Love Tennis and Yumiko Miura

"Then why don't you take Yumiko's racket? Won't it be inappropriate and cause mistakes?"

"Do you know what it means to study in the United States? There's a saying that goes, 'A good calligrapher doesn't choose his pen.'"

"...Okay, I know you are good." Liu Mei said speechlessly.

"So Yumiko, could you give me your blessing? It's your racket after all."

"What blessing do you want?" Yumiko asked in confusion.

"Stretch out your hand." Zhixian said.

So Yumiko stretched out her hand, Zhixian handed her the racket, and Yumiko subconsciously held it.

Then Zhixian wrapped his hands around Youmiko's hands.

"Blow a breath." Zhixian said again.

"Huh." Yumiko did as she was told subconsciously once again.

Then Zhixian took the racket.

"Then I'll be leaving, Liumei—" Zhixian stretched out a fist towards Liumei.

Liu Mei understood and stretched out her little fist to touch Zhixian's big fist.

"Come on, Master!"

"Don't worry, nothing will go wrong with the blessing of the two beauties." Zhixian then walked towards the tennis court with his racket.

Then, during the racket rotation, Zhixian didn't use his own racket, but used the opponent's racket. Not only that, he guessed the right and wrong sides correctly, and chose half court instead of serving.

What confidence! The guest referee at Seaside Comprehensive High School's advisor thought. Unlike the Sobu tennis club advisor, who didn't understand tennis, he did understand it.

Haibin's coach knew very well that no matter whether Zhixian chose half-court or serve, his players would never be able to beat him. He only hoped that his players could learn as much as possible through this game. After all, the opportunity to compete with national-level players was too rare.

The team from Seaside Comprehensive High School fielded the most promising freshman, and he hoped that this match against national-level players would help their future ace grow.

At this point both sides are in position and the game begins.

105. Resurrection! Platinum Combination! (Part 2)

Faced with an opponent of Zhixian's caliber, the freshman from Haibin Comprehensive High School was on high alert, even more serious than when he faced the final exams.

Final exams were held every semester, and if you failed, you could retake them, but the opportunity to face a national-level competitor was something you'd never get again. He knew full well that his advisor and department head had secured this opportunity for him, and he treasured the chance to compete with Zhixian.

The first game was his serve game. Out of respect for Zhixian, he decided to use his strongest serve at the beginning.

He took a deep breath, looked intently at Zhixian who seemed particularly relaxed at the diagonal position, and raised his hand to swing the racket.

......

Zhixian couldn't help but feel disappointed the moment he received the serve. He thought it would be an interesting serve, but it turned out to be just a simple fast serve.

Although it was a fast serve, it was only fast enough to be considered fast in the regional qualifiers.

Zhixian hit back casually. He thought that if the other party couldn't come up with something that would impress him, he wouldn't be worthy of playing this kind of "pillar development" game at Haibin Comprehensive High School.

It's fair to say that Chixian has high standards, so it's understandable that he doesn't appreciate the promising newcomers at Seaside Comprehensive High School. After all, he often compares the Sobu tennis club to a snotty kid on the street holding a toy wooden sword, hoping to challenge the swordsman Miyamoto Musashi to a swordfight. While this comparison is a bit exaggerated, Seaside Comprehensive High School is just another kid in the Sobu neighborhood. No matter how strong a kid is, he's still just a kid.

After two games, Zhixian was leading 2:0. He basically understood the opponent's level. At best, he was at a level that could enter the top 16 in the county competition. It was probably enough to be the first or second singles player in the cannon fodder team of the county competition.

So Zhixian, who didn't intend to waste time, stopped letting up and immediately forced the opponent to be overwhelmed and make frequent mistakes as soon as the field came out.

In just a few minutes, Zhixian won four games in a row as easily as cutting melons and vegetables, and directly shut out his opponent with a score of 6:0.

After shaking hands with the other party, Zhixian went straight off the stage and returned to where Youmiko and Rumi were.

"This is too boring!" After Zhixian returned, Liumei pouted and complained to him. She felt that the intensity was not as high as when the coach warmed up with Zhixian in the club.

"Be content, little girl. This is a school that couldn't even win the championship in the regional qualifiers. What do you expect from it? Do you think you are playing a competition with Liujiao?" Zhixian said helplessly.

Rokkaku, a traditional tennis powerhouse in Chiba, is Chiba Prefecture's stable number one seed in team competitions. It is also the school with the most championships in various individual events at the county level.

