Now that I've been reborn, I have to play tennis!

Chapter 74 Wildcard Acquired, Battle Against Ziwei

How does Rafael Nadal, a legendary tennis star, evaluate Alexander Zverev?

"Listen to me, Zverev will definitely win a Grand Slam title! If he doesn't, you can say I don't understand tennis!"

Nadal had such high hopes for Zverev, but the guy just couldn't live up to expectations and couldn't win a Grand Slam title, leaving the "King of Clay" with the laughing stock that he "didn't understand tennis."

However, from another perspective, you can also see how outstanding Zverev's talent is and how terrifying his potential was during his youth; otherwise, Nadal wouldn't have said those things.

Before Meng Hao's resurgence, Zverev's honors included an Olympic gold medal, two year-end finals titles, seven Masters titles, and three Grand Slam runner-up finishes.

Aside from lacking a Grand Slam title, his achievements are already quite comprehensive.

It can only be said that he was unlucky, encountering both the three giants at the end of their peak and the two peerless heroes who rose to prominence.

However, even 17-year-old Zverev remains an insurmountable mountain for Li Zhe.

2 to 6, 2 to 6!

He was broken twice in every set; the gap was too large.

With Zverev advancing to the semifinals, Meng Hao naturally received a wildcard entry to the main draw of the Shanghai Masters.

Regardless of the organizing committee's decision, he still received a direct qualification for the "Shanghai Masters" without any obstacles.

Meng Hao also seized the opportunity and posted a message on Weibo: "My tour debut is the Shanghai Masters! My dream will officially take off from here."

Tournaments, that's what real professional tennis is all about!

The previous matches were just minor skirmishes.

Shortly after the Weibo post was published, many fans left comments, mostly offering encouragement and support.

Meng Hao's recent experiences and his outstanding performance in adversity have garnered him a lot of fans.

Tennis bloggers also immediately reposted Meng Hao's Weibo post.

In the eyes of some astute individuals, a saying vaguely came to mind: "Times create heroes!"
"From the topic of Li Na's retirement to the considerable public opinion storm stirred up by Meng Hao, this year's Chinese season is destined to be anything but peaceful!"

……

Generally speaking, neither television stations nor video websites are likely to broadcast the challenge matches live.

However, Meng Hao's popularity has been rising recently, attracting many fans.

Now, on the eve of the Chinese season, the annual tennis fever is surging once again.

A video website suddenly announced that it would broadcast the final of this challenge live if Meng Hao made it to the final.

This video website is LeSports, which is currently enjoying great popularity, making rapid progress, and shouting its slogans loudly.

LeSports is currently enjoying immense success and ostentation. They've bought up almost every sporting event they can, both international and domestic, seemingly without any regard for cost.

Shortly after LeSports announced the news, good news also came from the field.

Meng Hao lived up to expectations, defeating an American player with two 6-3 scores to reach the final of the challenge for the second time, and this time it was a high-level 100K event.

This news was met with cheers and jubilation from many fans.

Finally, we can watch Meng Hao's match live!
After all, apart from the fans who went to the stadium, most people have never seen how Meng Hao plays basketball.

Some say he plays like Federer, with light and agile footwork, elegant volleying movements, and incredibly sharp forehand attacks.

Some people say that Meng Hao plays a bit like Nadal, and when rallies are going at the baseline, he can hit a high-spin, deep and fast shot with his forehand.

However, upon closer inspection, the ball's spin appears less intense, but its landing point is deeper and faster, making it more suitable for hard courts. This is because people today haven't seen how Alcaraz plays.

Sometimes, when Meng Hao has an opportunity to hit a shot on his backhand side, he will use the "one-legged stance" to hit a very impressive shot, which is somewhat similar to Djokovic.

After returning from the stadium, some fans excitedly posted on Weibo: "You know what? I saw the shadow of the Big Three in Meng Hao!"

Dude, you're exaggerating a bit!

This is even more exaggerated than Meng Hao's previous reason that "I can't play in the National Games because I want to play in the year-end finals three years later."

However, because Meng Hao has recently achieved excellent results and his reputation has turned around, people are more tolerant of him.

"The shadow of the three giants? Fine, I'll at least check out LeTV's live stream tomorrow!"

……

Day after day, time always flies by during the competition.

In less than a day, Meng Hao faced Zverev in the final.

"In the past six months, I have participated in the 15K and 25K Hope Races, as well as the 50K, 75K, and this 100K Challenge Race!"

"I've basically covered all the lower-level tournaments!"

"I hope today's match is my last challenge match!"

For most professional tennis players in the world, this may be their only option: to participate in these low-level tournaments day after day, year after year, without stopping.

But he was different; in just six months, he had already stood out.

Meng Hao took a deep breath and looked around.

The final will be held in Hall 2 of the Qizhong Tennis Center, which can accommodate 5000 spectators.

Tickets for the Challenger were not expensive, and the stadium was almost full.

CCTV reporter Chen Yu also analyzed the information about Zverev: "This person is quite different from Coric before. Almost the entire professional tennis world believes that he will become a new giant in the future."

"The German giant Adidas made a huge bet on this person when he was only 17 years old!"

Since turning professional, Zverev, who is only 17 and a half years old, has skyrocketed his ranking to the top 150.

As a country where football is popular and has just won the World Cup, Zverev, who is not yet 18 years old, has endorsement contracts that are no less than those of Germany's national team players.

After all, tennis is a winner-takes-all sport.

If you can demonstrate the potential to become a superstar player, you can attract a lot of investment.

Just like Akka and Sinner in the future, when they were just starting out, the sponsorship fees they received already exceeded those of many top 10 players.

From the sponsors' perspective, it's uncertain how long the so-called Top 10 players can maintain their position; they might fall out of the top ten soon, while Aka and Sinner will quickly become true giants with unlimited potential.

Sponsors have a keen eye and rarely make mistakes, but the biggest surprise was Djokovic's sudden emergence, which overturned the original landscape of the tennis world.

"Zverev... let's call you Ziwei for now, that's what Chinese fans call you anyway. Ziwei, you are now a true prodigy."

Looking at the spirited young man before him, Meng Hao lightly swung his racket: "I'm going to beat you, you prodigy!"

……

(End of this chapter)