischievous thought: In his previous life, Djokovic was eliminated early in the Paris Masters. Was it because his girlfriend "delayed" his training?

As soon as Jiang Hong left the training ground, Li Gong greeted him with a grin: "How was it? Did this sparring partner disappoint you?" "He's quite good," Jiang Hong nodded, but a hint of doubt lingered in his mind. "Is Djokovic a player under your IMG company?"

He remembered that a marketing account in his previous life had mentioned that Djokovic was not an IMG-signed player at this stage. He only officially started working with IMG after Federer terminated his contract with IMG in 2012. Before that, he had a working experience with CAA.

Li Gong shook his head and explained, "He's not currently with IMG, but the company is in contact with him and wants to sign him. The Serbian market may be small, but his potential shouldn't be underestimated."

Although IMG has high requirements for signing players, being ranked third in the world in tennis is definitely within their reach.

Jiang Hong frowned, somewhat puzzled.

Since they are not his players, how could IMG have facilitated this joint training session?
Even if Djokovic wanted to spar with me, he should be the one to take the initiative to contact me.

Li Gong noticed his confusion and explained with a smile, "This joint training session wasn't arranged by us; it was arranged by Adidas." Jiang Hong suddenly understood.

Both he and Djokovic are currently sponsored players by Adidas, so it makes sense for the brand to lead their joint training sessions.

After all, if the two can achieve better results, it will also be a good thing for Adidas.

They probably hope that Jiang Hong and Djokovic can meet in the final.

After all, in previous Grand Slams, Nike's twin stars Federer and Nadal would meet in the final every day.

Now that we finally have this opportunity, of course we should give it our full support.

"Alright, let's go eat first. We still need to continue training after we finish eating." Jiang Hong patted Li Gong on the shoulder.

Li Gong's eyes widened instantly, as if he had realized something, and then he asked cautiously, "Huh? It's not the same intensity as yesterday?"

“Training can’t be done sporadically!” Jiang Hong nodded with a smile.

……

After training that evening, Jiang Hong did not go to bed early.

Instead, I continued watching Djokovic's match videos and carefully studied his serve return technique. Although I couldn't improve it much, every little bit helps.

"Let's try the virtual court tonight!"

Jiang Honghe was thinking of testing the hair extension posture he was going to change.

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" Jiang Hong frowned, a little puzzled, and asked.

"I am Li Gong!"

A familiar voice came in.

Jiang Hong got up and opened the door to let him in: "Old Li, what's the matter so late?"

Li Gong didn't say anything, but handed him a piece of paper.

Jiang Hong took it and saw that it read "Doping Test". His eyes quickly scanned the various information and finally settled on the test result - "Negative"!
With the system's support, it's impossible for him to have any problems in this area.

But Li Gong breathed a sigh of relief. Before the test results came out, he was worried that Jiang Hong had accidentally eaten some forbidden food.

If the test results turn out to be problematic, then we're completely doomed.

But now it seems I was worrying too much.

"Old Jiang, the results are in, we can move out!" Li Gong said with an excited expression, seemingly relieved.

"Action?" Jiang Hong was taken aback, not understanding what he meant.

A glint of light flashed in Li Gong's eyes. So Jiang Hong didn't know that he was being falsely accused of using performance-enhancing drugs!
He didn't want Jiang Hong to know the whole story of the slander, lest it affect his performance in the game, so he explained with a smile: "I mean, keep this test report safe. We can take this opportunity to promote ourselves again and respond to the previous doubts."

Jiang Hong didn't care about any of this and casually waved his hand, saying, "You can arrange it as you see fit."

"Then I'll go and get busy!" Li Gong said, turning and leaving.

After Li Gong left, Jiang Hong drank a bottle of "training recovery potion" and fell asleep.

I also went into the virtual stadium to do some testing, since it doesn't consume any physical energy.

Others practice for two or three hours, I practice for 24 hours! Are you scared?
……

Qiao Ruizhe is a freelance writer for online portals, making a living by writing articles.

The athlete who has been the most talked-about recently is none other than Jiang Hong, and he certainly won't miss this opportunity to ride the wave of popularity—the more views his articles get, the more money he earns.

Upon learning that Jiang Hong had undergone doping testing, he immediately fabricated a conspiracy theory article claiming that it was impossible for Chinese players to defeat European players in tennis, and that Jiang Hong had most likely used performance-enhancing drugs.

Although the article sparked heated debate between supporters and opponents after its publication, the exceptionally high data made him a fortune.

After Jiang Hong won the Madrid Masters, the comments section completely reversed, filled with insults directed at him. But Qiao Ruizhe didn't care, after all, he had already gotten the money.

He was convinced that criticizing Jiang Hong would generate traffic, so he wrote another article questioning the merit of Jiang Hong's victory. Despite the barrage of criticism, the traffic remained high, and he completely became a "Jiang Hong hater".

At this moment, he was racking his brains in his rented room: "What should I write today?"

A flash of inspiration struck him, and he immediately began typing on the keyboard.

