Chapter 58 Olympic Qualification, Doubles?

After securing these 16 ATP points, Jiang Hong's total tally reached 28 ATP points.

Concurrently, his ATP ranking climbed to the 682nd spot.

To be honest, none of these recent matches had posed any significant pressure on Jiang Hong.

If he wanted to feel a genuine sense of competition, he needed to step up to the ATP Challenger Tour or the ATP Tour.

However, given his current ranking and points, he was not yet ranked high enough to gain direct entry into the main draw of a Challenger event. He would either have to battle through the qualifying rounds or rely on a wildcard.

Yet, as an independent player without backing or connections, Jiang Hong held virtually no expectations of receiving a wildcard.

He would simply have to rely on his own efforts and fight his way up through the qualifiers!

With the match concluded, Jiang Hong was just about to leave the court when a voice suddenly called out to him.

"Player Jiang Hong!"

Jiang Hong turned around to see a man in his fifties, maintaining a fit and sturdy physique, walking toward him with a smile.

Unaware of the visitor's intentions, he nevertheless paused his steps.

"Hello!"

Jiang Hong offered a polite greeting.

"Here is the thing, my name is Xie Hong, and I am the head coach of the national men's tennis team!" Xie Hong introduced himself with a smile.

Upon hearing the man's identity, Jiang Hong understood instantly.

"Coach Xie!"

If his guess was correct, this was likely another attempt to recruit him!

Of course, coming to settle scores was not entirely out of the question either.

After all, he had just eliminated the coach's beloved protégé.

"Student Jiang Hong, there is no need to be nervous. Your tennis standard is exceptionally good, and I heard you don't have a primary team yet—are you currently working with a private coach?" Xie Hong had already inquired about Jiang Hong's background prior to the match.

"I mostly train on my own right now, and I don't have a coach yet," Jiang Hong replied with a shake of his head, speaking the honest truth!

Upon hearing this, Xie Hong's eyes lit up instantly.

A talented player without a coach, who had trained himself up to an ATP ranking within the top 600+.

Was this not a treasure sent straight to him by the heavens?

If given the chance to train and mold him personally, breaking into the ATP top 200 was well within the realm of possibility.

When that happened, he would undoubtedly become the undisputed number one coach of Chinese men's tennis!

"Xiao Jiang, you simply cannot afford to waste your talent. As long as you join the national team, a spot in next year's Olympic Games will be yours!" Xie Hong dangled his biggest bargaining chip.

In China, the Olympic Games were undeniably the sports event with the greatest influence.

Even if its status within the professional tennis world wasn't quite as lofty!

"Oh?" Jiang Hong was somewhat surprised that the national team coach held such high confidence in him.

Assuming that Jiang Hong was tempted, Xie Hong immediately pressed his advantage while the iron was hot.

"Once you join the national team, I will arrange for you to participate in doubles matches, striving to boost your doubles ranking as high as possible. Your baseline play and net game are both quite solid; participating in a few more ITF Tour rounds should pose no problem at all. If there are no domestic tournaments, we can also arrange for you and a partner to compete abroad!"

Facing the grand promises painted by Xie Hong, Jiang Hong remained entirely unimpressed.

One had to bear in mind that in the sport of tennis, the influence of singles and doubles was as vastly different as night and day.

To trade away his freedom for an Olympic doubles spot and place a metaphorical golden hoop over his own head—

Only a fool would make such a choice!

Even if it were a singles spot, Jiang Hong would not have been tempted.

In any case, the Olympics were held once every four years, and by the time five years rolled around, he would only be 23 years old.

By then, Jiang Hong believed he would be fully capable of securing a qualification spot based purely on his ATP ranking.

After all, Olympic tennis singles qualification first invited the top 56 players in the ATP rankings, followed by host nation allocation spots, various Asian continental games champions, and former Olympic or Grand Slam champions.

While he certainly hoped to bring glory to his country at the 2008 Beijing Olympics,

the only thing Jiang Hong could do right now was to elevate his ATP ranking as much as possible.

As for the opportunity to compete: if it comes, it is my fortune; if not, it is my fate!

Besides, the promises the man had just made were far from guaranteed.