However, there is only one school like Rokkaku in the whole Chiba Prefecture. Naturally, they will not play practice games with schools like Sobu or Kaihin Comprehensive High School. Most of their practice game opponents are schools from Tokyo or Kanagawa that have advanced to the Kanto Tournament.

Zhixian had actually considered the possibility of attending junior high school in the US. His advice was that if she showed significant improvement in tennis, she could choose Rokkaku as her junior high or even high school destination. Some of her friends in the club were also aiming for Rokkaku, and since it wasn't a junior high school, the entrance exam wouldn't be difficult.

However, these are just ideas. The specific school she wants to apply for still needs to be discussed with her parents in the United States. His opinion is just for reference. After all, she may not follow his path if she studies in the United States.

"Will your match with Yumiko also end like this?"

"You'll know when you see it." Zhixian shrugged and returned the sign to Youmeiko.

Let's use this racket to play the game later, Yumiko made the decision silently.

The women's doubles match has begun on the court.

----split line----

After several matches that seemed boring to the audience, it was finally the turn of the last mixed doubles match between Zhixian and Youmiko.

During a previous men's singles match, Zhixian and Youmiko warmed up and had a preliminary discussion on the tactics on the court.

They had already rehearsed the sign language codes long before the competition.

"Finally, we're going to perform together again." Youmiko sighed. This past year or so was neither long nor short.

"Let's put aside the past achievements and start over." Zhixian said.

"That's right." Youmiko nodded. The Platinum Group at this moment was no longer the Platinum Group that was once favored by everyone. The Platinum Group now was like a toddler.

"Well, come on." Zhixian stretched out his fist towards Youmiko just like he had just bumped fists with Rumi.

Youmeko smiled, clenched her fist, and bumped it with Zhixian's.

"Don't be careless!" Zhixian said finally.

......

When the two of them came onto the court, the tennis court, which was originally a little noisy, suddenly became hot. The Sobu students who were at home finally remembered that they were at home, and they began to cheer for Chishin and Yumiko who were coming on the court.

The noise was so loud that it actually scared the people at Haibin Comprehensive High School.

The mixed doubles pairing at Seaside Comprehensive High School wasn't a temporary pairing, but a permanent one. They'd heard of the "Platinum Combination," a dominant force in junior high school tennis, but they hadn't expected the Platinum Combination's first match after their comeback to be against them.

Although the opponent hadn't competed in over a year, the crowd's commotion had actually made them nervous. Unlike Yumiko, who remained calm and even waved to the crowd outside.

"Then both sides decide on the half-court and serve," said the referee.

"Youmiko, I leave it to you." Zhixian patted his partner's shoulder - in the past competitions between the two of them, it was always Youmiko who guessed the heads and tails.

"Which?"

"ROUGH." (reverse)

As expected, Yumiko's usual good luck led her to guess the right direction.

"Let's choose to serve." Youmeizi said.

So Haibin Comprehensive High School had to choose half court.

In the platinum combination's serving game, Chixian served and Yumiko was in front of the net. The two stood near the center line and formed an Australian formation.

Zhixian served the ball, and when the opponent returned the ball, the two began to move in opposite directions.

The boy was a little confused when he encountered the Australian formation for the first time, so he had to ignore the opponent's movement and hit the ball directly to the opposite half of the court.

This ball was still returned by Zhixian, because the serve was diagonal and the return was a straight ball, so his moving direction was just right to receive this ball.

The left-handed serve hands the racket to the right hand during the movement, and hits the ball diagonally with the forehand position.

Yumiko immediately moved in the opposite direction after Zhixian counterattacked, while Zhixian moved behind her in the opposite direction of her movement.

The girl from Haibin hit a short backhand ball. As if Yumiko had predicted the trajectory of the ball, she made a small and flexible volley before the ball hit the ground, putting the ball in a position where the two could not save it.

15:0

106. Resurrection! Platinum Combination! (Part 3) [Blade Update]

The Platinum duo who scored celebrated by high-fiving.

The opponent was indeed confused by the constant movement of the two, so the balls they hit were quite standard and all within the predictable range - all this was decided at the moment Zhixian served the ball. The boy who received the serve had only two return routes: a straight ball and a diagonal ball. The former would naturally be made up by Zhixian, while the latter would be directly intercepted by Youmiko who was in front of the net.

"Their movement is in the opposite direction, so it's better to consider this in advance." The two players from Haibin were not shaken by the loss of the first goal. They took this opportunity to discuss countermeasures.

For the second ball, Zhixian serves.

The boy swung his racket back, and this time he still hit a straight ball, which means that this ball was a replica of the previous one.

Sure enough, it was Zhixian who received the ball again and hit it diagonally.

