Chapter 384: A Little Abacus
Tennis is not a team sport. You just need to stick to your own way and there will be no problem. You don’t need to worry about the harmony of your teammates. However, there are also locker room conflicts in tennis, because players participating in the tour often all use the same locker room——
As a sport that involves long-term global tours, tennis players often lack the company of their families and the opportunity to make friends. Naturally, colleagues around them are the best targets.
If you can make some good friends, compete together, train together, and have a year-round season with flying around the world, you won't feel so lonely. There are also many couples and even spouses in the tennis industry.
On the other hand, if you make a lot of enemies on tour, life in the locker room and on the training ground will be filled with isolation and exclusion.
French player Marion-Bartori is a typical example.
She often boasts that her IQ is as high as 175, and has emphasized more than once that she is the smartest player in the tour, and her words and actions reveal her arrogance that "other girls are brainless idiots"; she has attacked her fellow French players more than once, and withdrew from the national team on the grounds that she could not adapt to the atmosphere in the locker room.
This is true in her words and even more so in her actions. She has directly attacked other players many times on the training ground and in press conferences. The arrogance and aloofness revealed in her every move have shown that she has never been able to associate with other players. She also has no intention of hiding it, saying, "I am just nobler than you."
It was this kind of Bartoli who created countless controversies. She was the runner-up at Wimbledon in 2007 and the champion at Wimbledon in 2013. One month after winning her first and only Grand Slam title, she announced her retirement, ending her career in an unexpected way.
Clearly, no one on tour will miss Bartoli.
If possible, it is always better to have one more friend than one more enemy.
At this moment, looking at Tim, who was a little dull and slow, and obviously had no ability to resist Gawain's joke, Tobias couldn't help but chuckle.
"Dominic, are you regretting accepting Gawain's training invitation now?"
I thought Tim would nod and tease Gawain, but unexpectedly, he looked up at the ceiling silently and said honestly, "No, no, it's just... Gawain, don't ask me to sing next time. Didn't you hear that? I'm tone-deaf."
Gao Wen nodded heavily and said seriously, "I know. It's because you are tone-deaf that my singing sounds so beautiful."
Tim finally lowered his head to keep his eyes level, looking at Gawain helplessly.
Gawain looked back and laughed.
But just as the laughter spilled out, Gawain immediately shut his mouth tightly. The three of them exchanged glances in tacit understanding and kept silent at the same time. This scene became even more humorous, and the smiles in their eyes and mouths flowed out uncontrollably.
When Raonic entered the players' restaurant, he saw a slightly weird scene -
Obviously, each of the players had smiles on their faces, and a cheerful atmosphere could be felt between their brows, but they all kept their mouths shut and remained silent, so that the whole restaurant was filled with an eerie silence, which seemed abrupt and made people feel awkward as soon as they entered the room.
Then, Raonic saw Bouchard occupying a table alone and hesitated whether he should go up and say hello.
Raonic and Bouchard are both from Canada, and they worked together to achieve impressive results at Wimbledon this year. Logically, the two players should be promoted together, but in fact, the two have almost nothing in common. Their personalities, styles, preferences, habits, etc. are all different.
That is, it's a relationship where you just pass by and nod to each other.
Then, Raonic saw Gawain, who was smiling and waving to say hello, and he silently cheered him on with his fists clenched with his mouth.
"Milos, good luck tonight!"
Raonic was also hesitating whether he should go up and say hello.
Like Kyrgios, he had met Gao Wen once in last year's charity exhibition match, but it was only over half a year that they met again in such an occasion. Gao Wen also grew up quickly, defeating Kyrgios to advance to the fourth round. He is now the hottest topic.
Raonic was not sure whether his act of stepping forward to say hello would be seen as an attempt to get close to her. He was not even sure whether Gawain still remembered him. Just like at Wimbledon this year, he took the initiative to greet Bouchard politely, but was mistakenly thought to be trying to take advantage of the traffic.
But when Gawain took the initiative to say hello, Raonic felt relieved and stepped forward to say hello. No matter when, it is always a pleasure to see the friendly and familiar faces of friends in the tour.
"haven't seen you for a long time."
In private, Raonic is also a tall and honest man. He usually has no expression, is a little dull, and rarely takes the initiative to make friends.
But in fact, he is a sultry and vain person. He pays great attention to his hairstyle. Before each appearance, he needs to spend more than half an hour to ensure that his hairstyle can survive a typhoon. So, don't be fooled by Raonic's honest appearance with lack of expression.
Tobias also took the initiative to greet him, "Milos, do your best in the game tonight!"
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Raonic was full of questions. Tobias's support was a little abrupt. Was this their first meeting? But he still politely thanked him.
Tobias has his own agenda for his support.
At present, with the right time, right place and right people, everything is developing in a direction that is favorable to Gao Wen. The noisy atmosphere outside the stadium is undoubtedly the best backdrop. If the trend continues, Gao Wen may be able to win a historic and record-breaking sponsorship contract with a sky-high price, and truly soar to the sky.
But Tobias keenly noticed a factor that could change the situation: it was not whether Gao Wen could advance to the quarterfinals, but how Kei Nishikori performed.
Amid the mighty storm of youth, "Asian power" is also the keyword of this year's US Open. In the women's singles competition, Peng Shuai advanced all the way to the round of 16, while in the men's singles competition, Gao Wen and Kei Nishikori advanced side by side. A total of three Asian players entered the second week, which is not common in Grand Slams.
The joint rise of the three players will inevitably attract more and more big brands to pay attention to this Asian force, but at the same time, there will inevitably be competition among the three players.
If we further break it down, there are actually differences in the target audiences for men and women, China and Japan, but overall, when formulating strategies, Asia is still a whole. Naturally, the performance of the three players may also affect brands' analysis of market value.
Scarcity makes things valuable. This saying applies at all times.
(End of this chapter)