Spasms?
Damn, now they know.
No way! A spasm in Momos leg?
Oh, no
Thats not good. He cant play a decent match with that leg.
Ahh! What a ruthless return!
Ive got to admire you, Momoshiro!
Fine. Come and get me, Momoshiro!
I am
It couldnt be
I am
strong!
He jumps with his forward leg which bears his weight,
and forcefully drives the ball an advanced backhand technique
The Jackknife!
This isnt a technique for a middle school student!
What an incredibly fast ball!
No matter how good his visual acuity is,
he cant possibly see that shot!
No I can see it!
Yes. There it is!
For him to be able to hit this shot with spasms in one leg
Ill be hitting with all my might too
Momoshiro!
It knocked the racket out of his hand!
That was heavy It felt like I was hitting a lead ball.
To think that there is a middle school student who can hit that shot
That was a jackknife.
Jackknife?!
Hes awfully strong, that Momoshiro.
So he finally used it.
The jackknife uses the bodys center of gravity
as an axis for a pendulum motion.
As he places his weight on his front leg,
the momentum of the jump powers a strong drive.
Its a technique often employed by the top pros on clay courts.
Furthermore, by maintaining contact with the ball on the follow-through,
Momo was able to drive the ball with a heavy spin.
And hes been hiding that super stroke Right on!
He sure is something else.
Momoshiro is amazing, being able to do that with an injured leg.
Momo! Youre so cool!
So thats Momos the Momo-style Jackknife!
It seems you perfected that on the fly, Momoshiro.
Hes pretty good.
Amazing!
There it is!
Jackknife!
All right, Momo! Yes! Momo!
Isnt he having spasms in his left leg?
Is he invincible?
If I dont nail him with this serve, Im going to be in trouble
There it is! The Tiger Shot!
Youre underestimating me!
Oh, I guess it went in. Lucky me!
Th-That guy is amazing!
Hes beating Sengoku at his own game.
He did it!
Looks like luck has turned to Momos side.
But that spasm in his leg must be quite bad by now.
I wonder if hes okay?
If it gets really bad, that old nag would stop the match.
Hes almost at his limit
YAMABUKI 6 5 5 SEIGAKU 3 7 6
Here it is! Here it is! Match point!
Momo, go for it!
Go for it!
My pride as a junior all-star player wont let you defeat me so easily!
Its the Tiger Shot!
He can still hit that serve?!
Hang in there, right leg of mine!
He jumped!
Is he planning to return the Tiger Shot with a Jackknife?
I can return that shot!
A two-handed forehand?
Momo! Momo!
He did it! He did it!
Momo!
He somehow managed to win.
He sure had us on pins and needles.
Ive never seen anyone like that
Even with spasms in one leg, he just kept getting stronger.
Game and match to Seigakus Momoshiro!
7 games to 5!
With this, Seigaku has 2 wins.
Just one more win and theyll win the Metropolitan Tournament!
And the next match up is
Banji, I lost the game. Sorry!
Facing off with him prior to the Kanto Matches
was indeed a lucky break.
Yup. He sure is strong.
Momo, are you all right?
Yeah, Im fine. Thanks for cheering me on.
Lucky Sengoku
You most certainly are our schools ace player.
However
the opponent was an underclassman.
And with a leg spasm to boot
I see, a leg spasm, huh?
I-I said I was sorry, Banji!
My goodness, you were able to move in this condition?
Youre amazing, Momo!
That was a most important victory!
Were at 2 wins 1 loss. One more win and
Well win the Metropolitan Tournament.
So, youre getting the good part again?
We will be conducting court maintenance.
The match will commence shortly.
Oh boy. Just when we were getting into it
What a bummer.
I wonder what his opponent Akutsu is like.
Are you worried?
Huh? Oh, Miss Shiba
Hell be fine. Ryoma can handle it.
Yes
So, Echizens opponent is that Akutsu, huh?
