The Argentinian player Guillermo-Coria, known as the "Magician", was once a representative figure of technical style of play.
175 centimeters, 65 kilograms of body, thin and small, looks nothing like a tennis player, more like a table tennis player, but with his smart hitting, wonderful feel, and gorgeous movements, he has firmly occupied a place in the professional tennis world.
In the 2004 season, Coria's world ranking has reached fifth. His perfect performance during the clay court season made him the well-deserved favorite at the French Open. As a result, he lived up to expectations and reached the finals, facing the biggest dark horse in the tournament, and was upset all the way.
Fellow player Gaston-Gaudio was promoted.
"6:0", "6:3".
Coria won two sets in a row, not only taking a big lead, but also having a huge advantage on the court. It was difficult for Gaudio to compete on the court. Seeing that the magician was about to defeat his opponent without any suspense and win his first Grand Slam trophy.
As a result, when he was leading in the third set, he could hardly run due to thigh cramps.
Kolya never gave up. Although he lost two sets with disparity scores of "4:6" and "1:6", in the final set, the cramp finally improved.
However, Gaudio, who became more and more courageous as he fought, was already stunned. He saved two match points in the final set, broke Coria's two serves to win the game, and stood on the desperate situation to complete a great reversal. In the end, Gaudio went black and broke out.
Leng reached the top, while Corea missed the trophy like fate.
After that, Coria completely failed to recover. Due to injuries, he basically did not participate in the competition since 2005. In the end, he struggled hard until 2009, but he had no choice but to announce his retirement.
When he retired, Kolya was only twenty-seven years old.
Compared with female players, the strength confrontation between male players is more intense and powerful, and the living space for technical players is even narrower; even players with delicate skills like Federer and Djokovic must be based on strength.
On the basis of being able to form a confrontation.
Obviously, Adidas scouts believe that Gao Wen should be a Corea-type player. Strength and explosiveness are his shortcomings, while his touch and golf intelligence are his strengths. Although Gao Wen's height and weight are far greater than that of Corea.
But in the end he was classified as a technical player and found it difficult to survive in the contemporary professional arena.
Just like Hingis and Corea, no matter how good their hand is, no matter how good their skills are, no matter how smart their mind is, they still cannot form a confrontation in the singles arena of contemporary professional tennis.
After Hingis retired for the first time, she came back for the second and third time. She never disappeared from the public eye. But later, she was more active in the doubles field. The strong confrontation in the singles arena is another story.
.
It is precisely because of this that Adidas has always reserved its attitude towards Gao Wen. Even two challenge championship trophies are not enough to impress their determination——
Compared with challenge champions who have limited value, talent is still an insurmountable barrier.
After learning the answer, Tobias not only didn't get angry, but relaxed, faced Harnett's gaze, and showed a shallow smile.
"David, do you know? You always sit in the office and never go to the stadium to feel the sunshine and sweat, so you can only trust the judgment of the scouts and calculate from the data, but you
You should know better than me that competitive sports is more than just a set of statistics."
"Scouts, you should believe it, but you can't believe it all."
Tobias' words struck a chord in Harnett.
In fact, this is also the reason for Harnett's hesitation. It is precisely because he understands Tobias and can make Tobias believe with all his heart that there must be something special about that young man.
But competitive sports are like this. Everyone believes that they are the best, and everyone believes that their vision is correct. However, no one has the right answer.
Just like Federer.
Initially, Federer was ranked number one in the junior world and was hailed as a genius by countless people. However, in the first three years of entering professional tennis, he never performed much; until the 2001 Wimbledon Tennis Championships, Federer defeated the then king Sampdoria.
Lars, became famous in one battle.
As a result, people speculated that Federer would succeed Sampras and become the next generation king of world tennis. However, in the next two years, Federer accomplished nothing and was never able to make a big breakthrough, falling below people's expectations again.
And then?
Federer won the 2003 Wimbledon Tennis Championships and reached the world No. 1 ranking in the same year, officially starting his career as a tennis champion.
From entering professional tennis in 1998 to completing his transformation in 2003, Federer also experienced nearly six years of struggle.
In other words, the only thing that can prove the truth is time. Only when time passes can people know whether the so-called genius can be realized and whether the so-called mediocrity is a mistake made by scouts and experts.
Harnett wants to believe in Tobias's vision, but his voice within the company is limited and it is difficult to change the situation.
"John, as you said, we need to trust the scouts but not blindly, so we need time."
To put it simply, Gao Wen jumped out too fast. From the beginning of the NCAA spring season to winning two consecutive challenge championships, it was actually less than half a year. Major brands including Adidas and Nike, they
All need more “proof”——
It's either the championship or time.
For now, it's still not enough.
From Harnett's point of view, this was true, but from Tobias' point of view, it was a lack of decisiveness, and the obvious opportunity was missed in such indecisiveness.
However, this also proves once again that different locations determine different ways of thinking and perspectives.
Obviously, Adidas and the player's agent are of two different minds.
Tobias also knew that there was no need to continue to pester him, and smiled at Harnett.
"Believe me, you will regret it."
After a short pause, Tobias added another sentence.
"If you don't want to leave any regrets, there is still a chance to make amends."
As he spoke, he glanced at the elevator floor button and sent out a hint signal.
Harnett laughed confidently.
"John, you know we never regret, even if we miss Djokovic's contract extension. More importantly, even if we miss it, the opportunity will always come again."
This is the confidence of Adidas.
Tobias looked at Harnett and laughed happily. Without saying anything more, today's meeting ended here.
Just in time, the elevator door opened, and Tobias patted Harnett on the shoulder in a friendly manner, hugged him, and then walked straight out, holding his head high.
Harnett still stayed where he was, and the elevator door slowly closed. At the moment it was about to close, Harnett's mind swayed a little, and the voice calling Tobias had already reached his throat, but he hesitated for a moment,