"call……"
Jilong let out a long breath, and walked through the turbulence and noise. Without even noticing it, he slightly straightened his back and walked with his head held high.
A year is neither long nor short, but it passes in a flash. Before they have time to savor it, the time has already slipped through their fingers. Then, they are promoted from ignorant tour rookies to sophomores, no longer newcomers to society, nor ignorant rookies.
This is an awkward stage.
On the one hand, they have left college, and their identities as students and teenagers are fading away. “You are no longer a child.”
On the other hand, they have not fully adapted to society and are still green compared to those veterans.
As a result, they are stuck in a position where they are neither up nor down, trying hard to find their place in society and also in the tour.
389 people.
This is where Jilong sits in the ATP.
It doesn't seem that bad. Compared with Thompson who is ranked over 800, he has already found some feeling in the challenge; but there is still a clear gap between his expectations, not to mention the threshold of the top 100, even the top 300 is still a long way off.
Before leaving college to turn professional, Jilong had already prepared himself mentally. The competition in ATP is very cruel. He needs patience, perseverance and fighting spirit. The genius of NCAA is nothing in the professional arena. In the world of competitive sports, the last thing lacking is genius.
However……
The reality is more cruel than imagined.
The world ranking is just a reflection; if you look at the results specifically, it is even more depressing.
He has not been able to win any championship so far, from the Challenge Tournament to the Future Tournament, all of them are like this. Even in the Future Tournament dominated by teenagers, he always encounters more talented young people. A championship trophy is like a luxury that is out of reach.
Entering 2015, his form has been up and down again, with performances fluctuating greatly. He was even eliminated in the first round of the Hope Tournament. His best performance so far is just reaching the semi-finals of a challenge tournament in Seoul, where he lost to the younger American player Taylor-Fritz. That's all.
dark.
Confused.
Puzzled.
Jilong felt as if he was trapped in a box. Any slight movement he made would likely result in running into a wall. He was confined, bound and imprisoned like this.
He knew that this was a subject he needed to face, but life... was really too difficult.
All along, Jilong tried to keep his mind calm and not pay attention to Gao Wen——
Don't envy, don't be jealous, don't compare, and don't be impatient.
"Everyone has his own pace. There is no need to compare. We should continue to move forward at our own pace and forge our own path."
Jilong told himself over and over again, but it is easy to think but difficult to act.
Overwhelming, mighty, and omnipresent, there is no doubt that Gao Wen is the focus of the entire tennis world at the moment. His every move attracts countless eyes. The news, discussions, and topics are constantly pouring out, filling every corner of daily life.
Jilong was happy for Gao Wen, and sincerely -
At the Melbourne Park final earlier this year, Jilong watched the entire game live on TV, worried and nervous together, but also cheered and celebrated together. When Gawain converted the match point, he couldn't help but clenched his fist and shouted, and the boiling blood once again awakened his high fighting spirit.
However, after the celebration, the emptiness, disappointment and loneliness swallowed me up like a tide.
Although Giron is very, very happy about Gao Wen's achievements, he knows that Gao Wen deserves it. His hard work, tenacity and temperament have indeed brought a fresh storm to ATP; however, returning to his own reality, that kind of gap can easily destroy his inner defenses.
When Gao Wen's goal was to become the world's number one, he had to fight hard for three or five points every week.
While Gawain beat Nadal on clay and Federer on grass, he had to go back to the Futures Tournament to find his touch.
Life is really hard.
For players in the Future Tournament and Challenge Tournament, there is no so-called clay court season and grass court season. Their season plans are mainly based on hard courts. What they need to worry about is not changing channels but where to go to participate, how to plan travel expenses and accommodation, and how to arrange the schedule with limited prize money.
Maybe the prize money for a competition might be only one hundred and fifty dollars, but the airfare and accommodation would be more than that.
Because of this, players often prefer to plan their competitions centrally to minimize travel expenses rather than flying around the world.
In recent times, Jilong has been having a very difficult time. His condition has fluctuated significantly and his mentality has not been stable. He was eliminated in the second round in two consecutive challenge tournaments.
Considering his mentality and condition, Jilong had to return to the Hope Tournament, hoping to regain his confidence through some victories.
However, things did not go as expected.
When my mentality is fluctuating, I cannot stay focused. Some balls just don't seem right no matter how I play them. I am running as fast as I can on the court but feel like a walking corpse.
Some points that should have been scored were all lost, and some games that should have been won were all lost.
So, the points were gone, the bonuses were gone, and the confidence was gone along with them.
The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!
Even in the Hope Tournament, victory was still out of reach. With only three wins in the two-week event, there was no improvement but instead a further slide into the abyss compared to the Challenge Tournament.
It's a disaster.
A complete disaster.
And there’s no end in sight.
What should I do? What should I do? There is no answer.
Involuntarily and uncontrollably, Jilong began to pay attention to Gawain's message -
In fact, in recent times, Gao Wen's information has been extremely scarce, abnormally scarce.
Logically speaking, the US Open series has already kicked off, with Atlanta in the first week and Washington in the second week, officially igniting the battle of the North American summer hard court season.
Jilong also wanted to participate in the competition, but his world ranking was not even good enough to make the qualifying round; moreover, given his current condition, it would be a waste of qualifications to participate.
The point is, from Atlanta to Washington, the battle was raging, but there was no news about Gawain at all. Isn't that strange?
Whether we win or lose, there should be some splash in the end.
After some searching, Jilong realized that, like other top players, Gao Wen did not sign up for these two events at all. Rather than quantity, he won with quality, and set his sights on the two Masters tournaments in the North American summer hard court season, preparing for the US Open through top-level confrontations among top players.
Is this the situation? He wanted to participate in the event but couldn't even get a place in the qualifying round, and those top players were not prepared to participate at all.
In just one year, without either of them realizing it, the gap between him and Gawain had widened completely, as if there was a Grand Canyon between them.
gap.
Is it sadness, bitterness, or unwillingness?
Difficult to tell.
Then, Jilong came to Toronto.