The Prince of Tennis: My tennis skills come from Naruto

Chapter 142 Singles Match 3: Mori Jusaburo vs. Mizuki Hajime

"Furthermore, Akutsu, who is ranked No. 7 in the semifinals, was placed in doubles this time, so I feel, I have a feeling, that Hyotei's third singles player will definitely be one of the top players in Hyotei."

"I think your hunch is wrong. I feel that Hyotei's coach arranged these two doubles lineups like they were training their players. So they should be training their singles as well. After all, St. Rudolph is really not strong. They can win even if they are just training their players. lol."

"I disagree with the comment above, I agree with the comment above that. I think I hope Hyotei sends out a strong player for the singles match. After all, for so long we've only been able to see the prowess of Hyotei's players through news photos rather than in person. It's not easy to finally have this opportunity—"

"Lagree, after all, it's already the semi-finals, Paiqiang's approach is much more stable."

"Hmm, anyway, it can't be their minister no matter what. *sigh*"

"That's for sure. After all, the strongest player on a team is usually the last one to go in the singles match. And I feel that even if they send out a strong player, the probability of Hyotei sending out a top-three player is not high. Maybe Hyotei will send out their fourth or fifth player."

While the spectators were buzzing with discussion, the unfortunate St. Rudolf doubles pair, who had run into the duo of Oishi Shuichiro and Kikumaru Eiji, replicated their predecessors' actions, bowing deeply to Mizuki Hajime, who was sitting on the coach's bench, and saying, "I'm sorry, Captain Mizuki, we have failed your expectations."

After finishing the whole meal, Kanzuki's complexion was still quite bad, but it was much better than when Sengoku Kiyosumi had made those harsh remarks.

He merely glanced at the two of them, his tone far from his usual gentle and feminine manner, and bluntly stated, "Go back and practice more!"

"Yes!" Hashimoto Sho and Nomura Takuya immediately breathed a sigh of relief and quickly ran away from the court.

Watching the two figures flee in a sorry state, Guan Yuechu sighed, feeling as if he was about to enter a state of enlightenment.

I'm tired, I can't carry it anymore, I really can't carry it anymore.

The combination of Oishi and Kikumaru, while their teamwork was excellent, only Oishi's data exceeded his calculations slightly. This meant that his original plan could still be effective with minor modifications. However, his teammates lacked even the ability to make slight adjustments to the original plan.

How do you play this?

The food was handed to him, but he still wouldn't eat it.

Do you have to feed it right up to its mouth?

Destroy it, I'm tired.jpg

but----

A glint of light flashed in Kanatsuki's eyes, and a smile returned to his lips. Although the strength of the doubles pair arranged by Hyotei was slightly beyond his expectations—he hadn't expected them to put Sengoku and Akutsu together—the level of doubles pairing was about what he had anticipated. Therefore, he thought confidently that singles pairing three shouldn't be too strong.

As long as Hyotei sends out their fifth, sixth, or even fourth seed—I'm at least 50% confident of victory!

Even if my opponent is slightly stronger than me, I can still achieve victory by constantly collecting data on them, actively dragging the game into a tug-of-war, continuously refining my strategy, accurately striking their weaknesses, and ultimately winning!

If he wins, even though they will definitely lose the second and first singles matches later on, St. Rudolf will not lose so thoroughly, and at least they will lose in a more respectable way.

Just as Kanatsuki was immersed in his meticulously crafted "loss mitigation plan," the referee quickly announced the matchup for Singles 3: "The Singles 3 match is about to begin, between Hyotei Academy's Mori Jusaburo and St. Rudolf Academy's Kanatsuki."

The referee's words were like a thunderbolt from the heavens, striking Guan Yuechu squarely on the top of his head. How could this be?!

Guan Yuechu, who had just stood up from the coach's chair, froze in place.

His eyes, which had been gleaming with brilliance and confidence just a moment ago, suddenly dimmed. All his calculations and hopes were frozen by a chilling wave of despair the instant the matchup list was announced. How could Mori Jusaburo be the third singles opponent?!

On the court, Kanzuki screamed in despair in his heart. He looked at the lazy figure with red curly hair who walked out of the blue and white camp of Hyotei. Especially the No.3 medal on his chest. His face was no longer black or blue or purple, but had lost all color and turned pale.

A chilling coldness instantly shot from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, and Guan Yuechu felt his limbs and bones stiffen.

Immediately followed by a deep self-mockery: Ha, he had just said he could win a game for St. Rudolf, and this is what the opponent played?!

Why send out the No. 3 player in a singles match?

Although Mizuki is quite confident in his strength, believing that he has reached the Kanto level, according to rumors, the top three at Hyotei are all national level!

Having crossed such a vast difference in power, how could he possibly defeat that Mori?!

At that moment, Guan Yuechu suddenly thought of something rather inappropriate:

If Mori is ranked third in singles, then surely Hyotei's No. 2 and No. 1 in singles can't be ranked in the same order, right?

Or is it like doubles, where the stronger player plays in the first set and the weaker player in the second? That is, in the later singles matches, the two weaker players play, and then the one stronger player plays?

But regardless, Hyotei's coach made this arrangement—sending up the third-ranked player—when they hadn't even shown their true strength before St. Rudolph.

Isn't that a bit too cautious?!

Well, all I can say is that it's all about timing and fate.

Guan Yuechu sighed. After all, the first two rounds of Tian Ji's horse racing plan were already game over, so there was no hope for the rest. And his round—

Guan Yuechu jokingly remarked that the match was 99.9% over for him; he didn't say 100% out of respect for himself, even though that miracle was highly unlikely.

Guan Yuechu sighed again, his chest heaving violently. He felt he was "almost" entering a state of enlightenment. So be it—

I'm not saying we'll win, we'll just see if we can get a game, or even just one point if we can't.

Kanzuki felt his expectations were already quite low, but looking at Hyotei's record since the regional tournaments, it seemed that no opponent had ever managed to take a single point from them.

Therefore, his next goal is to get a point from the national-level Mori-kun.

To be honest, although Guan Yuechu is very reluctant to admit it, this is really a bit risky.

The moment this thought crossed his mind, a tremendous sense of absurdity and sorrow welled up inside him. His mouth inexplicably tasted bitter. As the minister of St. Rudolph, as a strongman (in his own opinion) who used data tennis as his weapon, his ultimate goal in the singles match of the semifinals of the Grand Prix was no longer to win, or even to win a game, but simply to fight with all his might—to get a point?!