Who would still play tennis after being reborn?

Chapter 91 ITF Junior Circuit ranking points +5
When it comes to the anime "The Prince of Tennis," if you had to choose the most stylish serve, a thousand readers would have a thousand different interpretations.

Different understandings and perceptions of serving lead to different opinions on different serves.

Some people think Tannhäuser's serve is amazing, others say the invisible serve is the most impressive, and still others say the Big Bang is the most powerful. Opinions vary, and people also have different levels of liking for the characters in the comics, making it difficult to argue which is better.

But when it comes to the most pretentious serve, most people would agree.

That's the disappearing serve from Seigaku's genius, Fuji Syusuke, also known as the underhand slice serve.

The most basic serve technique is so advanced that anyone seeing it for the first time would think their opponent is a complete beginner who has only been learning tennis for a short time.

At this moment, Carlo was stunned when he saw Gu Cheng's serve, which, although it was fairly skillful, was clearly a basic serving technique.

The few spectators who were watching the game were also somewhat dumbfounded.

Even though it's an ITF junior tournament, and only a Level 4 tournament, shouldn't there still be a very basic screening process for the participants?

Isn't it a waste of the other contestants' opportunities to have a novice participate?

Of course, although Carlo had some complaints in his heart, he did not show it very obviously. After all, it was a good thing for him if his opponent was weak.

They've at least secured a spot in the second round.

If we encounter another newcomer like this in the second round, then we'll go straight to the quarterfinals.

However, the possibility is slim, since those who can enter the second round are all quite strong, and that is not a realm that novices can enter.

Carlo moved his feet to the right. His position wasn't great, and it was even a bit loose, but the serve wasn't fast, and he could easily catch it with his current speed.

"If you think that ITF junior tournaments are for beginners, you are very wrong."

Carlo glanced up at the open space on Gu Cheng's left, and swung his racket at the leaping tennis ball.

When Yu Haoyang decided to sign up for the Zagreb Youth Cup, Gu Cheng used his talent to learn Croatian online for a period of time.

Although there wasn't enough time, he could still understand most of it as long as the speaking speed wasn't too fast.

Despite Carlo's dismissive attitude, Gu Cheng smiled slightly while holding his racket and said in Croatian, mimicking Fuji's tone, "That ball will disappear."

Will it disappear?
I even said the ball would explode.

Carlo clearly didn't believe it, and swung his racket even harder.

However, at this moment.

The tennis ball that leaped into the air suddenly multiplied into five or six balls in my sight, and then disappeared in a flash.

Carlo's racket swing missed completely.

Carlo: "???"

referee:"???"

audience:"???"

Everyone was stunned by what they saw.

The ball... really disappeared?

"So you can't even return a beginner's serve?"

Seeing Carlo standing there dumbfounded, Gu Cheng took out the second ball and, as he did so, looked up to respond to Carlo's earlier words.

After that, the second novice serve was hit.

Having learned from the first point, Carlo was much more serious this time. He started moving as soon as he saw Gu Cheng serve, his footwork was very fast, and he made a judgment after seeing the tennis ball land, and then swung his racket.

The exact same thing happened again; the tennis ball disappeared from Caro's sight once more, only to reappear behind him.

"What the hell?!" Carlo's eyes widened in disbelief.

The first ball could be attributed to a visual illusion or a hallucination, but if the same thing happens on the second ball, then it's no longer a matter of visual illusion, but rather a problem with the serve itself.

But he just couldn't understand how the tennis ball could have disappeared from his sight.

I clearly saw the tennis ball bounce up, but when it reached its highest point, it suddenly split into four or five pieces, and before I could even blink, the tennis ball disappeared.

Under Carlo's questioning gaze, Gu Cheng served his third serve.

"Gu Shen is too beautiful, scoring points with consecutive serves. His opponent, this player from Croatia, must be completely dumbfounded right now."

"Use the most basic serve to create the most stunning effect. The 'disappearing serve' is definitely a great way to show off. So... how exactly do you hit this kind of serve?"

"When he entered the professional arena, Gu Shen still showed his strong dominance: shutting out his opponents."

"It's too difficult to be his opponent. Apart from being able to touch the ball once during the service games, you can only stand there during the receiving games."

The director of the pirated source was also very considerate; when Gu Cheng hit a series of serves that would disappear, the camera focused directly on Gu Cheng.

The disappearing serve shocked the Croatian people.

That was a magical serve.

