Chapter 411: The Times and Fate

In NBA and NFL player contracts, there is often a clause:

match offer.

That is to say, if a competitor makes an "offer" and the team is willing to match the offer, the player needs to give priority to staying with the team and renewing the contract.

This is a clause that is beneficial to the team because when many players want to transfer, salary is part of the reason, but not necessarily the whole reason. Some players often want to leave the team's locker room and environment before choosing to transfer, but this clause ensures that the team has absolute initiative when matching the offer.

Unless the other team is willing to make a higher offer to break the match, the player must stay, but the difficulty can be imagined.

Of course, taking a step back and saying that if the offer is matched, at least the player's salary will increase, and the team's willingness to match the offer to keep the player also shows enough sincerity to some extent, and it is not such a bad outcome for both parties.

But no matter what, this clause gives the team the initiative.

Now, Nike is asking Tobias to make a commitment through a verbal agreement, which also means that they always have the right to make the final bid.

I have to say, Nike is indeed experienced.

On the surface, Nike showed enough sincerity. Even if there was an unethical situation like the crocodile breaking the deadlock, they were still willing to have internal discussions to see if they were willing to match the offer. This shows that they really want to sign Gao Wen.

But in fact, what Nike is really guarding against is Adidas.

In the competition for Gao Wen's sponsorship and endorsement, Nike and Adidas are undoubtedly each other's most important rivals. Price is one aspect, and the layout strategy of the Asian market is another aspect. Therefore, the two sides have always been competing secretly, being wary of each other and restraining each other.

From a strategic perspective, Colleen's importance has surpassed that of Bouchard; but taking a step back, Colleen's time is still too short, and tennis is a sport that needs to see long-term market influence. If Colleen only explodes at this year's US Open and then disappears in a flash, what will happen to the brands that spent a lot of money to sign endorsement contracts? It is precisely because of this that there are undercurrents beneath the calm surface.

Nike's request is equivalent to leaving itself a backup plan.

However, Tobias didn't mind -

Just like Tobias took the initiative to leak the news about the crocodiles, he also had no problem leaking news about Adidas to Nike, and vice versa.

Anyway, the ultimate beneficiary of the competition and confrontation between brands is Gawain. Maybe Tobias can win a record-breaking contract for Gawain.

Tobias had no reason to refuse.

So, what about the crocodile that started it all?

When Knox learned that the news had leaked, he immediately understood Tobias's "hint", which obviously meant that the Alligator's offer was not accepted.

Knox was neither surprised nor disappointed.

The Crocodiles are now in the chaos of a power struggle. They really lack the energy and courage to complete this market-changing signing. The offer of $700,000 was his own decision and it is very likely that it will not be approved by the headquarters, but at least he gave it a try.

Knox still admired Gawain, and he still looked forward to having the opportunity to work with Gawain in the future - although it did not happen this time, Knox was very satisfied with his sudden action to disrupt the situation, and then he calmed down again, watching the show and enjoying the excitement.

Soon, Knox realized how much trouble his sudden intervention had caused. This year's US Open was really interesting.

Another match day has come to an end. After the exciting and powerful clashes the night before, today's matches were disappointing. The two night games at Arthur Ashe Stadium were all one-sided sweeps, and even the game at Louis Armstrong Stadium failed to bring any surprises.

Then, the men's singles and women's singles quarterfinals were all announced.

Women's singles brought another surprise. Bencic defeated Jankovic to continue to create good results and became the youngest player in the quarterfinals of all adult events in the US Open this year. She will compete with Peng Shuai for a place in the semifinals.

Peng Shuai from China finally had a breakthrough this year. She had advanced to the fourth round of five Grand Slam tournaments, including this year's Wimbledon, but all five attempts to reach the quarterfinals ended in failure. It was not until this year's US Open that she defeated China's nemesis Safarova and reached the final eight of a Grand Slam for the first time.

In addition, six players, including Serena Williams, Pennetta, Azarenka, Makarova, Wozniacki and Errani, ranked in the quarterfinals.

Among them, only Serena Williams and Pennetta were born before 1985, and all other players were Mesozoic born after 1985.

In particular, the "battle of contradictions" in which Wozniacki defeated Sharapova in three hard-fought sets was the pinnacle showdown of beauty battles in recent years, sparking countless discussions and maintaining high popularity on social networking platforms.

Although it is a bit regrettable that Bencic is the only one left in the new generation, the trend of younger players in the women's arena is still more obvious.

So what about the men's players who were highly expected in Flushing Meath after setting off a youth storm at Wimbledon two months ago? They were disappointed! In the lower half, Berdych swept Thiem, Cilic narrowly defeated Simon in five sets, Monfils defeated Dimitrov in three straight sets, and Federer easily defeated Auger-Aliassime.

Thus, the pattern of Berdych vs. Cilic and Federer vs. Monfils was formed.

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Thiem exposed a huge shortcoming in experience and had almost no chance throughout the game.

Dimitrov exposed his weakness of psychological fluctuations at critical moments for the first time. Although the scores were won in three straight sets, in fact all three sets were seven points, "7:5", "7:6 (6)", "7:5". Such close scores show that Monfils' performance in key points is far better than Dimitrov, and this was true for all three sets. This really needs to be summarized.

Neither of the two "post-90s" players who were highly expected were able to go further, especially the "Dimitriov VS Federer" matchup did not take place, which was undoubtedly a big disappointment.

In the upper half, Djokovic swept Robredo, and Murray defeated Tsonga in three sets; Gawain defeated Wawrinka in five sets, and Kei Nishikori narrowly defeated Raonic in five sets.

Then, the quarterfinal matchups between Djokovic and Murray, and between Gawain and Kei Nishikori were revealed.

Compared to the lower half, this matchup is obviously much more interesting.

Raonic failed to replicate his magical performance at Wimbledon, which means that of the four post-90s players who made it to the round of 16, only one remains: Gao Wen.

Moreover, they are all born after 1995! From the only remaining player in the women's singles competition, Bencic, to the only remaining player in the men's singles competition, Gao Wen, this year's youth storm has only two players left after the baptism of the round of 16, and they are also the two youngest players.

In an instant, all eyes were focused on the two "post-95s".

(End of this chapter)