Chapter 5 Chapter 1 Morning in Paris

I am a professional tennis player.As a professional player, I travel around the world most of the year: In January, my small team and I headed to Australia to play the Sydney Open and the Australian Open.The Australian Open is what we call the Australian Open. It is one of the four Grand Slam events in the world. It has a history of 107 years, but it is the youngest among the four Grand Slam events.The Australian Open lasts about two weeks. In February, I usually spend time in Dubai and Doha.There are two big competitions here.After finishing the game, I may have about a week to adjust, and then I will fly to the United States to participate in the two major competitions in Indy Wells and Miami.By the time the competition here is over, the calendar has turned to April.After about two weeks of adjustments, it will be the two-month clay court season.The places I will go to during the clay court season are Stuttgart, Rome, Madrid, Paris.Immediately after the clay court season we started fighting on grass.You know, I'm talking about Wimbledon, the oldest and most prestigious event in tennis and the only one of the four Grand Slams that uses grass courts.After Wimbledon, if the schedule is not too tight, I can adjust by two to three weeks to get a few tournaments in the US and play until the end of the US Open to adjust for another two weeks.After that, we flew to Japan, played games in Tokyo, and then Beijing.After the game in Beijing, there will be a final among the top eight players in the world.

This is my schedule for the year. Sounds great doesn't it?The most prosperous city in the world, the top master. But in fact, I have basically never been to the famous scenic spots in these cities. We went straight from the airport to the hotel, trained, played, and then went back to the hotel to rest.After the game, we usually take the nearest flight to go back to the base for training or rush to a new competition venue.Hotel rooms are always the same, even though the designers try to make them uniquely aesthetic, but all hotel rooms have that cold sense of distance in their bones. I’ve been doing it this way for a few years now, so that when I wake up in the morning, I’m often in a trance for a few seconds before I remember where I am, whether it’s Miami or Madrid or Paris.

I glanced left and right in the room—Jiang Shan was still sleeping, the long dress prepared for the French Open was on the hanger, suitcases, large and small, were piled up on the floor, next to the TV—I rubbed Eyes—yes, next to the TV sits the Susan Lundgren Cup, the lifelong dream of every professional tennis player. So, I'm in Paris now, and those impressions of last night were not my dream. I close my eyes, and those scenes are still vivid in my mind: applause, cheers, the friendly and encouraging smiles of the head referee, my team sitting on the sidelines wearing uniform yellow T-shirts, most of the girls burst into tears, Szi Yavoni softly encouraged me to "Enjoy your time" in the locker room... Are these really not my dreams?

Jiang Shan also woke up, he always wakes up faster than me, I whispered to him: "Is this not a dream?" "Of course not!" Jiang Shan hugged me, "You are too awesome!" I'm a little embarrassed, he rarely compliments me so bluntly.But this sentence really made me feel very warm. That's right, this is Paris, today is June 5, 2011, and I just won the Roland Garros women's singles championship yesterday at Roland Garros. To be honest, until now, I still have a kind of trance like falling into the clouds, and I still can't believe that I really won the championship deep in my heart.

In 1998, when I was a 16-year-old youth, Beijing TV once interviewed me and asked me what my biggest dream was.I stood in front of the camera, raised my tanned face, and said to the camera: "My biggest dream? I hope to be in the top ten of my career. I know this goal is very difficult, but I will work hard." God knows how much courage it took for me to say that dream.But right now, I just want to say to that little girl: Hey, we did it! Someone told me at the time: I am the first Asian to win a Grand Slam women's singles title.After this battle, my world ranking jumped from seventh to fourth, tying the highest Asian record set by Japanese star Date.I smiled and thanked them for their congratulations, but my mind was blank.I know I've won, but being a champion feels like nothing more than that.I did feel a huge sense of accomplishment the moment I lay on the red soil, but when the reporters swarmed up, my mind went blank.They all said that my performance was too calm when I received the award, but in fact, I did not have a clear concept of the glory and power behind the title of "French Open Champion"-at least so far, I don't think it has anything to do with it. What a big difference I've had from previous tour wins, it seems like the only difference is the amount of money and the amount of media attention.