The headline boldly proclaims, "The Madrid Miracle? Just a Carefully Planned Marketing Scam!"

"While the entire nation was cheering for Jiang Hong's victory, I had to pour cold water on it—the so-called 'Miracle in Madrid' was nothing more than a carefully crafted marketing extravaganza by IMG Sports..."

Today was a day of pure inspiration; my writing flowed effortlessly!
Suddenly, a series of urgent knocks on the door interrupted his writing.

"Open the door! Open the door!"

Qiao Ruizhe frowned, impatiently got up to open the door, and when he saw the policeman outside, his face turned pale instantly, and his tone became somewhat guilty: "Excuse me... what do you want with me?"

A policeman glanced at him and said casually, "Are you Qiao Ruizhe?"

"Yes... it's me."

“We have received a report that you are suspected of defaming Jiang Hong. Come with us.”

Qiao Ruizhe had anticipated this; the agency's approach to dealing with professional trolls was simply to call the police or bribe them to delete the posts.

He immediately feigned surprise: "Oh? I only heard it secondhand. I'll delete the article right now!"

Under normal circumstances, this is probably the only request that brokerage firms make, right?

The police officer shook his head: "We can't delete it now. Your article has a huge number of views, which constitutes a criminal case. The article is evidence, and you must come with us to the police station for investigation."

Qiao Ruizhe's face instantly lost all color; he never expected things to be so serious.

Suddenly, as if grasping at a straw, he hurriedly said, "But what I said might not be false! Otherwise, why would the International Tennis Federation test him? Maybe he really did use performance-enhancing drugs!"

The police officer sneered, "Jiang Hong's agency just released the doping test results, confirming that your claims are pure nonsense. Come with us."

Qiao Ruizhe hung his head dejectedly, clenching his teeth, his heart filled with regret—not regret for fabricating facts to slander Jiang Hong.

Instead, they regretted that their wording wasn't tactful enough and that they hadn't used speculative language, otherwise they wouldn't have ended up in this predicament.

Sigh, this is all because of lax quality control!
At the same time, several media outlets contacted by Li Gong simultaneously released information about Jiang Hong's doping test results.

Negative doping test! Jiang Hongtang wins the championship fair and square!

Facing both international skepticism and domestic slander, Jiang Hong uses her abilities to refute the rumors!

The following morning, a news report sparked heated discussion: "Several journalists who defamed and slandered Jiang Hong have been arrested and may face up to three years in prison!"

Jiang Hong's supporters applauded, and the comments section immediately erupted in discussion.

"Well done! Make these rumor-mongers pay the price!"

"If you've watched even one of Jiang Shen's matches, you wouldn't be lying through your teeth!"

"Could Jiang Shen's performance-enhancing drug be the spicy soup he drank before the match?"

"..."

Other tabloids that originally wanted to follow suit and gain traffic with this incident all restrained themselves after seeing this, and dared not easily provoke trouble again.

Jiang Hong saw these news articles online and then understood what Li Gong meant by "action".

He highly approves of Li Gong's approach; after all, as a surfer, he knows how disgusting these tabloid reporters are.

During his preparations in Paris, he lived a very regular life: he trained with Djokovic in the morning, spent the rest of the time completing the training tasks released by the system, accumulating technical points and attribute points, and studied Djokovic's match videos in the evening to hone his serve return technique, making full preparations for the upcoming Paris Masters.

Time flies, and October 27th has quietly arrived.

After finishing their joint practice, Jiang Hong said to Djokovic, "See you later!"

See you later!

The two returned to the hotel, changed their clothes, and headed to the Paris Bercy Stadium.

In most competitions, a draw ceremony is held before the qualifying rounds.

Today is the day the draw for the Paris Masters tournament is taking place.

Because Federer is still playing in Basel, Djokovic and Nadal attended the draw ceremony today.

Jiang Hong, the newly crowned champion of the Madrid Masters, was also invited to participate in the ceremony.

After taking a few photos, Jiang Hong waited on the sidelines for the ceremony to begin.

Suddenly, Djokovic patted Jiang Hong on the shoulder: "Jiang, look at that player."

Jiang Hong looked in the direction he pointed and saw a contestant in his late twenties staring at him.

"What's wrong?" he asked, puzzled.

Djokovic raised an eyebrow and joked, "Your wildcard originally belonged to him. But because you won in Madrid, the organizing committee ultimately gave the spot to you."

Jiang Hong finally understood why the other person was staring at him, but he didn't react much to it.

Compared to stealing the Masters title from Nalbandian, losing a wildcard is insignificant.

"Hopefully he can perform well and make it into the main draw."

Jiang Hong glanced at Djokovic beside him, thinking to himself.

With me around, this Serbian prodigy will likely find it difficult to achieve the same number of Grand Slam titles as he did in his previous life.

Probably no player in this era could have imagined that three players from the same generation would surpass 20 Grand Slam titles in their careers—after all, Sampras' record of 14 Grand Slam titles has already made countless players hesitate to compete.

(End of this chapter)