Chapter 263: The Smoke of Gunfire
"Can an unknown person go all the way to the dark and stage a Hollywood fairy tale?"
“The top seed is ready to win.”
"It's never worth mentioning to make the final, this is a great debut for your career."
"Can Zverev defend his genius?"
"No world ranking vs. top seed, extremes collide with extremes, Binghamton is about to stage a song of ice and fire."
"Strange, bizarre, and crazy enough, here are three highlights of the upcoming Binghamton Challenge finals."
"Gao Wen: Is the unknown wildcard player really that unknown?"
Buzz buzz buzz.
Buzz buzz buzz.
There was a thick heat in the air. Obviously, the Atlanta Tennis Championship, which started in the same week as the start of the US Open series, should have been the focus, but the ups and downs of the Binghamton Challenger became the darling of the news media.
Imagine that the top seed was pressed by reporters and casually mentioned the name of an unknown person in an attempt to create a sensation, but the top seed casually said "not worth mentioning".
According to the normal development trajectory, the unknown person is eliminated, then the news hotspot disappears, and the reporters completely forget about the guy who was picked up at will, as if nothing had happened. This is the common phenomenon in reality.
However, this "insignificant" player unexpectedly beat strong opponents all the way and entered the finals, bringing the "theoretical possibility" of the final showdown onto the stage, facing the top seed across the net, winning himself a chance to directly dialogue with the top seed, and providing reporters with brand new explosive material.
This is really... no coincidence, right? Not to mention the netizens, even the reporters were amazed and began to dig up information about Gao Wen.
I didn't think of this until now.
No world ranking, first time participating in a professional competition, these keywords make Gao Wen shroud in a layer of mystery, as if he jumped out of a crack in a stone; but a deeper investigation will reveal that Gao Wen is actually the latest NCAA national champion. Although the competitive intensity of the NCAA is limited, Gao Wen is definitely not an unknown person.
Huh? Now things get interesting.
Freshman, U.S. champion, these two keywords combined equal... a genius? The difference is that Zverev is a genius who grew up in the professional training system, with huge investment since childhood, showing his talent early on; while Gao Wen is a genius who grew up in the high school and university education system, and in the absence of financial support, he chose to study and train at the same time.
But there is no doubt that one is seventeen years old and the other is about to turn nineteen. Both are newcomers to the professional tour and are in a period of rapid growth. Although their performance may fluctuate significantly, the confrontation between the two strong players can vividly interpret the classic meaning of the storm of youth.
The competition is worth looking forward to.
As a result, the reporters became excited one by one - even if it was a challenge match, as long as they were willing to put in some effort, they could still dig out some hot spots worth discussing.
See, isn't that it? Reporters patted their chests and boasted proudly, "I discovered Gao Wen," as if they were Billy Martin.
On the day of the final, the No. 1 court was crowded with reporters, and the interview area was already full! Although Zverev is indeed a rising star worth looking forward to, such a large crowd still far exceeded the expectations of the organizing committee.
More importantly, the attendance rate of Court No. 1 was 100%, and all 1,000 seats were sold out!
The attendance rate of the Binghamton Challenge has always been very stable, which is why the Challenge has been held for 20 years, but 100% attendance has not been seen for nearly ten years.
People thought that the audience came for Zverev, but a random survey on the spot showed that if the opponent was not Gawain, the audience's enthusiasm would not be so high. After all, the game is a joint effort of both sides, and it takes two to tango. The excitement of the game depends on the two opponents.
In the first round, Gao Wen's match against Kokkinakis was widely circulated in the small town of Binghamton and won a lot of praise. Later, Gao Wen performed well in the match against Stakhovsky, once again proving his strength and winning countless fans.
Although Gawain ruined the beautiful scene of the top two seeds meeting in the final, he still won countless cheers for himself with his hardcore performance on the court, and his identity as an "unknown wildcard player" added a fairy-tale aura and added a mysterious color to the upcoming duel.
Indeed, Zverev is a major attraction, and because his opponent is Gao Wen, the audience is even more looking forward to it.
Then, after many years, the Binghamton Challenge's No. 1 course once again had a 100% attendance rate, and the entire stadium was filled with heat.
Gurgling.
Gurgling.
The stadium was filled with rustling sounds as the audience eagerly prepared for the final showdown; the locker room was also bustling with heat and a tense atmosphere was quietly spreading.
Zverev is tall and slender. At 198 cm tall, he is half a palm taller than Gao Wen, but his weight seems to be only about 85 kg, which is almost the same as Gao Wen now. He is even thinner than his peak period in 2020 and 2021. It should be because he is a teenager who has not fully grown yet and his muscles are obviously not tight enough.
The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!
But at this moment, one could already feel the pride radiating from Zverev inside out, and every pore of his body exuded the confidence of a favored child of destiny.
Obviously, Zverev didn't like Gao Wen, and he didn't intend to hide it. He acted condescendingly and glanced at Gao Wen with his head slightly lowered. It was as if the height difference between the two was not five centimeters, but fifty centimeters. There was a hint of disdain in his eyes.
However, in Gawain's eyes, Zverev was like a peacock spreading its feathers, proudly displaying its feathers. The problem was that he was not a peacock and did not know how to appreciate it. So he looked at him as if he was appreciating a circus performance at the zoo, with a hint of encouragement in his eyes:
"Come on, Mengmeng!"
Young Zverev felt slightly stung by Gawain's eyes, and seemed to be able to sense the deep meaning of his eyes. The veins on his forehead bulged out, jumping and shaking violently, but he finally suppressed his anger, turned his head away, and ignored Gawain.
When the two players came on the court, the tense atmosphere spread. The cheers and shouts of the audience made the tit-for-tat atmosphere spread even more. Everyone was fanning the flames, wishing that the two players would just step onto the boxing ring and start a fight.
Naturally, the hot and tense atmosphere continued to the confrontation on the court. From the first point, the two players showed high morale. Both sides tried to take the initiative and seize the initiative in this youth storm. A long round of tug-of-war immediately followed.
Even if it’s not a boxing ring, it’s not far off.
First update.
(End of this chapter)