Chapter 381: Ready to make
a move To be honest, the transition of the younger generation in women's tennis has been relatively smooth.
In the past few years, young players have always been able to easily achieve good results in Grand Slam tournaments and even form a group advantage. Their problem is not that they cannot break through, but that they cannot be stable. It is difficult for them to maintain a high level for a long time, so that the entire tennis world is always in a melee, and Serena Williams's uniqueness is highlighted.
Was the handover smooth? In fact, the younger generation of Grand Slam champions has already emerged.
Did it really take over? Actually, no. Like a meteor, new stars continue to appear but disappear in a flash, and there is no way to form a collective advantage. As a result, "the queen is always there, but the maids are always changing" has become the most bizarre but true portrayal of women's tennis.
This year, Serena Williams has been suffering from a left thigh injury. Her performances in the first three Grand Slams were very mediocre, and she only made it to the round of 16 at the Australian Open at the beginning of the year. But when she came to the US Open, returning to her home court, and won the championship for two consecutive years, Serena Williams is chasing her first three consecutive US Open titles.
Who can stop Serena Williams?
To be precise, will the leaders and successors be able to appear? From men's tennis to women's tennis, the youth storm is unfolding. As the youngest male and female players in the top 16, Gawain and Bencic are naturally the focus of attention.
By the way, the talented girl Bellis, who defeated Cibulkova in the first round, was ultimately unable to change her fate. In the second round against Diaz, although she lost the second set, she still exposed her shortcomings of lack of experience in the deciding set and lost regretfully with a score of "4:6".
Thus, Bouchard in 1994, Gao Wen in 1995 and Bencic in 1997 became the representatives of young forces in the second week of Grand Slam tournaments.
Moreover, Bouchard is already among the top ten in the world rankings, Bencic officially turned to professional tennis this year, has participated in the three major Grand Slams, and reached the third round at Wimbledon. In other words, their "amazing moments" have received countless attention, except for Gao Wen.
When major media reviewed and summarized the first week of the US Open, Gao Wen undoubtedly became the biggest dark horse and the biggest highlight of this year.
From his unexpected elimination of local favorite Isner, to his appearance at the Arthur Ashe Stadium night show, to the addition of special factors such as his age, experience, and identity, all of these have made Gawain's name sweep the world and appear on the headlines of major media sports editions, making him very popular.
Some people may say that it is just a "round of 16" record, is it necessary? Just like Bouchard, a "Wimbledon runner-up", why does it seem that everyone is talking about this tennis beauty, is it necessary to make a fuss? Is it necessary for Nike and Adidas to fight each other? It seems that the record is not as amazing as imagined, but under the combined effect of the right time, place and people, the light reflected by the market value is not that simple.
The same is true for Gawain.
When Gawain defeated Kyrgios and entered the second week of the US Open, even a fool knew that he had to grab Gawain's commercial endorsement contract as soon as possible. There was no need to wait any longer, because no matter how Gawain performed later, even if he lost in the next round and was eliminated, some things could be determined now.
Hesitation will only delay the negotiation opportunity.
But the reality is slightly different.
After the second round, Tobias' phone was bombarded with calls. Sports brands, such as Nike and Adidas, all came out in force. Even Crocodile, who had no interest and lacked sincerity, made a formal call. He felt that he had missed this feast and was out of date.
After all, opportunities are rare.
Looking at the men's and women's draws, the number of players who have won two consecutive rounds and have commercial value but have not yet signed any sponsorship contracts is "1".
Precious, precious, rare... one.
That is Gawain.
From here we can see Gao Wen's uniqueness. From having no competition experience to his sudden emergence, he has indeed broken too many shackles, like the Monkey King jumping out of a crack in a stone. At the same time, he has the support of the entire huge Chinese market and the Chinese market in every corner of the world. Everything makes Gao Wen special.
Crocodile, so far, has not made any breakthroughs in the field of tennis, and has not yet extended its tentacles to Asia. They are still stationed in the European and American markets, so their interest in Gao Wen is slightly weaker. In addition, they also know that it is difficult to compete with those fierce opponents, so they relax their mentality and watch from the sidelines.
But even the spectators knew that this was a good show that they couldn't miss easily. So the crocodile also called in to say "I'm here too" and was happy to see the muddy water get even more lively and chaotic.
However, Tobias showed his perfect negotiation skills by using Tai Chi to achieve a great result with just a little effort, and did not finalize any endorsement.
"Stay in touch."
One, two, three... all the negotiations for sponsorship and endorsements were temporarily stalled by Tobias.
After the third round, Tobias' phone fell into unprecedented silence, without any movement at all.
Are these brands angry about Tobias’ “neglect”?
Obviously not.
Instead, all major brands are clearly aware that they have lost the initiative. Not only the decision-making power, but even the initiative is completely in the hands of Tobias and Gao Wen. Especially this year, the youth storm that swept the entire US Open has continued to build momentum for Gao Wen.
Rather than rushing into ineffective negotiations, it is better to wait and see how Gao Wen performs in the future. Then they can evaluate Gao Wen's commercial value, make their own offer, and launch a thunderous victory.
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Waiting is actually a necessary process of evaluation.
What is certain is that no one wants to miss out on Gawain; and once Gawain continues to win, the value of this contract will inevitably rise, and it depends on who can really take it all in one bite.
Who can understand Adidas' regret at this point? They really regretted it to the point of missing out on Bouchard, and even on Gawain. In fact, after the upset win over Isner in the first round, Adidas should have made the final decision and offered Tobias a price he couldn't refuse.
Yet, they still missed it.
The only thing to be thankful for now is that Nike has not signed Gao Wen for the time being, so there is still a chance, and Adidas must not miss the third opportunity.
The calmness is not because of giving up, on the contrary, it is brewing, a storm is brewing. Although it seems calm on the surface, there are stirrings behind it. The tranquility of "a storm is about to come" is quietly spreading in Flushing, attracting more and more attention.
Whoosh.
The wind is howling strongly.
(End of this chapter)