When I regained my senses, many strong emotions kept coming to me—indescribable happiness, relief from a heavy burden, and even the luck of "the media can finally let me go this time". Knowing that I will no longer be written as a hot-tempered, stubborn Wuhan girl—now I am at least a very good-tempered, stubborn Wuhan girl. But that's not the point. For me, the best gift that victory brings me is peace of mind -- I don't have to cover my face with a towel after the game, cry in the locker room or the bathroom, and don't have to worry about it anymore. Mistakes hate yourself, don't torture yourself repeatedly.I knew my performance was passing and my inner "referee" would let me off this time.

Li Na, I played well this time, I said softly to myself. But for my team and my agency, winning obviously means more.In the next few days, my itinerary is full.Yesterday I was interviewed by CNN, and today at 10 o'clock in the morning, I am going to participate in an interview with a reporter from Sina.com from my motherland.Thinking of this, I jumped up and started my day as a "Grand Slam Champion". A reporter from Sina told me: The final between Schiavone and I set a record for the highest number of TV viewers in a single tennis match in China. It attracted about 116 million Chinese TV viewers to watch.

so many?It seems that tennis is really getting closer to the lives of Chinese people. After the interview, we went back to the hotel for a simple rest, and then we had to go to the Champs-Elysees to do activities for my sponsor, Nike’s store. I and the staff of Nike China, also my old My friend Shi Ling was sitting in a car, chatting about homework and driving all the way to the Champs Elysees.When the car arrived at the gate of Nike, I saw four tall bodyguards surrounding me. I felt that it was unnecessary. I was just a player, so there was no need to exaggerate. But when the car door was opened, I understood the necessity of bodyguards. The crowd was waiting at the door of Nike. Shi Ling was afraid that people would come up to her, so she told me to hold her hand and walk together.

I nodded and followed her into the store.A brand-new large poster caught the eye. It was hung in the most conspicuous position. The size was so large that everyone who walked in here had to look at it. The person on the poster was me, and the advertising slogan was printed below: "Use Sports change everything!" Nike has been my sponsor since I was a teenager, I have seen many posters of outstanding players in Nike stores, Federer, Nadal, Sharapova... This time, I finally saw myself, This is really embarrassing, but it seems to be reasonable. I'm a bit lost in thought, and after doing the activities, I can organize the rest of my time... The initial joy of winning is slowly fading, and my heart is flying to the lawn of Wimbledon, and even a little tired of the endless activities .Frankly speaking, at this time, I still have no specific concept of "winning the French Open". It seems that I am not as excited as I imagined before. The victory has not brought much change, and everything is still on the original track.But that's all, I thought.

After the event, I told my friends at Nike that I had to go to the flagship store of a famous luxury brand on the Champs-Elysées, because a good friend in China asked me to help her buy a bag. The Nike staff asked me, "Do you need to clear the field?" I think the other party is joking: "It's too exaggerated!" The flagship store on the Champs-Elysées is famous for its luxury and is known as the "fashion carrier" of Paris.I've been here a few times before.This store is seven floors high and is the largest flagship store of the brand in France. Tourists from all over the world line up at the door every day, especially Asian tourists.In this store, every tourist can enjoy the service of a personal shopping guide, but each person can only buy two bags with their passport.There is a long queue at the door of the store all the year round, but there are still many tourists flocking to it.How could such a luxury store book out for me?I didn't take the staff's words seriously and laughed it off.

However, to my surprise, when I arrived in front of the flagship store, a clerk immediately came to greet me with a smile, and he told me: In order to express their welcome to me, after they heard the news that I was coming Specially arranged someone to take me to the VIP room. God! I was dumbfounded and shocked.I know that I just won the French Open yesterday, but this is the flagship store of a famous luxury brand! I originally came to this luxurious kingdom on a pilgrimage with the mentality of an ordinary consumer, but it suddenly became humble and polite, welcoming me with the etiquette of welcoming a queen.It made me a little flattered, but, I have to admit, at that moment, it felt great. This is the first time I have directly experienced the weight of the crown of "French Open champion". Paris has really become my blessed land.