Love Tennis and Yumiko Miura

However, after crossing the net...

The swallow flashes back, the phoenix flashes back.

Both methods exploit the opponent's topspin, accelerating the ball in the same direction. This is a slice shot that doubles the spin, causing the ball to follow the ground after landing. The stronger the topspin, the more the ball spins in the opposite direction. The difference is that the latter uses a greater force to counter the spin, increasing the impact and making it more difficult for the opponent to hit the ball.

Maria Sara: ...Can you please ban the nesting dolls?! If I increase the spin, I'll be hit back by the flash, and if I don't, I'll be intercepted by the Hundred Arms Titan's protection. Isn't it too difficult for me?

You guys are all so dirty when it comes to tactics! Maria Sara now resonated with Yumiko's complaints about Zhixian.

This nesting doll-like skill combination is truly worthy of this heart-to-heart master and apprentice, Maria Sara thought to herself. As a mixed-blood, she had also had contact with Zhixian.

However, this is not the first time she has seen the combination of Yan Hui Shan and Guardian of the Hundred-Armed Giant. From now on, she just needs to hit less topspin to effectively stop Yan Hui Shan.

However, in the next forehand return, Maria Sala's ball hit the net.

Maria Sara looked at her hand in disbelief. She had just returned the ball and suddenly lost all her strength, as if she had lost consciousness. She didn't know what had happened, but Liumei was definitely involved. She had definitely done something.

Seeing Maria Sala's return ball hit the net, Liu Mei smiled slightly, "temporarily paralyzed", and it was successful.

The so-called temporary paralysis is that alternating topspin and backspin balls will cause the receiver's arm muscles to fall into a state of relaxation and contraction, so the arm will become paralyzed.

(Author's voiceover: I don't know if this explanation makes sense. Anyway, everyone understands Prince of Tennis, so don't pay attention to these details.)

This temporary paralysis was invented by Liumei herself, and this was her first time using it in a competition - it must be said that from this perspective, Maria Sara was like her experimental guinea pig, and she was always trying new tricks on her.

"What did you do, Tsurumi?" Maria Sara asked in Neon when they exchanged places.

"It's up to your imagination." Liu Mei responded in English.

Maria Sara is very Chitanda now, but "Oreki" over there has an air of "I'm very mysterious but I just won't say it", just like a mysterious charlatan who doesn't speak human language.

Extra: Tsurumi Rumi's Personal Opinion (Part 4)

In the end, Liu Mei defeated Maria Sara with a score of 6:2, 6:3, and a big score of 2:0, winning the women's singles championship of the Miami Masters for the first time, and 100 million US dollars was successfully deposited into her account.

"Miss Sarah, do you have anything to say to Miss Tsurumi?"

"It's a pity that I couldn't beat her this time, but I will keep working hard and I will beat her eventually."

"So, Ms. Tsurumi, do you have anything to say to Ms. Sarah?"

"Well... please do your best?" Liu Mei tilted her head and said with a kind face.

Maria Sara: ...

"Ah! And!" Liu Mei was about to add, "It's fun playing ball with you."

Maria Sara: ...

"Hahaha, you two really are destined to meet. Let's look forward to your next showdown."

----split line----

"Wow! Zhixian, look! Liumei won!" Youyouko pulled Zhixian's arm excitedly, and looked even happier than if she had won the championship herself.

"Yes, yes, I saw it." Zhixian said helplessly.

"Isn't your tone a bit too perfunctory?" Youmiko said dissatisfiedly.

"Isn't it normal for a Wimbledon champion to win the Miami Masters? And the opponent is Maria Sala, the perennial runner-up."

"...Maria Sara is also very strong."

Incidentally, Yumiko was eliminated by Maria Sara several times.

"She couldn't backhand, and was chased by the two-sword style. She lost when the final list was announced."

"She really has never beaten Liu Mei." Youmiko used her mobile phone to search for the past match records between Liu Mei and Maria Sara. The search results showed that Liu Mei was far ahead with a perfect record.

"This is a dead end, no question about it." Zhixian shrugged helplessly, "Unless she is willing to change her current fighting style that she relies on for survival."

"You won't change your style of play, right? After all, apart from being unable to beat Liumei, you can still beat the others, right? After all, she's one of the top seeded players."

"So there won't be any major changes. At most, we'll make some minor adjustments to address her backhand weaknesses, playing to her strengths and mitigating her weaknesses." Zhixian said, "If I were her coach, I wouldn't ask her to change her playing style just because she can't beat a certain player. For a player with an established playing style, doing so would do more harm than good."

