Chapter 61: Champion, Keep Winning! (Seeking Follow-up Reads)

After executing a backhand passing shot with his back turned, Jiang Hong immediately pivoted and rushed back to position to prevent a counterattack from his opponent.

However, in his heart, Jiang Hong was not entirely certain whether that had been a good shot, nor whether it had landed within the baseline or gone out.

Hearing the umpire's call, Jiang Hong paused in brief bewilderment.

"It wasn't out?"

Raising his head, he caught sight of Park Jun-hyuk's devastated expression.

He had thought the heavens were showing him mercy on that previous shot.

Never had he imagined that Jiang Hong would close out the match with such a breathtaking technique.

It felt as though he had been reduced to nothing more than a backdrop for Jiang Hong's grand performance!

"I won! The championship is mine!"

Jiang Hong hoisted his racket high into the air and let out a roar.

Although this was not his first time claiming a championship title, the excitement surging within his chest remained undiminished.

It was not merely the victory of this single match, but the profoundly rewarding sensation of seeing countless hours of rigorous training finally bear fruit.

The physical exhaustion from the match seemed to be washed away without a trace.

He adored this exhilarating feeling of victory, the taste of triumph!

And he intended to keep on winning!

The exact moment the match concluded, the forum members sitting in the stands instantly lost their composure.

"We won!"

Throughout the entire match, Jiang Hong had completely dominated his opponent.

They had anticipated the outcome long in advance!

Yet when the umpire formally announced the final result, the thrill was palpable.

It felt even more electrifying than watching a Grand Slam tournament.

During the match, they had maintained strict silence so as not to distract the players.

Now, with all restraints cast aside, they could finally let loose and shout at the top of their lungs.

"Little Jiang is the champion!"

"The pride of our tennis forum!"

"I gave Little Jiang a tactical suggestion earlier; surely I deserve some credit for this championship!"

"To forge the glory of men's tennis anew, Little Jiang bears an unshirkable duty!"

As soon as these words rang out, surrounding spectators turned their heads to look in astonishment!

Yet upon second thought, Little Jiang's current achievements were indeed helping to revitalize the glory of Chinese men's tennis.

Facing the encouraging cheers of the forum members, Jiang Hong turned around to face the stands.

He then reached into his pocket, pulled out a tennis ball, tossed it high into the air, and swung his racket.

The tennis ball sailed with pinpoint accuracy straight into the cluster of forum members.

"I caught it!"

A forum member wearing glasses seized the ball that Jiang Hong had hit into the stands and immediately shouted with uncontainable joy.

Though tennis balls were inexpensive, obtaining the actual championship ball brought a unique sense of delight!

The very next second, a sudden thought flashed across Jiang Hong's mind.

"The tournament committee won't make me pay for the lost ball, will they?"

Regardless, the thought was instantly dismissed by Jiang Hong.

After all, his harvest from this Guangzhou tournament was exceptionally bountiful.

He had secured 25 ranking points along with $3,600 in prize money!

Jiang Hong's total points rose to 37, while his ATP ranking surged to 587th place.

Though he felt a tinge of disappointment at not yet breaking into the top 500, all of his ranking points had been earned in just over a month, meaning he didn't have to worry about his ranking dropping anytime soon.

The only regret was that he would be unable to participate in the ITF Shenzhen tournament.

The Shenzhen tournament had started yesterday, and heaven knows how the organizing committee had scheduled it.

They actually forced players to choose between the Guangzhou and Shenzhen legs!

Had he been able to play in Shenzhen as well, he was confident he could have cracked the top 500 of the ATP rankings.

As things stood, he could only set his sights on the upcoming ATP 75K Challenger to be held in Wuhan.

An ATP Challenger was entirely different from these ITF Futures events.

To safely secure a spot in the main draw, a ranking inside the top 500 was practically mandatory.

With his current ATP ranking of 587, Jiang Hong wasn't even guaranteed direct entry into the main draw.

He might well have to battle through the qualifying rounds just to secure his place.

After shaking hands with the umpire and his opponent, the award ceremony commenced!

"You're a fine young man!"

An official from the organizing committee handed the trophy to Jiang Hong with words of encouragement.

Feeling the comforting weight of the trophy in his hands, a smile blossomed across his face as he replied, "Thank you!"

