Peninsula: Aiming for a Grand Slam

The fifth set has ended.

Kim Sung-jun stood at the baseline, gripping his racket, his face turning pale.

This is not the Chen Jixian he studied!

In the last game, the ball he finally managed to hit was returned to his feet on the next shot.

He changed lanes, the other side slid over, he steadied himself, and turned back.

He pushed into the deep zone, the other side slid over, he stood firm, and came back.

He lowered his arm, and as the other side rushed over, he flicked it over their head.

Kim Sung-joon looked at the person opposite him.

He had unspeakable suffering:

"Isn't the ground beneath his feet solid ground? Or is it a moving castle?"

How do we fight this?

……

……

In the stands,

James Lee has already changed his pose several times.

He didn't feel comfortable watching the second to fourth games.

The boy who flew here specifically to investigate seemed to have stepped on something.

They slipped when they shouldn't have, and failed to stay steady when they should have.

Sato remained silent the whole time, but he knew that Sato had also figured it out.

That assessment of "the future top 20" is a bit too optimistic.

Everything changed in the fifth inning.

The first ball was an ace, which was pretty good, but it wasn't very relevant to James – he's tired of seeing serves that go at 200 km/h.

The second ball made things interesting.

Kim Sung-jun's return was excellent. Chen Jixian sprinted a distance from the baseline and then slid to receive a forehand.

The key is,

"After the slide, without adjusting his foot, he went straight back to the center?"

The most difficult part of the slide is the braking phase.

In the typical professional skater's slide, all the actions—braking, aiming, counter-attacking, and returning to position—are crammed into this small area, often resulting in a rushed and chaotic experience.

Chen Jixian was clearly different.

From sliding to counter-attacking to returning to position—it was all done in one smooth motion.

The third goal.

Chen Jixian slid into position, stood firm, returned the ball, and then pushed off the ground to return it to the center.

This time, even the gliding stroke was shorter, just enough, not a fraction more or less.

James stared at his ankle for a while, then turned to look at Sato.

"Who did you say he resembled before?"

"Federer." Sato's voice was a little dry.

"Let's add one more now."

Sato paused for a moment, then said, "Djokovic."

James Lee remained silent.

He also knew the weight of those two names.

Throughout his more than ten years in the ATP, he has seen countless promising young players, but none of them can evoke the same two people at the same time.

Elegance and coverage are often mutually exclusive – Federer doesn’t rely on sliding steps, and Djokovic’s splits aren’t exactly eye-catching.

But right now, this seventeen-year-old Chinese boy disassembled himself and put himself back together in the fifth inning, and then told everyone: he can do it all at once.

James narrowed his eyes.

Did you bring binoculars?

"What?"

"Use binoculars to see if he's secretly installed pulleys under his feet."

Sato looked at James, making sure he wasn't joking, and then slowly shook his head:

"I didn't bring it."

James stood up and looked around... In the third row, there was a middle-aged man wearing a baseball cap and binoculars around his neck.

James walked over, took a banknote out of his pocket, and said something in English.

The middle-aged man looked up, his mouth still half full of rice, glanced at the banknotes, then at James, and handed over the binoculars.

James took the binoculars and returned to his seat, looking more like he was inspecting goods than watching a game.

……

……

The sixth inning.

Kim Sung-jun's serve.

At the start of the second game, he thought he could defeat his opponent.

Then in the fifth game, it was a Love Game again.

The first ball. Sidespin to the outside corner, I tried to maximize the angle, and the ball bounced off the ground and kept drifting outwards.

"Didn't you say your sliding steps were inaccurate? Keep going and get out of control."

Chen Jixian moved laterally at high speed, his shoes slid a very short distance on the hard ground, and then he stabilized his center of gravity.

After a high-quality return, he immediately moved to the net, his speed so fast it didn't seem like he had just sprinted a distance.

then,

Forehand straight shot!

0-15.

Kim Sung-joon's face was ashen, and he had only one question in his mind: Has the law of inertia gone its shift?

"It's okay, his sliding footwork is good, but his slice shot is not!"

Two balls.