At this moment, Gu Cheng's fourth serve was also hit, and then flew out of bounds under Carlo's constipated face.

"Gu Cheng leads 1-0." The referee announced the score with a stiff expression: "Next is Caro's service game, please be prepared."

Carlo stood at the service line, looking troubled and preoccupied.

"An illusion, it must be an illusion!"

"It's an illusion!"

Carlo kept encouraging himself in his mind: "Carlo, don't be affected by that serve, just play to your strength, you can do it."

After muttering to himself, Carlo tossed the tennis ball into the air, and the next second, a crisp sound of the ball hitting the court rang out.

Caro's serve was of good quality. Although it couldn't compare to the so-called young prodigy, Willing White, it was already on par with Hao Yang among the professional players Gu Cheng had seen.

This is because Carlo was affected by the disappearing serve, so his strength may not be able to be fully displayed, or even 120% of his ability. Otherwise, he might be stronger than Yu Haoyang, at least judging from his serve.

As expected, there are no weaklings among those who can sign up for ITF Level 4 events.

Every contestant has a very good foundation.

--boom! !
The tennis ball flew in a beautiful arc and hit the corner of the first court, heading out of bounds at great speed.

This is a typical topspin shot, fast and bouncing quickly upon landing. However, due to the indoor hard court, the tennis ball loses a lot of power after bouncing.

But this does not affect Gu Cheng's use of the Swallow Return Flash.

The tennis ball was completely enveloped by the racket. The moment it grazed the racket strings, it flew over the center net with a strong spin and then plummeted rapidly. Under Carlo's strange gaze, it skimmed the ground, drew a crescent-shaped arc, and flew out of bounds from one corner of the baseline.

"Beautiful! Gu Shen's Swallow Return Flash was executed so cleanly and decisively that it gave his opponent no time to react at all."

"The videos of the Australian Open wildcard matches should have been uploaded to international websites by now, right? Why are there still people not posting about the Prince of Tennis? Shouldn't it be common knowledge that you can't hit topspin against Gu Shen?"

"It's still early, isn't it? After all, Gu Shen's previous matches didn't attract much attention. Even if the videos were uploaded to foreign websites, they would probably be considered to have been edited." "When Gu Shen plays in ATP tournaments, then any professional player will have no choice but to study them."

"I can't wait! When will Gu Shen be able to play in an ATP tournament?!"

"With Gu Shen's skill level, he should be able to skip the ITF Junior Tournament and compete in the ITF Hope Tournament, right?"

"Gu Shen can still participate in the ITF Junior Tournament now, but he won't be able to participate after he gets older. The ITF Junior Tournament also has four Grand Slams and the year-end finals. Anyway, they are all honors, so why not take them?"

"Anyway, with Gu Shen's strength, it's only a matter of time before he makes it to the ATP tournaments. He's just secretly developing his skills in the ITF junior tournaments now."

"He won't be able to develop for much longer. After a few more matches, Gu Shen's reputation will probably spread like wildfire. At that time, in any match Gu Shen participates in, his opponents will have to study the Prince of Tennis. Putting aside everything else, it will definitely be a consensus that he won't play topspin."

"Swallow Return Flash isn't impossible to counter, is it? Tezuka Domain will do."

"Why doesn't the person upstairs mention Ashura Shinto? Among so many professional players, besides Gu Shen, have you ever seen anyone who can beat those players with those skills?"

"Returning the ball before it hits the ground is also possible, but how fast would you have to be to return it before it hits the ground?"

……

The debate in Zhu Wen's live stream was endless, but it quickly disappeared after Gu Cheng broke through Gu Cheng's serve in the return game.

"Awesome! As expected, Gu Shen shuts out everyone he faces!"

"2-0 already, is 6-0 far away?"

Zhu Wen slammed his fist on the cracked keyboard in front of him; he was more agitated than anyone else.

Caro was completely stunned. The serves seemed to disappear, the returns never bounced. Was he really playing in an ITF junior tournament? And at Grade 4, almost the lowest level?

Carlo wanted to persevere, but as the score widened, his perseverance quickly turned into sighs and even despair.

When the score reached 5-0, Caro had given up all hope. He swung his racket and watched the scoreboard jump: 15-0.

Three more balls, just three more balls and we'll be completely free.

"30-0." Carlo swung his racket stiffly, and the referee's voice, calling the score, sounded like heavenly music. Only two points remained.

