Tennis: He's so obedient!

Chapter 95 Match Draw Released (Seeking First Subscriptions)

Ultimately, the match between Yu Xinyuan and Sun Peng did not take place.

"By the way, Lao Jiang, I saw in the newspaper that you signed a sponsorship deal with Adidas, and the sponsorship fee was around $100,000!" Yu Xinyuan asked the waiter for a glass of juice and sat down opposite Jiang Hong.

Not long after the sponsorship contract was signed, even Jiang Hong's sponsorship fee was revealed.

Although Adi denied doing it, Jiang Hong believed that they were the ones who did it.

After all, if you only look at the guaranteed sponsorship fee, it's definitely a steal for them.

Adidas leaked the information to show Nike that they had secured sponsorships at low prices.

"More or less!" Jiang Hong didn't deny it, nodding vaguely.

Yu Xinyuan looked at Jiang Hong and immediately showed an envious expression.

"Old Jiang, you're the best! You keep all the sponsorship money for yourself. We also get some sponsorship money, but it's only one-seventh of yours. And after the team splits it out and the coach takes over, we're lucky if we get 30% in the end!"

Because Adidas sponsors the national tennis team, they also receive sponsorship fees.

However, the price cannot be compared with Jiang Hong's; it is about 10 RMB per year.

However, in reality, it is unrealistic for a player who can only compete in the Futures and is ranked around 400 or 500 in the ATP rankings to get sponsorship.

The reason they secured sponsorship is simply because Nike and Adidas are vying for the Chinese market!

"There are pros and cons!" Jiang Hong shrugged and shook his head, saying, "Although you will distribute the sponsorship fees, you also have salaries, so your income is guaranteed regardless of the circumstances!"

"My situation is different. I have to pay for the competition myself. Right now, it's still okay since I don't have a team. But if I do have a team, the expenses will increase significantly. If I get injured, I might have to retire completely, or even end up in debt!"

Yu Xinyuan thought this made sense.

After all, the sponsorship fees and prize money don't fully cover their travel expenses and costs for coaches, physiotherapists, and other similar services when they travel around to compete every year.

Most importantly, even after retirement, they can still find a place to go.

"Now that you mention it, I'm not so envious anymore!" Yu Xinyuan chuckled, then added somewhat curiously, "By the way, Lao Jiang, why don't you join the system? With your abilities, you'd definitely be given special attention!"

Jiang Hong shrugged and said with a smile, "There's nothing I can do about it, I just don't like being disciplined!"

The group didn't discuss the issue in detail, and the conversation quickly returned to the competition.

"By the way, Lao Jiang's list of participants has been released. Have you seen it?" Yu Xinyuan suddenly said.

Before Jiang Hong came, he really didn't know the specific list of participants.

"Tell me about it!" Jiang Hong asked curiously.

Yu Xinyuan immediately took out his phone and said to Jiang Hong, "I sent it to you, take a look!"

"Thanks!"

"Why are you so polite!"

After chatting for a while, Yu Xinyuan and the others received a call from their coach and had to say goodbye.

After returning to his room, Jiang Hong began to study the competition list that Yu Xinyuan had sent him.

There are a total of 32 spots in the main competition, of which 4 spots are reserved for players who qualify.

The three players participating in the China Open men's singles this time, Jiang Hong, Yu Xinyuan, and Sun Peng, all entered the competition through wildcards.

However, other members of the national team also received wildcards for the qualifying rounds.

If Jiang Hong doesn't perform well this time, they won't give him a wildcard entry if he wants to participate in foreign tournaments next time.

We'll have to see how the ATP rankings are to determine if we can qualify for the tournament.

Jiang Hong doesn't want to participate in one tour event and then play in several challenge events.

This method is very physically demanding for him, and it also means Jiang Hong won't have time to train. If he wants to establish himself consistently on the tour, Jiang Hong needs to reach the semifinals or even better at the China Open.

A first-round exit at the China Open earns 5 ranking points, excluding wildcard entrants like Jiang Hong.

Those who enter the competition with a wildcard and are eliminated in the first round only receive the prize money.

The prize money for a first-round exit is $4870, which should be enough to cover Jiang Hong's entry fee.

Jiang Hong continued looking at the list of participants!

The number one seed, Nikolai Davydenko, is from Russia and is ranked fourth in the world.

However, they are still playing in the US Open, and according to Jiang Hong's memory, his opponent should not have made it to the final.

It's estimated that he'll fly over to participate in the China Open after being eliminated from the US Open. He truly deserves the title of "workaholic." However, Jiang Hong guesses that the organizing committee should have given him a considerable amount of money.

(In fact, Davydenko was swept 3-0 by Federer that night, finishing in the semifinals!)
He can be considered the leading figure in Russian tennis right now, especially considering that Safin's form has been quite inconsistent this year.

The second seed is Gonzalez, ranked 6th in the ATP rankings. This year can be said to be the peak of his career, as he reached the Australian Open final and won the runner-up title.

Third seed Robredo is ranked 7th in the ATP rankings, and fourth seed Ljubicic is ranked 11th in the world.

Fifth seed Baghdatis is ranked 19th in the ATP rankings, and sixth seed Lee Hyung-taek is ranked 36th in the ATP rankings.
The seventh and eighth seeds are both ranked 100+ in the ATP rankings.

Just looking at the top four seeds is enough to see how competitive this tournament is.

The next morning, Jiang Hong brought Wu Qiang to the venue where the China Open was being held.

Giant photos of the participating stars were also displayed around the perimeter.

Jiang Hong glanced at it and thought, "I'll have to be listed next year too."

The competition venue is the Beijing Tennis Center, which covers an area of ​​more than 10,000 square meters and can accommodate 10,000 spectators. It is currently the largest outdoor tennis court in China.

There are a total of 15 competition venues.

After getting off the plane yesterday, Wu Qiang came to the competition venue and booked a practice space.

So after arriving at the venue today and completing the registration, I went to the court to start practicing.

However, Jiang Hong and his team didn't practice for long because some of the courts were still hosting the China Open qualifiers.

The remaining courts are for the players to practice on in the main competition, so there isn't much time left.

The China Open officially kicked off on September 8th.

The ceremony began with a long speech, but Jiang Hong, as a local contestant, couldn't avoid it and watched the normal opening ceremony.

However, the first day of the competition was not for men's singles, but for doubles and the final round of men's singles qualifiers.

In the end, Zeng Shaoxuan defeated the South Korean player, and surprisingly, a Chinese player emerged from the brutal qualifying rounds to secure a spot in the main draw.

Meanwhile, the match draw has also been officially released!

"Xiao Jiang, your draw doesn't seem very good this time!" Wu Qiang sighed with a strange expression on his face. "You're up against a Japanese player who came through the qualifiers in the first round, and then you're up against the number one seed, Davydenko, in the second round!"

For a large-scale international competition like this, the organizing committee will certainly demonstrate fairness.

It's not that they're targeting Jiang Hong; it's probably just bad luck.

However, Jiang Hong is now in high spirits because the name of his opponent in the first round is somewhat familiar.

Japan - Kei Nishikori!

……

(End of this chapter)