He switched to cutting and pushed into the deep area with his backhand.

Chen Jixian slid into position, countered with a backhand, and chose the optimal solution—cutting and changing direction.

The landing point is extremely deep.

It drifted outwards with a side spin.

The quality was no worse than Kim Sung-jun's shot!

"impossible!"

"When did his slice shot become so good?"

"During the semifinals, my level was barely adequate!"

"Has he been putting on an act all along? From the qualifiers onwards?!"

Kim Sung-joon barely managed to keep up.

However, the return shot went into the net.

0-30.

In the stands, a boy wearing round-framed glasses put down the inflatable stick he was holding.

His eyes widened in disbelief: "When did J.Chen's slice shot become so strong?"

He started watching Chen Jixian's matches from the second round of the main tournament and knew that Chen was not good at defensive shots.

But what about today?

No one around could tell him.

Everyone was either watching the game or cheering.

The third goal.

Kim Sung-jun, serve and volley! Volley and push into the open space on the opposite side!

He is not Lee Dong-hoon.

He knows when to go in, how to block the angle, and which position to push the first interception.

This tactic has been used in ATP Challenger tournaments and has even won many points in the Futures.

but……

"...So fast!"

After receiving the serve, Chen Jixian didn't make any adjustments at all; he pushed off with his foot and rushed into the open space.

A forehand passing shot!

Kim Sung-joon's mind was full of question marks:

Why is his center of gravity stable?

"How can someone reverse their pace with just a push of their foot after such a long sprint?"

"This is fucking unfair!"

……

……

In the stands.

James Lee, letting out a long sigh, lowered his binoculars and uttered two words:

"Add more money."

Sato:? ? ?

James didn't speak immediately. He first straightened his cuffs, then turned to look at Sato.

"Add a zero to that child's evaluation report."

Sato was drinking water when he choked.

"...What?"

"The estimated commercial value is to be increased by one zero from the original figure."

James' tone was flat.

He spoke as if he were describing something that had already happened.

"He didn't have roller skates under his feet; that hard-surface gliding was real."

"Federer's efficiency and elegance, Djokovic's coverage, combined, at seventeen years old..."

His smile became increasingly grotesque.

His hand rested on the back of the chair, and his fingers tapped lightly twice, as if he were tapping a calculator.

Then, the fingers stopped.

James Lee frowned, all the excitement in his voice vanished, replaced by a sense of seriousness and caution.

"Wait a minute! Has he had plastic surgery? Plastic surgery is very common in South Korea, isn't it?"

He is witnessing an "asset" that is perfect in terms of skills, physique, and appearance.

Therefore, he must eliminate the risks involved.

If Chen Jixian really did have plastic surgery, then it's not just about his face!

This fundamentally shook his image as a tragic hero who "came from humble beginnings and persevered through adversity."

Once this persona is fabricated, his "story" becomes worthless.

Sports competition,

We value fairness and truthfulness!

An athlete who has undergone cosmetic surgery exudes insecurity and hypocrisy at their core!

This is the original sin of athletes.

Sato had an expression that said, "I knew it."

He replied:

"I haven't had plastic surgery."

"I've seen photos of him from childhood to adulthood, candid shots of him during middle school sports competitions, and his high school entrance photo. Every single one of them shows the same face."

"I'll send you all these photos when I get back."

James was silent for a moment, then pulled his hands off the back of the chair and crossed them over his chest again.

"Then there's no problem."

James stood up and straightened his cuffs: "Send me the photos before tonight. I'll find someone to do the plastic surgery verification myself."

He finished speaking and left without looking back, only raising one hand and waving it casually.

It was like saying goodbye to the court, or like telling Sato, "You decide what to do."

Sato responded.

He knew James Lee; this guy wasn't doubting him, nor did he doubt that J.Chen had undergone plastic surgery.

James simply has a habit of eliminating all risks.

Only then could he announce in the most confident tone at an internal meeting—the number with an added zero.

As James walked to the tunnel entrance, he heard the referee's voice behind him.

"Game, Chen. Chen leads 4-2."

Love Game.

Kim Sung-jun failed to score a single point in his service game.