God of Tennis

Chapter 25.5: Kim Chun Open #4

Translator: Pineapple

Editor: oeroboros

“Woo Jin ssi, are you really okay?”

Shin Sae Yeon asked him with a worried expression. Han Woo Jin had nothing to say so he just nodded his head confirming nothing was wrong. He was currently sitting with the audience, watching the match down below, but he couldn’t hear any of the viewer’s cheers or the ball bouncing on the court.

Right now, he was pondering over something no one could understand. Only those who are going through the same situation could know what he is feeling.

– People are currently have more expectations for player Kim Hyung Tae rather than you and player Choi Yeon Hyuk, who don’t have as much experience.

He could still hear Kim Sang Pil’s voice in his head. Kim Sang Pil explained in detail the situation of Korea’s tennis and the people’s opinion. It was difficult for him to hear the information from Kim Sang Pil.

‘In the past, Choi Yeon Hyuk also probably went through this situation at this point. Is that why he didn’t rank up quickly previously?’

In his past life, Han Woo Jin and Choi Yeon Hyuk, the year that they both debuted, they didn’t play in any ATP tournaments. That’s why Choi Yeon Hyuk and Kim Hyung Tae never played against each other in tournaments.

But it was different this time.

It was already decided that Han Woo Jin will go against Kim Hyung Tae. They also didn’t know when Choi Yeon Hyuk will go against him but it is inevitable. (I am inevitable – thanos) It was a completely different situation from his previous life.

– Player Kim Hyung Tae has a plan to participate in the Tokyo Open, an ATP 500 tournament … If he doesn’t maintain his rank of being in the top 100, then he won’t be able to get a seeded placement.

Han Woo Jin knew this point. In the year 2006, Kim Hyung Tae made a big accomplishment by reaching the top four. In Korean tennis history, it was the best placing of a Korean tennis player in a tournament that prestigious. That was why Han Woo Jin had such a vivid memory of that time.

But this record was overcome by Choi Yeon Hyuk in 2008 when he got second place at Wimbledon. However, during that time, Kim Hyung Tae was still the number one tennis player in the Korean public’s eye.

But right now is a different story.

Han Woo Jin suddenly tightened his fist that was loose as he thought deeply. The words from Kim Sang Pil made him confused. Only him, who knew the future would feel conflicted. His fist began trembling.

‘Is it possible that player Kim Hyung Tae won’t be able to make a new record because of me? The person who made history in our Korean tennis?’

Player Kim Hyung Tae must maintain his top 100 rank in the world to get a seeded placement at the Tokyo Open. His ranking will be adjusted by how well he does at the Seoul Open. Han Woo Jin remembered how well he did at the Seoul Open during that time.

Kim Hyung Tae was victorious at the Seoul Open, challenger league.

– If player Kim Hyung Tae doesn’t win the Seoul Open, then he might be lacking in points to get a seeded position. That’s what the president of the tennis association is worried about.

To Han Woo Jin it didn’t matter whether he wins or loses the Seoul Open. Of course, winning is good but he wasn’t in a position to definitely get a seeded spot even if he wins.

But the situation was different for Kim Hyung Tae. If he doesn’t get a seeded position, then he probably won’t be able to reach the top four in the tournament or might not even reach the main tournament and lose in the preliminaries. If that happens history will completely change.

Of course, anyone can say that this wasn’t a big deal. But it was a huge deal to Han Woo Jin. To him, player Kim Hyung Tae was an idol that he looked up to when he was younger and held a special place in his heart.

During the second night, Kim Sang Pil didn’t show up. Like he promised, he only came here to tell Han Woo Jin that info.

Han Woo Jin, exited the stadium with a head full of worries. Even though the atmosphere wasn’t very good, a pro must be able to play in all conditions.

“… something is very weird. It doesn’t look like his body is in bad shape?”

But today Han Woo Jin wasn’t in peak condition. Shin Sae Yeon looked down at Han Woo Jin who was running on the blue court with curious eyes. As usual, his level of play was satisfactory.

She wondered whether something happened but she didn’t couldn’t guess what it was. She thought to herself to get him to tell her what’s wrong after this match. That was her job as his agent, as she needed to record and analyze his mental health.

‘I will meet him later.’

Shin Sae Yeon had a frightening smile on her face. Han Woo Jin suddenly felt shivers behind his neck while on the court.

During the middle of his match in the top eight, he felt a cold breath on his neck which made him shiver. Because of the cold sensation, he stopped moving and accidentally missed the ball.

*Pang!*

The ball bounced on Han Woo Jin’s right side and came up in a different direction than he expected. He just stopped moving and stayed in his spot. It would have been a waste of energy to go after the ball.

“Game Wang Chen! 5-4!”

The referee announced the Chinese player’s name who stood across of Han Woo Jin.

Han Woo Jin was leading by one game. If he loses one more game, then they’ll go into deuce.

‘Dammit.’

He bit his lips. If he didn’t have any worries, he probably would have won this game already. But because of his distractions he kept on making mistakes during the match. In Han Woo Jin’s case he had never come across this type of situation and didn’t think about how to deal with it.

The problem was obvious. It was because of his talk with Kim Sang Pil, which made him conflicted. Han Woo Jin forgot to serve and stopped moving.

“Player Han Woo Jin please serve!”

The referee hurried him to serve. He nodded at the ref and tossed up the ball. He felt that his sweat go down his head knew that he just made a mistake as he served and moved his wrist.

*Pak!*

“Fault!*

… that was dangerous.

If he continued to go through with that serve, then his opponent could have returned the ball with a rising shot and gotten a point. Han Woo Jin twisted his wrist at the last moment to make the ball hit the net. A fault wasn’t a problem because it was just his first serve.