Kachiro, isnt he that dangerous guy?
Uh, yeah.
Youre on the tennis team, right?
Isnt there a seventh grader regular named
Echigoya or something like that?
Bring him out, this Echigoya.
Ohh!
Next, should I aim for your face?
Ryoma, p-please be careful!
Well, if anything happens, well come to your rescue.
Ive always wanted to have a rumble.
Kikumaru!
Uhhjust joking.
Ryoma, where are you going?
Im a bit thirsty
Oh, if thats the case, Ive got some recovery-type,
special golden power remix Inui juice here.
No, thanks.
Dont rush the net?
Yeah, if you get too close to him,
who knows what hes capable of doing?
He might disguise it as playing rough and come after you.
Kawamura
How many years have you taken karate?
Huh? S-Six years
E-Echizen
Hey
Wait a minute Hey!
Arent you going to say hello to your son?
Neither one of us is into that stuff.
Does Ryoma know that Coach Banda was the one who gave you
your one and only loss, even though it was for the whole team?
Who knows, maybe hes heard it from someone else.
Butthe clouds sure are high today.
Huh?
The clouds sure are high
Jackknife!
Youre good!
Ah, Ryoma!
Ryoma!
Do your best!
If you win this one, youll win the Metropolitan Tournament!
If you win this,
Ill put a huge picture of you in next months edition!
As the president of the Ryoma fan club,
Ill do my utmost to cheer you on!
Okay.
Ryoma
Umplease be careful.
Seriously
All of you
Youve still got a ways to go.
Go! Go! Ryoma!
Fi - fi - fire!
Fi - Fi
Ryoma Fire!
Echizen, dont forget what I told you earlier.
Uh-huh.
Do your best, Echizen.
Ill be looking forward to a rumble, little guy!
Well, try not to hurt yourself. Take it easy.
Even if you lose this one, Tezukas got you covered on the next one.
Try to have some fun.
Yup.
Take it easy, even if he loses this one, huh?
Hes not one to take that advice.
I know.
Ryoma
Yikes! There he is. Thats Akutsu!
Akutsu, come forward.
Akutsu, you have to hurry!
Dont sweat it.
B-But
Hey Gramps, all I have to do is win this, right?
Yes.
I dont get much of a thrill from tennis.
A-Akutsu!
Coach, what did you mean by that all he has to do is win this?
You didnt mean
Dan
Y-Yes?
Take a good look at these two playing against each other.
This may prove to be a critical match, especially for you.
For me?
As promised, Ill play with you.
Okay, whatever.
Hey you! Stop actingconfrontational
B-Both players, take your places.
Whats with that crazy guy?
Its like hes trying to pick a fight from the start.
It looks like hes not going to let it be.
Geez! Such a bad attitude!
But he seems so vicious.
Ryoma
Its like déjà vu. A fated match, wouldnt you say?
Its not fate or anything.
Nanjiro is Nanjiro, Ryoma is Ryoma.
To each his own tennis.
Akutsu is a bit of a temperamental player.
Ryoma needs to be careful.
Oh, please. Compared to when I was in middle school, hes tame.
Huh?
One set match. Service to Seigakus Echizen.
A service aproach?
What is Echizen doing?
I warned him not to rush the net!
Whats with that serve?
Thats not the serve I want!
Good one! Its a drop volley!
Dont you
underestimate me!
Drive A!
Akutsu!
A drive volley from that short distance thats intense.
He sure is his fathers son, wouldnt you say?
Well, it takes at least that much to get into the groove!
Oops, sorry, sorry
But
you shouldnt underrate tennis.
I am a ninth grader from Yamabuki Middle School, Akutsu.
Tennis is boring.
Are you telling me that Im a disgrace to tennis?
I think those who only talk the talk are sissies.
Hey brat, Ill play you as I promised.
If you have any problems, then beat me first.
Next on The Prince of Tennis: A Devil on the Court
Dont order me around.