"Carlo's movements are stiff; it seems he has given up resisting."

"Assessment complete. Gu Shen has successfully shattered another young man's dream of becoming a professional gamer. I wonder if the last one has even recovered by now?"

"It's all a fluke! It's all a fluke! Gu Shen said in public that this is all magic... no, it's magic that conforms to the laws of the second dimension!"

Gu Cheng's first-round match ended in less than twenty minutes with a 2-0 shutout victory, showcasing his formidable strength and making every Croatian spectator take this young player from the mysterious East seriously for the first time.

Shortly after the match ended, on his way to Court 7 to watch Yu Haoyang's match, Gu Cheng received a message from the ITF official website.

First, he was notified that he had advanced to the second round of the Junior Zagreb Cup. Second, his ITF Junior Circuit ranking points were no longer a big zero, but had become 5.

Very few points, rankings that are nowhere near the top, but for Gu Cheng, this is the first step on a journey of a thousand miles.

It's crucial and very important.

His ranking rose many, many places as a result, too many to count. Anyway, there are still a lot of junior players below him with scores below 5.

As soon as his match against Carlo ended, the organizers of the Junior Zagreb Cup obtained the video of the match immediately.

Zagreb local newspaper: The amazing serve and return of a 15-year-old prodigy from China in the first round of the Junior Zagreb Cup has sparked heated discussions in society. Perhaps the world has undergone a great evolution without our knowledge?

Croatian Tennis News: Will the emergence of new tennis techniques change the tennis world today?

……

Gu Cheng was unaware of any of this, and he didn't pay much attention to local Croatian news. When he arrived at Stadium 7, Yu Haoyang's first match had just ended, with a score of 6-4, and Yu Haoyang had temporarily won the BO1.

Judging from the profuse sweat on Yu Haoyang's head and his rapid breathing, it was clear that the match between Yu Haoyang and his opponent was extremely intense.

However, Yu Haoyang, having successfully won a game, still held a slight advantage.

Gu Cheng's arrival also caught Yu Haoyang's attention. While he was slightly surprised, he could understand why Gu Cheng was able to finish the match in about twenty minutes, considering Gu Cheng's abnormal strength.

"How is it?" Yu Haoyang asked Gu Cheng, who was standing behind him, while drinking water.

"It's alright, the opponent is quite strong," Gu Cheng replied truthfully.

Yu Haoyang rolled his eyes: "It just doesn't sound right coming from you."

"2-0?"

"Ah."

"A clean sheet?"

Gu Cheng nodded.

Yu Haoyang gave a wry smile: "I knew it. I don't know if it's good or bad to sign up for the same competition as you."

Although I can win the doubles championship, I can forget about winning the singles championship, never.

Not only could he not think about it, he also had to pray to heaven and earth that he wouldn't encounter Gu Cheng in the first two rounds, otherwise he basically wouldn't be able to get many ranking points in singles.

All I can say is that if you can win the doubles championship, you can make some money, but not much.

After all, if he participated in the ITF junior tournaments on his own, he could sometimes win a few championships, but it wasn't as consistent as when he teamed up with Gu Cheng in doubles.

Overall, he still made a profit.

“Play well. We agreed to participate in the ATP Challenger Series together, otherwise I’ll have to find new teammates.” Gu Cheng thought for a moment and said, “The others might not agree.”

Do you disagree with being used as a tool?
It's quite possible if it's an ATP tournament.

After all, the prize money, which can easily amount to hundreds of thousands or even millions of US dollars or pounds, is hard to ignore, even for those from wealthy families.

Yu Haoyang nodded helplessly: "I'll do my best, but I can't guarantee anything, since our opponents are all quite strong."

"I'll practice with you later."

Yu Haoyang's eyes lit up immediately: "You said it! You can't go back on your word."

He had wanted to play a training match with Gu Cheng for a long time, or to ask Gu Cheng for some training techniques and methods, but he was too embarrassed to ask. After all, why should he tell you how someone else gets stronger?

There are quite a few cases in the country where a master teaches his apprentice so well that the apprentice starves to death.

Of course, Yu Haoyang never thought he could surpass Gu Cheng, but if he could improve his strength by several levels, he might be able to realize his dream of being Gu Cheng's tool in ATP tournaments.

He really didn't care what other people thought.

What could be more important than becoming stronger?

The two chatted on the sidelines for a while, then Yu Haoyang returned to the court, and the best-of-two series began.

(End of this chapter)