Now that I've been reborn, I have to play tennis!

Chapter 30 I love red soil!

After leaving the principal's office, Meng Hao couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

The school agreed to sponsor the round-trip travel expenses for this trip to Kunming, Yunnan.

In Principal Tang's view, the championship he won also owed him credit, and could be used as an achievement for his external publicity.

When Meng Hao gave a speech in front of the entire school, he also thanked the principal for building the tennis court two years ago, which gave him the opportunity to practice.

Moreover, the school had already put up a banner at the entrance to celebrate Meng Hao winning the international junior tennis tournament.

This is the first time ever that any middle or high school in Donghai City has done this.

Meng Hao's achievements have become inextricably linked to his political record.

Support! We must strongly support it, since it's not our own money being spent!
The principal only needs to lightly sign his name with a pen.

"The Kunming International Tennis Open at the end of the month will be my first stop on the professional stage." Meng Hao was both looking forward to it and feeling nervous.

This is a completely different world, worlds apart from the youth competitions he had participated in before!

Don't be fooled by the fact that this competition is at a low level, with only 25 points for the champion. It's not easy to participate in this competition.

First, your ATP ranking should be around the top 500 in the world, and you should have accumulated about 70 ATP points.

This also means that you need to be among the top 500 in the world in this industry to directly enter the main competition.

Perhaps in some level 25 competitions held in Africa, the ranking requirements for players to qualify for the main draw are not so high; players ranked around 800 or even 1000 might be eligible.

After all, the security, environment, and various hardware and software facilities of the stadium there are far inferior to those of China.

Tennis tournaments held in China have always been a popular destination for players from all over the world.

Although the prize money is not high, accommodation and meals are provided, and in some places even star-rated hotels are arranged.

Many local governments are also keen to bid for various low-level professional tennis tournaments, which are inexpensive and can be given the prestigious title of "international tournaments".

Just like the 25K level tournament held in Kunming, Yunnan this time, when they promote it to the outside world, they uniformly call it the "Yunnan Kunming International Tennis Open", doesn't it sound very high-end?

The 25K level of competition is something everyone intentionally ignores, a tacit understanding.

In China, there are a plethora of professional tennis tournaments throughout the year, most of which are hope tournaments, with a smaller number being higher-level challenger tournaments.

Apart from the four Grand Slam tournaments, the highest level of professional tennis tournaments held in China are all scheduled for September and October each year.

This is also known as the "China season".

Of course, this "Chinese season" is still a long way off for Meng Hao right now, and it's not something he should be thinking about right now.

He returned to the classroom satisfied, his mind filled with thoughts of the "Kunming Open" that was about to begin at the end of the month.

"Are you going to take leave again at the end of the month?" Yan Cong, who sits next to me, asked. "And to Kunming, such a far place!"

Meng Hao nodded and said, "I got that wildcard by winning the championship, not by using connections or influence. I can't waste it!"

At this moment, Shen Rongyu, who was the English class representative, came over to collect English homework again.

Now, she has tacitly agreed that Meng Hao doesn't have to hand in his English homework.

You're good at tennis, so you can do whatever you want!
After overhearing Meng Hao's conversation with his deskmate, Shen Rongyu said, "My cousin said you wouldn't go to Kunming and wouldn't need this wildcard. Turns out, you actually went!"

“My cousin is really unreliable, always talking nonsense! Last time he even said that your top four ranking was the best you could achieve!” Upon hearing this, Meng Hao rolled his eyes. Your cousin is indeed unreliable.

That kid is all talk and no action!
When he was in front of me, he confidently declared that he was sure I would make it to the finals.

"It'll be good to broaden my horizons!" Meng Hao replied with a calm smile. "I've just seen the world of junior tennis, and now I want to see what the world of professional tennis is like!"

In his previous life, although he loved tennis, he had almost never watched a match live. This time, however, he had the opportunity to experience it from the perspective of a professional player.

"The world of professional tennis..." Shen Rongyu murmured to herself, sounding quite sophisticated, "That competition must be very high-end."

Well, for an amateur tennis enthusiast, it is indeed a very high-level tournament.

After all, aside from the local players who receive wildcards, you need to be ranked around the top 500 in the world to participate.

"I guess so, and this is the only international clay court tennis tournament held in our country!" Meng Hao added.

"Clay!" Shen Rongyu asked, seemingly understanding but not quite. "Isn't that the clay court where Li Na won the French Open? Our country even has clay court tournaments!"

"Yes, there is only one at the moment." Meng Hao nodded.

Red clay was more appealing to him.

He is also eager to see his performance on clay courts and how much talent he still has to realize.

Shen Rongyu's cousin, Shen Dongguo, advised against her going to Kunming to participate in the competition because, in his subconscious, Chinese tennis players were basically hopeless on clay courts, and he would be just throwing his life away.

He never imagined that his strongest subject might actually be clay.

Yan Cong, still clutching his novel, leaned over and said, "Red Soil, you're probably going to be eliminated in the first round."

Although this guy doesn't usually pay much attention to tennis, he knows how difficult clay court tennis is.

"Have you ever played tennis on clay before?" Shen Rong suddenly asked.

Because she remembered something her cousin Shen Dongguo had said before: "Clay courts are not for humans, Nadal is simply not human!"

"I've never fought him!" Meng Hao replied frankly.

"Oh..." Shen Rongyu picked up a thick stack of test papers and left.

She suddenly realized that she and Meng Hao were not familiar with each other, but they seemed to have talked a little too much.

After returning to her seat, Shen Rongyu felt a subtle and strange sensation rising within her.

I had never been very interested in tennis before, no matter how much my cousin tried to instill these ideas in me.

But at that very moment, she suddenly found herself developing a strong interest in tennis.

At this moment, Meng Hao sat in his seat, touching the magical tennis ball in his pocket, his eyes slightly closed.

Although experiencing "Nadal's 2005 French Open journey" again now will not improve your attributes, you can still feel like you are there and gain experience when you immerse yourself in it.

Feeling yourself sliding, sliding and sliding on the red clay – it's the devil's pace!

I love red soil!

……

(End of this chapter)