Cheng Che's first serve froze the air in the Centre Court of the All England Lawn Tennis Club.
When the ball speed display showed "231", Lin Yan, the commentator, paused for a moment.
He'd been a tennis commentator for twenty years and had seen countless powerful serves, but 231 kilometers on grass, coupled with that pinpoint accuracy, made his first thought:
That ball shouldn't have come on the first point of Wimbledon.
"Two hundred and thirty-one kilometers." Lin Yan's voice carried a suppressed shock. " Cheng Che Che's first serve in the Wimbledon final dented the advertising board. Alcaraz had absolutely no reaction."
Zhou Zhou swallowed hard, and spoke faster than usual when she replied:
"Grass is inherently fast, and with the bounce of the grass, the receiver simply doesn't have time to react. Look at Alcaraz, he only took half a step, and the ball was already behind him."
The broadcast camera cut to the shallow dent on the billboard; a small crack had appeared in the tempered glass, and the sign was bent askew.
The director gave a three-second close-up shot, then cut back to the players' tunnel.
The comments section exploded with messages in that instant.
Holy crap, the billboard got dented???
[This isn't a tennis ball, it's a cannonball!]
[231 kilometers per hour, I wouldn't dare drive that fast.]
[ Alcaraz's expression... he didn't even extend his racket.]
I initially thought Tengjing had hired a pretty boy to play in an exhibition match, but now I think they might have hired a Tengjing backer.
The last comment came from a League of Legends player.
Today, a large number of unfamiliar IDs flooded into the live stream of the Wimbledon finals.
After Tengjing officially announced Cheng Che's participation in the 13th anniversary celebration, many esports players clicked on the link.
Most of them didn't even understand the rules of tennis; they only knew that "one person serves, the other receives, and the ball cannot go out of bounds."
They originally just wanted to watch the spectacle and see what kind of star this Tengjing had invited to the celebration was really.
Then they saw the serve.
The styles of comments on the bullet screen quickly diverged.
[Wait, is this Cheng Che the same Cheng Che that Tengjing invited?]
[I checked, it's him. Peking University Mathematics Department, top Zhuangyuan in the college entrance examination, published in a top mathematics journal, French Open Champion, currently playing in the Wimbledon finals.]
Holy crap, this is outrageous. I thought he was just a handsome, popular celebrity, but it turns out he's a top student and a world Champion?!
This is at least ten times better than those traffic stars we used to criticize, right?
[Ten times? A hundred times. You try letting those popular celebrities play a game; they can't even hold the racket properly.]
[I take back what I said before, "It's better to focus on a good app than hiring celebrities." This guy isn't just any celebrity; he's a monster.]
But what truly silenced the comments was the close-up shot.
Cheng Che is wearing a pure white short-sleeved tennis jersey today, as Wimbledon rules require everyone to wear white.
The London sun was blazing in the summer. After running two sets on the court, his jersey was soaked with sweat and clung to his body.
Beneath the white fabric, the muscle lines of the shoulder blades, upper arms, and waist are faintly visible. They are not the kind of bulky muscles built up in a gym, but rather the lines honed by long-term, high-intensity exercise, with each muscle in its proper place.
In addition, his serve, from the moment he gathers power to the moment he swings the racket, is executed with a clean power chain from his shoulders to his wrists, as smooth as a machine.
The chat went silent for a moment.
Then they changed direction.
[Wait, his arm...]
[Those broad shoulders, that waistline... I swallowed hard.]
I was watching the game, but now I'm watching the people.
[You're not alone, up ahead]
[husband!!!]
[My husband's serve is so powerful!!!]
[Go, husband!!!]
When esports players saw celebrities' fans spamming "husband," they paused for a moment, then started joining in.
My husband is so handsome!!!
[Although I don't even understand the rules of Wimbledon, I understood my husband's serve; the opponent couldn't return it.]
[My husband got this point!!!]
[I don't care, from today Cheng Che is my husband. When we play LOL, I'll pick Sona, and my husband will pick Garen. Our bot lane duo is invincible!]
[Hey, did you choose Sona so your husband could take on two opponents at once? No matter how strong your husband is, he can't carry you.]
The number of bullet comments multiplied several times in the first hour, and the number of online viewers jumped from three million before the start of the competition to eight million.
The data manager at Tengjing excitedly sent a message to his colleague while monitoring the backend. "Our official announcement of Cheng Che Che's Weibo has surpassed 100 million views!"
My colleague excitedly replied with a single word, "Worth it!!!"
But in the second game, there were noticeably fewer comments.
It's not that nobody's watching; it's that too many people are watching, and the comment section can't keep up.
The number of online viewers is still increasing, but viewers are too busy to send comments.
Because the outcome of the match has already been decided.
The score was 6-3 in the first set, 6-2 in the second set, and 6-1 in the third set.
Cheng Che didn't lose a single service game, while Alcaraz only managed to hold his serve twice in each of the second and third sets.
The entire match lasted two hours and seven minutes, shorter than the semi-final.
When the final point landed, Alcaraz stood behind the baseline without making a sound.
He watched the ball land on the grass behind him, bounce, roll away, then he lowered his head and slowly squatted down.
He buried his face in his hands, and his shoulders began to tremble.
Cheng Che walked to the net, waited a few seconds, and seeing that Alcaraz hadn't gotten up, he went over and patted him on the shoulder.
Alcaraz looked up, his eyes red, his face covered in sweat and tears.
He stood up, shook hands with Cheng Che, gripping his hand tightly, and then said "Congratulations," his voice hoarse.
Cheng Che nodded at him.
Then he turned around and faced the stands.
Fifteen thousand people stood up at the same time.
" Cheng Che!!!"
"KING!!!"
" Cheng Che! KING! Cheng Che! KING!"
The sounds came from all directions of the stands; some were calling his name, others were shouting "KING".
At first, they were scattered, then they connected, and finally only those two words echoed throughout the entire Centre Court.
Some spectators held the national flag above their heads and waved it frantically.
Some people rolled up their banners and banged them against the railing. Others simply stood and clapped, their palms turning red.
Lin Yan's voice was already unsteady in the broadcast booth. He took a deep breath, trying to suppress his emotions, but he couldn't.
"Match over. Cheng Che defeated Alcaraz 3-0 to win the Wimbledon Champion. This is his third Grand Slam title, and within a year, Champion three titles at three different venues: the Australian Open, the French Open, and Wimbledon. The last person to achieve this was Nadal in 2010. And Cheng Che is five years younger than Nadal when he did it."
He paused, and the veins on his neck bulged out.
"I've been commentating on tennis for twenty years. I've witnessed Federer, Nadal, Djokovic. But Cheng Che makes me feel like I'm witnessing a different kind of person. He's not just strong; he's the kind of strong that makes you feel like 'he has redefined the ceiling of this sport.'"
Zhou Zhou remained silent, only nodding.
When the camera panned across him, you could see that his eyes were red.
The barrage of comments made it impossible to see the screen clearly.
[3-0!!! A crushing victory!!!]
[ Alcaraz cried, and Cheng Che barely broke a sweat!!]
[Three Grand Slams in one year, three different venues, and he's only nineteen!!]
I accept the title of KING.
From this day forward, there can only be one king on the tennis court!!
[An esports player commented: I started out as a spectator, but now I'm a fan!!]
[My husband won! My husband is the Wimbledon Champion!!!]
[I hereby declare that this year is Cheng Che's year. Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, only the US Open is missing!!]
[Winning the US Open means a career Grand Slam. A Grand Slam within a year!!]
[Unprecedented and unparalleled!!]