*Thud. Thud. Thud.*
On the court, Shishido continuously bounced the tennis ball.
At this moment, his expression was grim. Losing two consecutive points meant things were not going according to his original plan.
Moreover, every shot from his opponent landed in the most uncomfortable positions for him, making it impossible for him to play at even half his usual strength.
"So... you were just collecting data on me earlier?" Shishido thought, his gaze fixed on Ishikawa. He felt both wary and frustrated. He had thought he had the upper hand, but it turned out he was just deluding himself. For someone as proud as Shishido, this was hard to accept.
"If that's the case..." Shishido's eyes flashed with determination. "Then I'll show you my true tennis, Ishikawa Shin!"
*Thwack!*
He served the ball.
Then, once again, he sprinted toward the net.
"Another serve-and-volley?"
"Is Shishido (senpai) giving up?"
"Or is he just out of options?"
The crowd's eyes were fixed on Shishido as he dashed forward, while the regulars, like Oshitari, focused on the ball in flight.
"This serve... it's different!" Ootori exclaimed in surprise. "It's a topspin serve? Shishido-senpai is using a spin serve?"
"Finally going all out, huh?" Atobe and Oshitari watched Shishido's rapid movement and nodded slightly.
While many were captivated by the net-rushing aspect of the serve-and-volley, they often overlooked the importance of the serve itself. Whether it was a flat serve or a spin serve, it required immense power and spin to pin the opponent to the baseline, buying time to approach the net.
Clearly, Shishido had been holding back earlier, thinking that simply rushing the net would be enough to defeat his opponent. But now, forced to reveal his true skills, it was evident that he now saw Ishikawa as a peer.
*Thwack!*
On the other side, Ishikawa returned the ball with a backhand.
The reduced power of the return showed that Shishido's serve was indeed formidable.
Meanwhile, Shishido had already closed in on the net. Without hesitation, he swung his racket, intercepting the ball before it could bounce.
"Here it comes!" Mukahi called out. "It's Shishido's [Super Volley]!"
*Crack!*
The ball shot straight toward the sideline.
"Yes!" Shishido instinctively clenched his fist, ready to celebrate.
*Thud!*
However, when the ball landed, the umpire frowned, scrutinized the mark, and then announced, "Out! Deuce (40-40)!"
"What?!" Shishido blurted out in disbelief.
He even thought the umpire had made a mistake and stood on his tiptoes to check the mark on the sideline.
"H-how is this possible..." His face turned pale when he saw the white mark clearly outside the singles boundary.
"That ball went out?" Mukahi, Ootori, and the others were too stunned to speak.
In their eyes, someone of Shishido's skill level should never have made such a mistake on a shot like that.
"Was he too nervous?" Taki wondered aloud, shocked that Shishido could be so tense in a match against a first-year.
"No," Atobe interjected, shaking his head. "It's not that Shishido was nervous. He was tricked by Ishikawa."
"Tricked?" The others looked at him, confused.
Atobe glanced at Oshitari, who nodded and explained, "When Ishikawa returned the ball, he applied spin in the opposite direction of Shishido's serve. This neutralized the spin from the serve and added outward rotation, causing Shishido's volley to go out."
"But... that doesn't make sense!" Ootori protested. "How could he have known which direction Shishido-senpai would hit the ball? Unless he...!" He gasped, realizing the implication.
Mukahi, Taki, and the others also caught on, their faces filled with astonishment.
"Exactly," Oshitari confirmed. "He predicted Shishido's return direction in advance. As I said earlier, Ishikawa has already figured out Shishido's data."
By now, even Oshitari's gaze toward Ishikawa had grown complicated.
After all, Shishido was a regular at Hyotei. While not a top player nationally, he was still well-known in the tennis world. Yet, in such a short time, Ishikawa had completely dissected his game.
This made Oshitari start thinking about how he would handle his own match against Ishikawa tomorrow.
"Again!" Contrary to Oshitari's analysis, Shishido refused to believe he had been figured out. He growled and launched another attack.
*Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!*
However, after just three exchanges, Ishikawa exploited a gap in Shishido's defense, forcing him to lob the ball. Ishikawa seized the opportunity with a decisive smash, taking the lead.
By this point, even the slowest observers could see that Ishikawa had taken control of the match.
Sure enough, in the next point, Shishido was once again thrown off by Ishikawa's shot, hitting the net and losing his service game.
"It's over," Hiyoshi muttered from the sidelines, separated from the regulars. A cold smile played on his lips as he recalled his own defeat the previous day.
As expected, Ishikawa would likely finish the match with four consecutive high-speed serves, securing the win.
Shishido hung his head, fully aware that losing his service game meant he stood no chance against Ishikawa, whose serve speed rivaled Ootori's.
After all, Ootori's "Heavy Artillery Serve" wasn't always consistent, and he often double-faulted. In contrast, Ishikawa's first-serve success rate remained a perfect 100%.
*Thwack!*
However, to everyone's surprise, Ishikawa's serve this time was a simple flat serve.
While fast, it was nowhere near the level of the serves from the previous day, where the ball's trajectory was almost invisible.
"This guy!!!" Both Shishido and Hiyoshi looked furious.
Shishido felt that Ishikawa was looking down on him, while Hiyoshi believed Ishikawa had deliberately targeted him the day before.
"Wait!!"
But the next moment, when they saw the stance Ishikawa took on the other side of the court, their expressions turned to shock.
"That's..."
On the other side, the regulars also stared in disbelief.
Even Atobe and Oshitari couldn't hide their astonishment.
"Is that... Hiyoshi's Martial Arts Tennis?!"
(End of Chapter)