Then all I have to do next is hit the ball towards the place where Yumiko left. The girl thought so and swung the racket, this time changing the direction to the opposite of the previous ball.

The girl's expected landing point would be a little further forward than Zhixian's upcoming position. In her opinion, Zhixian would not be able to reach a position near the front court in time.

But after the ball flew over the net, its trajectory subtly changed, and it flew much farther than the girl expected.

That is to say, Zhixian had already reached the position in advance due to the extra distance, and he held the racket with his left hand and made a zero-style slice action.

The tennis ball flew over the net and landed near the boy. After the boy swung his racket subconsciously, he realized that he had swung in vain - the ball did not bounce at all, but rolled directly towards the net.

"...Zero, Zero-style slice." The boy swallowed his saliva. This was the first time he faced Zero-style slice in person.

30:0

In this shot, Yumiko didn't touch the ball at all, so due to the influence of the field, the ball, which should have landed earlier, was attracted by Zhixian and moved a little further, so Zhixian hit a zero-type slice.

Then Zhixian's third serve followed the same pattern, and Yumiko in front of the net hit a high-pressure ball directly to score.

Immediately after the fourth ball, the boy who was on high alert hit the net when returning the ball, resulting in a direct loss of points.

At this time, he noticed that the opponent Zhixian changed the hand holding the racket when serving, but he still received the serve as he did in the previous three balls, so it was normal to lose points.

"It's okay. It's normal for them to take the initiative in their serve game." The girl comforted her partner. "Next is your serve game. They won't move like that."

"Well, I see."

So the second game began, and the boy from Haibin served.

He had hoped that the situation on his serve would improve, but he didn't expect that his opponent would still take the initiative in his serve.

His serve was easily returned by Zhixian, and Yumiko at the net gave them no chance, pressing fiercely. Whether it was the baseline volleys or the volleys at the net, they seemed passive, completely unimaginative of their own serving game. The ball's trajectory seemed controlled by their opponent, and they were unable to break through that unknown constraint. When they opted for short balls or volleys at the net, Yumiko was even more formidable at the net, and they were no match for her in a volleying contest. Several close-quarters battles at the net ended in Yumiko's victory.

Miura's net skills are simply too strong! The girl was in a state of distress. She was practically defenseless at the net, as Yumiko usually moved forward, forcing her to position herself forward as well. Otherwise, with both of them mid-court and backcourt, Yumiko would be completely in the net.

Yumiko herself was puzzled. She felt her interceptions at the net were too easy, her opponent offering little resistance. It was like a close-quarters fight, one wielding a dagger and the other a spear—Yumiko was the latter. Her spear thrust forward made the opponent's dagger seem to slip out of her hand.

In this way, the platinum combination won the second game.

The third game was Yumiko's serve, so it was Chih-hsuan's turn to come to the net.

Seeing this, the girl breathed a sigh of relief. She knew Zhixian was a baseline player, but he also had to appear at the net during his partner's serve.

The girl swung her racket to serve, and Yumiko swung her racket to return the ball.

The boy on the other side of the net took a few steps back and lobbed the ball over Zhixian and directly into the backcourt.

Yumiko received the ball and returned it with a slower slice.

This ball was very easy to return, after all, Yumiko couldn't hit a slice like the Zero-style slice.

But her goal was not to score points. She only played the slice to slow down the ball and give Zhixian room to play in front of the net.

After a back-and-forth, the ball came in front of Zhixian. He caught the ball lightly with his racket. His technique was so gentle that it didn't look like a clean and neat interception at all.

After the ball came into contact with the racket, it flew out at a very low and slow speed. Then, when it touched the upper edge of the net, it actually moved to one side along the net, and then it fell to the seaside half of the court.

Walking a tightrope.

"..." The two people on the seaside looked at each other and saw deep helplessness in each other's eyes.

How to fight this... They are not even on the same level. The two are just like NPCs in the training camp who are used by players to test their skills and damage and are just standing there stupidly.

A national-level player's weakness at the net is basically equivalent to a top student with full marks only scoring 95 points in a subject. It is relatively weak.

3:0, halftime break.

"It went much more smoothly than expected." Youmeizi said as she took the water handed to her by Zhixian.

"The opponent is still not strong enough." Zhixian sat next to Youmeiko, unscrewed the bottle cap and took a sip of water.

"As far as a first battle goes, it was quite successful, wasn't it?"

"Keeping up this momentum, there will be no problem in successfully entering the Kanto Tournament."

"This one feels a little subtle, a little too easy."

"Actually, it's because your condition isn't as bad as you think."