If Jiang Hong's performance in doubles turned out to be less than ideal come that time, the quota would be nothing more than empty talk.

Even if he performed well, it would likely be mired in endless internal disputes.

"You are still young, and the veteran players deserve credit even if they lack results!"

In the end, he wouldn't secure the spot, yet he would still end up shackled.

As long as one was not greedy, it was impossible to be fooled.

"Coach Xie, I have never practiced doubles before, so I'd rather not get involved in that. While I certainly hope to contribute to my country, I cannot afford to bring disgrace to it either!" Jiang Hong politely declined.

Refusing to give up just yet, Xie Hong shifted his angle of persuasion.

"Xiao Jiang, fighting this battle entirely on your own brings an enormous amount of pressure. I have looked into your family background, and it is not particularly affluent. If you join the national team, all tournament expenses will be covered by the state, leaving you with zero worries for the future. Plus, upon retirement, you can directly transition into a secure state-allocated career!"

Had he been living in his past life, Jiang Hong would have agreed without the slightest hesitation.

However, Jiang Hong was a transmigrator equipped with a system cheat!

His sole objective was to stand at the very pinnacle of the tennis world.

He had no interest in chasing an iron rice bowl!

"I'm sorry, Coach Xie, but for now, I still wish to test my own limits. Thank you very much for your kind offer!" Jiang Hong refused flatly and directly, before stretching his arms with a yawn. "Today's match was rather intense, and I have to continue playing tomorrow, so I'll head off to rest now!"

The corners of Xie Hong's mouth twitched slightly. You didn't even break a sweat when you were beating up my disciple!

Realizing Jiang Hong's firm resolve, he sighed inwardly. It seemed he would have to resort to other methods!

"Since that's the case, Xiao Jiang, do your best in tomorrow's match. Strive to win the championship and bring glory back to our men's tennis scene!"

...

Zhao Tie was a tennis enthusiast from Guangzhou who had once dreamed of playing professional tennis.

However, his own level was barely enough for casual recreational matches, and he couldn't even handle higher-intensity amateur tournaments.

Later on, he discovered "Advice-Taking Brother" Jiang Hong on the internet!

At first, he figured Jiang Hong was merely putting on a show to attract attention.

To his surprise, Jiang Hong actually persevered through those outrageously demanding training regimens.

And some time ago, he had actually won ATP points and captured the title at an ITF 10K tournament.

Not long ago, he had even left a comment under Jiang Hong's video,

asking whether Jiang Hong would be participating in this stop of the tour.

At the time, Zhao Tie felt the possibility was slim, reasoning that since Jiang Hong had just won a championship, he should take a break for a while.

He opened his computer and habitually browsed through the sports news.

Suddenly, tucked away in a corner, he spotted a piece of tennis news.

"Chinese Tennis Rising Star Jiang Hong Advances to the Finals of the ITF World Tennis Tour Guangzhou Leg—Can He Claim the Championship?"

Sports news at this time was basically a two-sport monopoly dominated by football and basketball.

Even though domestic football was already on a downward spiral, it had not yet reached the farcical levels of later eras.

As for tennis, it possessed virtually zero presence!

Nevertheless, the tournament organizing committee had still managed to hire sports reporters to publish a few press releases.

"Jiang Hong?" Zhao Tie froze for a moment before the realization hit him. "Could they be talking about Xiao Jiang?"

He clicked into the news article and found a brief introduction about Jiang Hong.

His age, his honors, his ATP ranking, and his points!

"Champion of the Shanghai Leg?"

If not Xiao Jiang, then who else could it be? He had actually come to play in the tournament!

Zhao Tie immediately logged into the online forum.

"Xiao Jiang has gone to compete in the ITF World Tennis Tour Guangzhou Leg and has made it straight to the finals. Who's coming with me to cheer him on!"

Before long, fellow forum users began eagerly discussing the matter.

"Forging the glory of our tennis forum—Xiao Jiang's duty is unshirkable!"

"I'm right here in Guangzhou, count me in, OP!"

"Xiao Jiang is so impressive, we definitely have to go cheer him on and show the power of our forum community!"