"That's true. There are so many competitions and so many contestants. She can't possibly run into Rumi every time." Yumiko stopped dwelling on it and changed the subject. "So Rumi got $100 million. Looks like she can have a good meal in Madrid."

"I hope that I can make a breakthrough at the French Open this year."

"Hahaha, people on the Internet say that you held back when you were teaching the Chinese student in the United States how to play tennis. You didn't teach her how to play on clay." Yumiko couldn't help laughing when she mentioned this.

"......This isn't me hiding anything. It's obviously because she hasn't played enough clay court matches. Those of us who focus on spin control should be able to do well on clay courts. But she hasn't even made it to the quarterfinals of the French Open after several attempts." Zhixian shook his head as he spoke.

"We can't all be like you, skipping the Miami Masters and going crazy for clay court tournaments."

The two are currently in Europe preparing for the Monte Carlo Masters, as well as the subsequent clay court tournaments in Barcelona, ​​Rome and Madrid.

"It's a competition anyway, it doesn't matter where you play it." Zhixian turned off the live broadcast of the Miami Masters.

"The bonus is different," Yumiko retorted.

"It's not like I'm short of money. I'll send her a text message later. She should be very busy these past two days after winning the championship."

"I see."

----split line----

"Tsurumi, how come you won again?"

"I also want to know how I won again." Liu Mei smiled and tucked her hair behind her ears - when she was not playing a game, she would never tie her hair into a ponytail but let it hang loose.

"You're going too far!" Maria Sara's tone was full of resentment.

She is obviously a blonde girl from Britain, but her tone now sounds a bit like a Japanese girl.

"Look, you insist on asking me why I won, and I was the one who lost. What can I do?" Liumei spread his hands with an expression that said, "It's difficult for me too."

"...Two-sword style is amazing!"

"Sorry, two-sword style can really do whatever they want." Liu Mei put a piece of gum in her mouth, "Do you want some gum?"

“…” Maria Sara looked at the hand extended by Liu Mei, then looked at Liu Mei, “Yes!”

"Are you going back to Neon next?" Maria Sara asked.

"Go back and rest for a while, then set off for Madrid." Liu Mei said.

"That's perfect. I'm going back to Neon too. We can book tickets together."

"Okay, I can show you around Chiba."

"Are the Ju couple here?" Maria Sara asked again. She only knew the Japanese contestants, Liu Mei and Zhixian.

"The masters are in Europe. He will participate in the Monte Carlo race and later in Barcelona, ​​Rome and Madrid."

"Tachibana really loves playing on clay! I really don't like playing on clay."

"My idol is Federer. Federer's French Open record is not very satisfactory, so I pay special attention to clay court matches."

"Are you skipping the Miami Masters to compete on clay?"

"That's pretty much it."

"Then why are you so average on clay courts, Tsurumi?" Maria Sara said, changing the subject. "I'll let it go. Aren't you and Tachibana very similar? Logically, you should be good at it, right?"

"...Ms. Sarah, if you can speak, you can publish a book, but if you can't speak, it's best not to talk nonsense." Liu Mei's smile suddenly became unusually bright, so bright that Maria Sarah was a little scared.

"Emmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, are there any fun places in Chiba Prefecture?" Miss Sarah began to change the subject - quite awkwardly.

Maria Sara is of Japanese-British descent, born in Britain but raised in Japan. However, she had never been to Chiba Prefecture before, as her mother is from Osaka. Her activities were primarily in Kansai, and Kanto was limited to Tokyo. Other than that, she'd been to Hokkaido in the north and Okinawa in the south. Maria Sara hadn't been to Chiba or Kanagawa much.

"There is Disneyland." Liu Mei said. Although it is called Tokyo Disneyland, it is in Chiba Prefecture.

"Oh? I haven't been to Disneyland in Japan yet. We can go and have some fun!"

"Sure, I haven't been there for a long time." Liu Mei agreed happily.

"Then it's decided!" said Maria Sara.

Extra: Tsurumi Rumi's Personal Opinion (V)

On the plane, Liu Mei and Maria Sara sat side by side in the first class cabin.

"Tsurumi Tsurumi, do you sleep on the floor or in a closet when you live in your house? I saw that in Doraemon cartoons when I was a kid."

"...Most people sleep on beds now, and we have a bed in our guest room."

"Huh? No closet to sleep in?" Maria Sara's tone suddenly dropped, and her disappointment was evident in her words.

"My house is a bit Western-style now, but if you want to sleep on the floor, I can accompany you."

