Chapter 248 Alarmist
There was a rustling and bustling crowd, with reporters surrounding Zverev in three layers, and one question after another poured down like a torrential rain in the summer afternoon. The airtight sound waves mixed with the dense heat waves made it almost suffocating.
"Did you come to Binghamton specifically to warm up for the US Open?", "Will you participate in the upcoming US Open series?", "What do you think of Binghamton's draw?", "Are you satisfied with your first-round performance?", "Did you choose Binghamton because there are no strong opponents so that you can build confidence through victory?", "What are your expectations for the North American season?"...
One. And another.
Whatever the problem is, just throw it out there and see what happens.
So, Zverev was put in jail, as if he was thrown into a dryer.
Then, a question that had no logic or context came up.
"In the first set today, you saved a set point but still lost the first set. Today on Court 3, Gao saved a match point and turned the game around. What do you think of his performance? Is it possible for him to become a dark horse in this tournament?"
Hmm? What's the problem? What's the connection?
Questions that have absolutely no logical connection are put together in such a forced way. Not to mention Zverev, even Gawaddy would be full of question marks.
If it was Gao Wen, he might have just ignored it at this time, because the reporter was clearly looking for trouble, and there was no need to step into it if he knew it was a trap.
In fact, Stakhovsky had been asked similar questions before, but Stakhovsky has been on the tour for many years, and after defeating Federer at Wimbledon last year, he faced a barrage of questions from reporters, so he could easily deal with such a small situation.
Stakhovsky did not understand the reporter's intention, but he remained alert and simply dealt with the ambiguous Tai Chi.
But Zverev is not Gawain or Stakhovsky. This young and energetic talented boy immediately frowned.
"What on earth are you talking about?"
Zverev is still young and doesn't know how to hide his emotions. The fierce three-set match has consumed countless physical strength and energy. He finally won the game and thought that the reporters would give him some praise and let him enjoy the halo of victory for a moment. However, this group of reporters were all finding fault.
Why? What are these reporters doing? When asked this question just now, he thought the reporter was complaining about his performance, and subconsciously wanted to defend himself.
"I don't think it matters how the first set went, what matters is that I won in the end."
If the problem ended there, then everything would be fine, but how could the reporters be willing to let Zverev off so easily?
"Gao, Gao Wen, saved a match point today and defeated Australia's Kokkinakis. Do you think he could be the dark horse of this tournament?"
Zverev is full of question marks.
"Who? I don't know him."
The reporters suddenly became bustling and lively, rubbing their hands in anticipation. The long-awaited spark finally came. This sentence was enough.
In fact, no matter who the "dark horse" is, Zverev could just say a few polite words to get away with it, so that the reporters would have no way to stir up trouble. However, the young, energetic and exhausted Zverev didn't want to beat around the bush and just went straight to the point and confronted back.
The truth? It's the truth. Zverev is honest, but sometimes, all reporters need is the truth.
"Sasha, do you think being tall could be an obstacle to your chances of winning the championship?"
Zverev was a little annoyed. Who was that guy? He kept asking the same question over and over again. Was it possible that these reporters couldn't understand his English or what?
Shouldn't they be discussing their own victories? Shouldn't they be discussing their own performances? Shouldn't they be focusing on themselves? Why are they discussing a guy whose name they've never heard of?
"No, I don't think so. He is not worth mentioning at all."
After saying that, Zverev could no longer control his emotions and pushed away the bustling reporters and walked out. However, the reporters still did not give up easily and swarmed over him like bees. Then Zverev became the queen bee, dragging a long tail on the streets of the town.
The scene is spectacular.
That night, very scary headlines appeared on major social networking platforms, the first of which was:
"Zverev: Gao is not worth mentioning at all."
Undoubtedly, this sentence is very destructive after being cut off from the beginning to the end. Anyone can feel the deep hostility and powerful attack power in its eyes.
Any two people, even if they have no grudges or frictions before, will stand on opposite sides after seeing this sentence, and will inevitably attack each other.
What's more, when it comes to netizens who are eager to create chaos in the world, it will erupt like a volcano. Even the audience who have not paid attention to the Binghamton Challenge, even the audience who have never heard of these two players, even the audience who have no idea of the cause and effect, all of them will focus on such invincible and self-centered remarks.
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Some netizens accused Zverev of being arrogant, some netizens complained "Who knows that unknown person?", and some netizens said they were very happy to watch the show...
Anyway, the two young players don’t have much of a fan base, and netizens didn’t have any preconceived stance when commenting. They just said what they thought and were merciless.
Overall, because Zverev is a little famous and because of his remarks, the overwhelming sarcasm prevailed:
"You are still a rookie, but you have already started to discriminate against other young players?", "Why don't you practice your skills first?", "You don't even know who this guy is?", "I think you are not worth mentioning?", "Why don't you look at yourself in the mirror?", "Your tongue is blown away by the strong wind"...
Seeing this situation, the media reporters were all very happy: the breaking point has come! How could they easily miss this opportunity? One by one, the major media outlets came out to interpret the out-of-context quotes with perfection, and each headline was more shocking than the other, as if they were performing a "Zverev tournament pit" and everyone was determined to win the championship.
"Zverev: I don't know him."
"Zverev is aiming for the championship and all his opponents are no problem."
"With his ambition set on winning the championship, Zverev is ready to defeat any opponent."
"Zverev ignored his competitors' outstanding performances and focused on himself."
"Zverev starts the North American season with confidence and leads with a win."
Boom boom boom! A violent storm! A violent bombardment! Overwhelming! In full swing! (End of this chapter)