Chapter 33: Entering the Trap, Ishikawa’s Martial Arts-Style Tennis

  Pa!Pa!Pa!

  On the tennis court—

  Shishido repeatedly hit the tennis ball.

  His expression wasn’t looking too good. The opponent had scored two points in a row, meaning things had gone off his original pn.

  What’s more—each of the opponent’s shots nded in the most uncomfortable spots for him, making it so he could only bring out half his strength at best.

  "So... you were just collecting data on me earlier?"

  Looking at Ishikawa, Shishido felt both wary and frustrated. He thought he had been suppressing his opponent—but was that all just wishful thinking on his part?

  For someone as proud as Shishido, that was a hard pill to swallow.

  "In that case…"

  A sharp glint fshed in his eyes. "Then let me show you the real tennis of Shishido Ryou!"

  Boom!

  Immediately after, he served. Then, he sprinted towards the net again.

  "Serve-and-volley again?"

  "What’s up with Shishido? Is he getting desperate?"

  "Or maybe… he’s just done overthinking?"

  Everyone's eyes were fixed on the charging Shishido. Meanwhile, Oshitari and the other regurs were watching the ball flying through the air.

  "This serve... it’s different!"

  Chotarou said in surprise, "It’s a topspin serve? Shishido-senpai is actually hitting spin serves now?"

  "So he's finally going all out?"

  Atobe and Oshitari nodded lightly as they watched Shishido charge the net.

  Others may not know, but they understood—this was the true style of a serve-and-volley pyer.

  Many people get distracted by the “rushing to the net” part, but forget the importance of the serve. Whether it’s a straight serve or a spinning one, it needs to be powerful and full of spin to lock the opponent at the baseline and buy time to get to the net.

  Clearly—

  Earlier, Shishido was still harboring hope that speed alone could overwhelm Ishikawa. But now, he was being forced to bring out his true skills.

  This also showed that he was finally treating Ishikawa as a peer—someone his own level.

  Boom!

  On the other side—

  Ishikawa returned the shot with a backhand. The ball’s rebound was weaker, showing that Shishido’s serve did pack a punch.

  At the same time—

  Shishido had already closed in on the net. Facing Ishikawa’s return, he didn’t hesitate to swing his racket, intercepting the ball before it bounced.

  "He’s coming!"

  Hiyoshi spoke up, "It's Shishido's Super Volley!"

  Smack!

  A crisp sound.

  The ball shot sharply toward the sideline.

  "Yes!"

  Feeling the shot had nded, Shishido instinctively clenched his fist in celebration.

  Boom!

  However—

  When the ball nded, the umpire furrowed his brows, took a long look, and finally decred: "Out! Deuce (40-40)!"

  "What?!"

  Shishido blurted out in disbelief. He even tiptoed to look over at the sideline himself.

  "Im... impossible…"

  But when he saw the white mark outside the singles line, his face instantly turned pale.

  "The ball… actually went out?"

  Chotarou, Hiyoshi, and others were too shocked to speak.

  With Shishido’s skills, making a mistake on that kind of shot seemed almost unthinkable.

  "Was he too nervous?"

  Oshitari also looked at Shishido in confusion. The idea that he’d be that nervous facing a first-year left him stunned.

  "No—" But just then, Atobe shook his head. "It’s not that Shishido was nervous. He was tricked by Ishikawa."

  Tricked?

  Everyone turned to him, confused.

  Atobe gnced at Oshitari, who nodded and expined, "When Ishikawa returned the serve, he added spin in the opposite direction of Shishido's serve. That canceled out the serve’s spin while strengthening the outward rotation, causing Shishido’s volley to go wide."

  "But... that doesn’t make sense!"

  Chotarou spoke up quickly, "How could he know in advance where Shishido-senpai would hit? Unless he… gasp!"

  As if realizing something, Chotarou gasped in shock. Hiyoshi and the others also caught on and looked equally stunned.

  "That’s right."

  Oshitari nodded. "He knew in advance where Shishido would hit—just like I said earlier, Ishikawa has already analyzed and seen through Shishido’s data."

  By the end, even Oshitari was looking at Ishikawa with a complicated expression.

  After all—

  Shishido is one of Hyotei’s regurs. He may not be top-tier on a national scale, but he's definitely a well-known pyer.

  And yet—in such a short time, he was already read like an open book. So much so that Oshitari was now thinking about how he should handle tomorrow's match against Ishikawa.

  "Again!"

  But unlike Oshitari, Shishido didn’t believe he’d been completely seen through. With a low shout, he unched another attack.

  Boom!Boom!Boom!

  But—barely three exchanges in, Ishikawa spotted a weak point and forced Shishido into a lob. Ishikawa smashed it down decisively, taking the lead.

  At this point—

  Even the slowest of observers could tell: the pace of the match was now fully in Ishikawa’s hands.

  Sure enough—in the next rally, Shishido was pressured again, and his shot hit the net. He lost his service game.

  "It’s over."

  Watching Shishido walk to the other side of the court with a gloomy expression, a smirk appeared on Hiyoshi’s face from the crowd—standing far from the other regurs.

  This was exactly how he lost yesterday.

  As expected—

  Ishikawa was about to serve four consecutive fastballs to seal the win.

  Shishido dropped his head. He knew full well—after losing his serve, facing Ishikawa’s serves, which were just as fast as Chotarou's, he had no chance.

  After all—

  Chotarou's powerful serves had a retively low success rate, and a fair chance of double-faulting.

  But Ishikawa’s first serve success rate was still… 100%.

  Boom!

  However—to everyone’s surprise, Ishikawa’s serve turned out to be a standard fast straight shot.

  It was fast—but nowhere near the impossible-to-track serves from yesterday.

  "This guy!"

  Both on and off the court—

  Shishido and Hiyoshi looked annoyed.

  Shishido thought Ishikawa was underestimating him. Hiyoshi thought Ishikawa was specifically targeting him yesterday!

  "Wait!"

  But in the next moment—when they saw Ishikawa’s posture on the court, both their faces lit up with shock.

  "That's…"

  Meanwhile—

  The Hyotei regurs were stunned by what they saw Ishikawa do. Even Oshitari and Atobe couldn't hide their astonishment.

  "That's Hiyoshi’s... Martial Arts-style tennis?!"

  (End of Chapter 33)