A Familiar Reunion

A day passed in the blink of an eye.

On their rare day off, the members of the Japan Team did little besides watch other matches, train, and recover.

On match day, the sun had only just begun to cast its light over every corner of the city.

The Melbourne tennis center was already packed with people.

After the matches over the previous two days had built up excitement, more and more tennis fans and spectators had come to watch.

And today was the final day of the group stage. The results would go a long way toward deciding who advanced and where they placed.

That made it the most important match of all for every team competing.

Since the Japan Team's two matches were so close together, Saeki Muneyoshi and the others, who were playing later, had no idea how Bamboo Squad would fare.

They could only give it everything they had and fight for a win. That was the only way to keep control of their own chances of advancing.

Serbia currently had a record of 1–2.

England stood at 1–1, America at 2–0, and the Japan Team at 1–0.

If England managed to get lucky and beat Bamboo Squad, then even if the Japan Team won its match...

They would most likely end up tied with England, meaning there would still be a playoff.

If the Japan Team lost both matches today, England would advance from the group alongside America.

That was something the Japan Team absolutely could not allow.

The two squads' captains, Saeki Muneyoshi and Byōdōin Hōō, both understood the situation perfectly.

So even though neither had said anything openly about competing, deep down they had both decided: they absolutely could not lose.

A little after eight in the morning,

the Japan Team's bus brought