Characters In Order of Appearance[]
- Eiichiro Maruo
- Takuya Miyagawa
- Kojirou Kageyama
- Himeko Sasaki
- Ryuhei Aoi
- Yukichi Fukazawa
- Ryou Oobayashi
- Mika Takasaki
Summary[]
While initially surprised at Miyagawa's drive volley, Eiichiro has managed to create countermeasures to it. Together with his evolved skills and the pressure of being able to play even at Miyagawa's strongest suit, Eiichiro has gained a break. This leads to Miyagawa's loss of confidence but Oobayashi gives him support. While he has managed to change his pace and improves his play, Eiichiro still manages to gain another break and wins the match.
Synopsis[]
While the spectators are surprised on Miyagawa's drive volley, Eiichiro has realized the advantage of drive volley to Miyagawa. He also feels fortunate that he has found it early as he can think of countermeasures for it. Later, Yukichi appears to Coach Aoi and others to inform them that he is qualified now to Kanto Junior Tennis Tournament. He also learns that Eiichiro has easily managed to keep his service game.
During Miyagawa's service game, Eiichiro is deducing on how to prevent Miyagawa from using his drive volley. While he assumes that Miyagawa's serves improved the least, he has to be careful on Miyagawa's wider range during attacks. He also has to keep his own service game so that he can put more focus on breaking Miyagawa's service game.
Oobayashi is surprised on how extraordinary Eiichiro's improvement in his tennis style, especially when Eiichiro has hit two consecutive service ace in order to keep his service game. After the 3rd game, Miyagawa himself also wonders how Eiichiro's style evolved in a short period of time while during the same period, he only masters single-handed strokes and drive volleys. Yukichi notices that Miyagawa is drinking his kobu tea, which is usually the sign that he is trying to focus or to switch gears. Coach Aoi thinks that it is the right time to drink it as the fourth game will be the deciding factor for this match.
In the fourth game, Eiichiro reads Miyagawa's serves using his last year's data. He also prevents Miyagawa from using his drive volleys by aiming the ball at his feet. While Miyagawa wins the next point, Eiichiro has managed to win another point, which leads to Eiichiro's break point. The next point leads to Eiichiro and Miyagawa entering a volley battle and leads to a stalemate. As Eiichiro tries to hit Miyagawa's flat shot, the referee announces that Miyagawa's last shot is an out, leading to Eiichiro breaking Miyagawa's service game.
Coach Aoi thinks that Miyagawa's miss is due to his fear of getting scored while playing his strongest suit. Eiichiro feels that while he managed to get a break, he does not have the time to relax yet. However, Miyagawa has been doing careless mistakes because he is shaken up due to break and losing his confidence on the his future as a pro. As he is about to give up, Oobayashi calls him out to encourage him and gives him support.
With Miyagawa's regained confidence, Miyagawa's shots improve compared to previous games, thus, Eiichiro cannot rely to Miyagawa's misses now. While Miyagawa commits high risk plays, he has not commit a mistake as he is relying to his instincts. However, inspite of his improved play, he still has to rely on his strokes as he cannot read Eiichiro's patterns. In the end, Eiichiro has successfully kept his service game.
During their break, Eiichiro has the high chance to win, either 1. he will gain another break or 2. he will keep his service game in case (1) fails. As he remembers Coach Aoi's advice before, he starts to wonder how he is supposed to enjoy such match with all the pressure he is experiencing. On the following game, Eiichiro gets the match point first. With Miyagawa's miss on Eiichiro's attack, Eiichiro gains another break and wins the match.
The results causes a commotion as Eiichiro has defeated the third seed of the tournament. Eiichiro is very happy as he won the match using his own skills. Miyagawa acknowledges the improvement of Eiichiro's tennis style and asks if Eiichiro aims to become a pro. After Eiichiro gives his affirmation, Miyagawa has realized his difference with Eiichiro. When Miyagawa leaves the court, he is approached by Oobayashi and there, he cries for his loss.
Manga & Anime Differences[]
- The scenes only happened in the manga:
- Some of the comments of the spectators especially those who were familiar with the match between Eiichiro and Miyagawa in the previous Kanagawa Junior Tennis Circuit
- Araya being present during the latter part of the match.
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