He raised the trophy high above his head!

"Click!"

The flash of camera lights froze the moment in time.

Following a group photo with the organizing committee, the Guangzhou tournament officially drew to a close.

Because the national team's recruitment efforts had ended in failure this time, no other teams approached Jiang Hong.

Stepping out of the arena, Jiang Hong discovered that the forum members had not left yet, but were instead waiting for him near the exit.

Carrying his equipment bag, Jiang Hong walked over with a smile!

"Thank you all for coming out to cheer me on!"

Seeing how approachable Jiang Hong was, everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief!

Had Jiang Hong possessed an arrogant personality, they certainly wouldn't have subjected themselves to a cold reception.

"Little Jiang, you're the pride of our tennis community! Of course we had to come cheer you on when you're competing!"

"That's right, Little Jiang! Don't worry, our forum members are scattered all across the country. Wherever you play in the future, there will always be people cheering for you!"

"Indeed! Especially that backhand passing shot at the very end—it was insanely cool!"

Jiang Hong spread his hands and said, "Don't worry, I'll post a message in the forum ahead of time before my next match. I'll still be counting on you guys for tactical advice!"

When several forum members suggested taking a group photo together, Jiang Hong naturally did not refuse.

...

After taking a shower back at the hotel, Jiang Hong leaned back in his chair.

Although the match intensity over the past few days hadn't been exceptionally high, his emotions had remained tightly wound throughout.

Only now did he truly feel relaxed.

Jiang Hong logged into the forum using his laptop, uploaded his championship photo, the group picture with the forum members (with faces censored), along with his freshly minted ranking points and standing, and posted them all in one go with a caption:

"Guangzhou Futures conquered! Thanks to the forum buddies who came out to cheer in person. What score would you give today's performance?"

Before long, the thread had accumulated dozens of pages of replies.

"??? What did I miss? Little Jiang went and secretly won another championship?! (Outraged)"

"Pin this to the top! Little Jiang's improvement speed is practically faster than a rocket!"

"Attention everyone: Little Jiang's current ATP ranking is 587, which is only 31 spots away from becoming China's number one!"

"Wait, why is there a young woman standing next to Little Jiang in the group photo? How could he possibly have female fans? That's definitely a disguised guy!"

"Impossible, impossible, it's all fake!"

"..."

As expected, the forum members' attention span didn't last long before the conversation drifted completely off-topic.

Just as Jiang Hong was browsing the posts with great amusement to unwind, his phone suddenly vibrated, and the name "Little Ball-Girl" flashed across the screen.

Smiling, Jiang Hong answered the call and brought it to his ear.

Su Cheng's voice immediately came through, though she tried to maintain a deliberate calmness: "How did your match turn out, Jiang Hong? Did you win the championship or not?"

During the days of Jiang Hong's matches, Su Cheng had frequently searched for news regarding the tournament.

However, due to the low tier of the competition and the generally low popularity of tennis domestically, she could hardly find any news coverage at all.

Even so, Su Cheng eventually managed to dig up a single obscure report in some corner of the internet about Jiang Hong advancing to the finals.

She had felt restless and distracted the entire day.

Fortunately, her exams had just concluded, otherwise she surely would have failed her courses.

It wasn't until evening, guessing that the match should be over, that she finally made the call.

"Why don't you take a guess?" Jiang Hong leaned back in his chair, drawing out his words playfully.

Hearing this, Su Cheng instantly understood the outcome.

"Hmph, egotist!"

"Whatever, phone bills are expensive, I'm hanging up!"

With that, Su Cheng abruptly terminated the call.

"???"

Jiang Hong wore a bewildered expression. She called him up just to say two sentences and then hung up.

Su Cheng pushed aside the head resting against her cheek and spoke with a speechless expression.

"Xiaoyu, don't you think you're leaning in a bit too close?"

Yet Shen Xiaoyu paid no mind to Su Cheng's complaint whatsoever.

Instead, her eyes lit up as she asked in sheer amazement,

"Chengzi, Jiang Hong won the championship again? Isn't that insanely impressive?"

People always cast a filter of awe over fields they didn't understand, and although Shen Xiaoyu didn't play tennis, that didn't stop her from thinking Jiang Hong was incredible.

A profession as distant as being a professional athlete had actually appeared right within her circle!