"Then let's sleep on the floor!" Maria Sala's brows lit up immediately, and her expression changed in an instant, faster than a tornado.

At this time, the flight attendant came over with a cart and asked the two what drinks they wanted.

"coffee."

"Orange juice."

Maria Sara ordered coffee, while Liu Mei ordered orange juice.

"Why drink orange juice?" Maria Sara asked curiously.

"Just, I want to drink some juice." Liu Mei said, then picked up the cup and took a sip. She recalled that Zhixian only drank juice most of the time, so she subconsciously asked for orange juice.

She now truly understands that athletes need to stay in shape, and her coach and parents often remind her not to consume too many calories when she eats and drinks.

Well, so she would occasionally sneak out alone to eat things she normally wouldn't dare to eat, and drink things she normally wouldn't dare to drink.

For example, ramen and cola.

Most of them were what Zhixian had taken her to eat before.

Liumei recalled carefully and realized that most of her bad habits were developed by Zhixian, either directly or indirectly - although she only thought so, Zhixian never admitted it.

Apart from anything else, the long-term process of bickering with Zhixian helped her develop excellent eloquence and the ability to use a sharp tongue to make people angry to death. Since Zhixian had dug so many traps for her, she naturally learned to dig traps for others with her words.

Yuigahama was probably the biggest victim—if Rumi was the funny man in a crosstalk show, then the girl with the bun hair was her most loyal supporting role. She would jump into any trap Rumi set, never letting her leave empty-handed.

To be honest, although Yumiko is not much stronger than Yuigahama, she rarely suffers losses because she has Zhixian by her side. Moreover, Yumiko, who is familiar enough with Zhixian's master-disciple relationship in the United States, probably understands their routines. She knows that silence is golden and self-preservation.

But Yuigahama is different. She is like a girl named Chitanda, with a curious look of a baby who never keeps any questions in her stomach, so she is often pranked by Rumei.

Her friends who were studying in the United States at Rokkaku were also tortured. When she was in the Rokkaku women's tennis club, she looked like a combination of a man named Fuji and a man named Qian. It was impossible to tell that she was a silent little girl who was ostracized by the group.

This is probably a rebound from the bottom. Zhixian once commented on studying in the United States, saying that she is essentially like this. She became silent because of the influence of the environment. Once she leaves that environment, it is as if her feet are off the ground, the virus is shut down, and nothing can go up. The smart IQ takes over again.

"Tsurumi." Maria Sara's voice brought Rumi back to reality.

"What's wrong Sarah?"

"You said we've known each other for a long time, right?"

"That's right." Liu Mei thought about it and realized that it had indeed been several years.

"Then we should still call each other by our last names," Maria Sara said with a hint of dissatisfaction. She felt that since she and Liu Mei had known each other for so long, their relationship as a rival must have been close. "Whether in Japan or Britain, everyone calls me Maria."

"So...Maria?"

"Okay, stay in the United States~" Maria Sara smiled with satisfaction.

Liumei thought about it carefully and realized that Maria Sara was indeed someone she was familiar with in the tennis world, and could be considered a good friend. It was not easy for Asian players like her to integrate into the circles of European and American players, after all, there were cultural differences.

Because of the presence of people like Chixian Yumiko, they naturally gather together during matches. She's only officially debuted a few years ago, so she's only met a few people once. Aside from Maria Sara, whom she's repeatedly defeated, she hasn't encountered many others much. Unlike someone like Chixian, who's been competing for years, she often meets players and becomes familiar with them over time.

...Zhixian really played a crucial role in her life! Liumei sighed.

"Rumei, what are you thinking about? Why are you so happy?"

"I thought of Zhixian. I feel that without him, I wouldn't be who I am today." Liumei did not hide anything and answered truthfully.

"Ju? I only know that he's your basketball teacher. Everyone says you two have similar playing styles, but I think you're better than him."

"Huh? How am I better than him?" Liu Mei asked curiously.

"I've seen his games, you're more cunning than him," Maria Sala said seriously.

"......I am more cunning than him?! Are you kidding me?" The American student even spoke English fluently.

Excuse me? Is she more cunning than Zhixian? When it comes to cunning, Zhixian is the master, and Tsurumi Rumi can't even come close to him.

"Yes, in most of his mixed doubles matches it was his wife who scored, and he was responsible for supporting her."

"...How many times have you seen his singles matches?"

"French Open final." Maria Sala said without hesitation.

"......" Liu Mei was silent. The year Zhixian won his second French Open title, she was eliminated in the first round.