The Provisional Pro's Captain
"Aaaaaah!"
"You damned bastard!"
"Hitting someone is against the rules! He committed a foul!"
England Team supporters around the stadium were cheering excitedly.
In their view, Jamie Monroe had already won the match.
It's unbelievable that such a turn of events would occur at the last moment, especially since it was their own player who was attacked. It's simply intolerable.
They all transformed into upholders of the rules and guardians of order, criticizing Kiriya's illegal actions to the referee.
However, when they won the first game, the England Team players did indeed attack the Japan players, but they firmly stated that their players had not violated any rules, and that it was Tōno Atsukyō kept hitting dangerous tennis balls.
Russell was merely a victim of forced self-defense, and his retaliation only happened to hit Tōno Atsukyō's knee.
Compared to Tōno Atsukyō's various attacking methods, the Japan Team's focus on Russell's attack is completely making a mountain out of a molehill.
The Japan were speechless at these remarks, because it was Tōno Atsukyō's actions that were a bit too much.
But that's his style of play.
It has to be said that this group's notorious double standards are the same no matter where they are.
Upon witnessing this scene, their head coach sat on the sidelines with his legs crossed, a smug smile playing on his lips.
Rod Laver, as the team's captain, arranged for someone to quickly lift Jamie Monroe down and bandage him.
Faced with such overwhelming public opinion, the referee had no choice but to review the video footage and consult with the world tennis community for a ruling.
However, even after repeatedly reviewing the footage, they still couldn't detect any deliberate actions by Kiriya.
It was entirely because Jamie Monroe was arrogant, and that particular shot just happened to be a little too powerful, hitting right through the racket and striking him on the head.
Having reached this conclusion, the referee quickly delivered his verdict.
The Japan Team did not commit a foul, and the game continued.
The surrounding England spectators immediately erupted in boos.
However, Kiriya had seen this kind of scene many times before. For the Japan Team, who had been playing in Europe for more than a year, boos were simply a daily occurrence.
And at this moment, he stopped pretending and immediately showed his true strength after stepping onto the field.
After all, they'd played along with the opponent for so long just to make their attacks seem reasonable and so that the referee couldn't find any fault with them.
Now that the objective has been achieved, there's no need to hide anything any longer; let's unleash our true strength.
To plunge the opponent into the abyss of complete defeat.
On the field.
Jamie Monroe fell backward again, this time the tennis ball pierced through his racket and struck his abdomen directly. The powerful impact left him speechless with pain.
Kiriya Indigo eyes were filled with coldness.
This approach was merely to allow Tōno to recoup some interest.
"Although I wanted to do more, the referee seems to have reached his limit, and now I'm going to end this farce."
Swish!
Kiriya swung his racket heavily, and the tennis ball bounced irregularly after hitting the ground, this time heading straight for Jamie Monroe's jaw.
Bang!
Jamie Monroe, already injured in several places, hurriedly defended, and the tennis ball was returned high by him.
Seeing such an opportunity, Kiriya didn't hesitate.
"It's over! You stupid Englishmen!"
His massive body charged forward, leaping into the air, the whooshing sound of his arms cutting through the air sending shivers down one's spine.
Boom!
This smash shot, like a cannonball, hurtled straight to Jamie Monroe's feet, its powerful pressure simply unstoppable.
Bang!
"Game! Japan Team scores, score 7-5."
What are these guys doing?
"Great England, they actually let the Japan win two games in a row!"
"Damn it, these guys deserve to be in jail!"
The insults from the spectators put a lot of pressure on the England Team.
In competitive sports, especially ball games, England is world-renowned for the high level of sportsmanship of its fans, for example, in football.
"Laver, you're playing next game. No matter what, you have to win!"
The England manager, frustrated by the backlash, made a substitution, hoping to use their star player to win the second game in singles.
Upon hearing this, Laver frowned, feeling quite displeased.
As the captain, he is usually the one to hold the line in Singles 1 matches. Unexpectedly, in the match against the Japan Team Byōdōin, he would have to take the field.
England Team's star player Rod Laver, a registered aspiring professional, is just waiting for approval before he can begin his professional career.
Although he was still serving as England's captain at this time, his mind was no longer focused on the U17 team, and due to the change in his mentality, he also looked down on the U17 opponents.
He wants to become a world-renowned professional player like Amadeus and Polk.
However, as the team's captain, he couldn't refuse the head coach's request.
"Alright! Let me teach these Japan people what real professional tennis is all about."
On the other side, in the Japan rest area.
After Muneyoshi and the others congratulated Kiriya, they spoke with Duke again.
"Duke, we've received England's substitution request. Their star player, a near-professional, will be playing in the next match. Would you like to have a match with him?"
Muneyoshi was quite happy to receive the news of the substitution from the staff, after all, the last semi-professional player he faced was Amadeus.
Now, two years later, he has finally faced such an opponent again.
However, unlike before, his strength is now incomparable to what it was back then.
Although he knew that professional players like Polk and Amadeus, who were still in the U17 category but achieved amazing success, were definitely a minority.
Their skill levels were roughly equivalent to those of Ronard Teuton, the France's star professional player, and Eddie Youssoff, the Switzerland Team, whom he had met when he was a freshman.
They are certainly very strong; Ronard Teuton was even able to defeat Oni Jūjirō, a first-year student who had not yet broken through to the Stage Two.
However, if the two of them don't improve much by now, Muneyoshi isn't afraid of them.
Therefore, Muneyoshi has neither fear nor expectations of such aspiring professional players.
Therefore, he genuinely wanted to ask Duke if he wanted to play against him.
However, Duke's answer surprised him.
Duke shook his head and said, "Go ahead, Muneyoshi. I'm more interested in seeing how strong you've become than that guy over there!"
"When the boss and I heard you'd advanced to the Stage Two, we were really looking forward to a match with you..."
"As for that guy over there, I already competed against him back in my first year!"
Duke squinted, a smile playing on his lips.
He was telling the truth; Byōdōin was indeed very happy when he heard that Muneyoshi had entered the Stage Two.
For him, nothing could make him happier than having Saeki Muneyoshi in charge of the future of the Japan Team.
Besides that, it was probably during the invitational tournament that Akutsu, who came from Japan, caught his eye and made him want to train him.
Thinking of Akutsu, Duke continued, "If the boss hadn't been ambushed, he probably would have dragged you into a match with him since you came here."
"Of course, the Stage Two isn't invincible. Muneyoshi, if you want to compete with the boss, you'll probably need to accumulate more experience fighting against opponents of the same level."
This guy is a perfect test subject for you, go!
Just then, the referee's voice came through the loudspeaker again.
P. S.: "Please vote with monthly tickets!"