‘Let’s concentrate. I have to focus on the Kim Chun Open.’

Han Woo Jin shook his head and focused on the match. It wasn’t like the answer would come to him just because he thought about it hard enough. He tossed up the ball one more time after wiping the sweat on his forehead. He couldn’t let his opponent break his serve game and get an advantage.

Han Woo Jin regained his strength and gripped his racket tightly as he swung it.

*Pang!*
“15:0!”

The serve was sent sharply as it hit Wang Chen’s shoes and bounced away. Han Woo Jin’s stamina was starting to get low so his return wasn’t at full power, however, that move that he just used wasn’t something that a no-name ranker could do.

Han Woo Jin recovered some strength tossed up the ball once again. If he didn’t win this game, then it will end up in a deuce and he will have to waste even more energy. The best solution is if he ends this set immediately.

*Pang!*

He decided to concentrate more on his technique rather than his speed. Han Woo Jin used a topspin serve rather than a flat serve. The direction of the ball curved and got through a hole in his defenses. Wang Chen was late to react because Han Woo Jin used only flat serves the entire game.

“30:0!”

Wang Chen’s face turned ugly. In fact, Wang Chen was already beginning to think that he wouldn’t win this. But he knew that his opponent’s condition wasn’t great. He had some slight hopes that he could possibly win. The score of the first set also wasn’t too bad for him. He never thought that he could contend this far against Han Woo Jin.

But if he loses this game then the match will end. The fire in his heart rose again. Wang Chen motivated himself to fight and lowered his position. He just needed to win this one game in order to drag out the set into a deuce.

‘I see what you’re doing.’ (han woo jin thinking)

He saw his opponent lower his posture. His nervous looking eyes and his trembling legs because of the pressure of what’s at stake. Anyone with some experience would be able to tell what was on Wang Chen’s mind. Han Woo Jin read what he was trying to do.

*Pang!*

The ball dropped short. It wasn’t exactly an underhand serve but if he stopped his stroke midway then the ball won’t travel as far. This kind of ball had a very low bounce, so if the opponent wasn’t ready to volley, then they will lose the point. Wang Chen frantically ran upward.

*Tong!*

The racket that hastily hit the ball made it fly into the air. He was just trying to make it over the net, so the ball stopped spinning and was just floating in the air. Wang Chen realized that he made a huge mistake just now, and he saw Han Woo Jin’s shadow right in front of him.

*Pang!*

“40:0! Han Woo Jin set point!”

The referee announced Han Woo Jin’s point. Han Woo Jin face was relaxed because the play went as planned.

Because he constantly used fast and hard serves since the beginning, he was able to trick his opponent by using a short serve when his opponent was way back in the baseline. No matter how fast they run up to the ball, they can only use a drop shot. And then, the opponent who is easily prepared can return it with a volley.

Wang Chen knew that he played into Han Woo Jin’s hands and was upset but there was nothing he could do. It was difficult for him to find a will to fight when there was only one point left until defeat.

In the end, Han Woo Jin won the match with a service ace.

*Pang!*

***
“He didn’t know what I said!”

*Kwang!*

President Cho slammed down the phone as the table shook and the noise reverberated throughout the room. Coach Jeon who was next to him spoke. He guessed what happened but he needed to confirm it.

“Is it about player Kim Hyung Tae?”
“… Yeah. These old fogeys who have their heads full of shit don’t understand!”

It was shocking to hear someone like him use these rough words and so Coach Jeon didn’t know how to react. The fact that President Cho used curse words means that he was furious. It was extremely rare for capable businessmen like President Cho to express his anger on his face like this.

Coach Jeon tried to calm him down as usual whenever the president gets upset. Because whenever Coach Jeon gets upset, President Cho comforts him and they drink a lot of alcohol together, which they will be doing today.

“But can’t you understand why they’re doing it, president? We support Woo Jin and Yeon Hyuk, that’s why wanted that but their side support Hyung Tae for many years as the sole pillar for Korea. If we suddenly push Woo Jin and Yeon Hyuk, they won’t like it.”

“No, Coach Jeon, whose side are you on? I don’t want to hear that from you!”
President Cho’s tone was rude but Coach Jeon knew that he will quickly come back to his senses. His rough breathing calmed down.

Coach Jeon calmly explained.

“The organization asked us to retract Woo Jin’s participation in the Seoul Open right?”
“Yes.”

He was still shocked. President Cho nodded his head and Coach Jeon smiled and continued speaking. He spread his arms and jokingly shook them.

“Why are they telling us? He has had his own agent for a long time, and they are the ones that decide what tournament they attend.”
President Cho’s face brightened when he heard something that he didn’t think of. He thought about those words for a minute and began laughing.

“Haha, then you’re saying that we’re not in a position to do what they ask, is that what you’re saying?”

“I’m not saying that, but that is correct.”
The two men smirked. But President Cho put on a worried expression and spoke again. Because when he thought of the agent he had several thoughts.

“Hm, but can we trust those agents? We chose them because of your recommendation… but aren’t they both inexperienced?”

“That’s why that’s good.”
“Hm?”
Regarding sports agents, experience or no experience doesn’t matter and makes no difference. But Coach Jeon said that he recommended those two because of their lack of experience and even said that that was better. President Cho didn’t understand and his eyes widened.

“Experienced agents can calculate what is best for their player. Even if the situation doesn’t need any calculation, they will still calculate it.”
“It’s natural for human beings to calculate… so?”

Coach Jeon drank his coffee that was in front of him. He spoke when he saw President Cho’s eyes hurrying him to speak.

“I chose inexperienced agents because they will support their player no matter what they choose. I personally think that this is a good thing.”