The Crucial Second Singles

"Since neither player can continue the match, this game is declared a draw."

Given the situation on the field, this was the only ruling the referee could make.

"A very exciting match."

The match ended, and Tezuka and Sanada carried Sengoku off the field, who was completely exhausted.

On the other side, Bobby was carried by Billy and Tom. Coach Baker looked rather grim as he watched Bobby fail to secure the victory.

After the Third Singles match ended, the starting lineup for the Second Singles was announced on the stadium's big screen.

When they saw that Fuji was the Kanto team in the Second Singles, everyone from Seigaku was very excited.

After all, so far, Hyotei has only occupied two spots on the roster that has already been played.

Rikkai Dai, Seigaku and Yamabuki are all alone.

Now that Fuji is confirmed to appear, Seigaku has two players, which is quite a prestigious thing.

But after a brief period of excitement, everyone began to worry again.

Because of what Horio said to everyone during lunch.

If Horio's words are true, then Kirihara will most likely be the Kirihara the First Singles spot.

Ryoma had always wanted to compete, could only watch from the sidelines, which was the cruelest torture for Ryoma.

"I can't take this anymore! I don't want to feel like I'm being slaughtered. Coach, just tell us who the First Singles player is!"

"The players selected for the competition will not be announced until just before the match; this is a rule of the competition, and everyone must abide by it."

In the players' locker room, only Kirihara and Echizen remained undecided about whether they would play.

Kirihara, already somewhat anxious, directly asked Coach Sakaki about the starting lineup, but Coach Sakaki remained as calm as a rock.

When confronted with Kirihara's probing questions, he was silenced by citing the rules of the competition.

Horio, who was about to enter the lounge, bumped into Coach Sakaki, who was coming out, and wondered why he had left so early.

"What are you all arguing about? You even chased Coach Sakaki away."

"Horio, you must know the lineup for the match, right? Who will take the First Singles, me or Echizen?"

Seeing Horio enter, Kirihara seemed to have found an outlet for his frustration again.

"Didn't we say the match roster wouldn't be announced until just before each match? Why are you in such a hurry to know?"

"If I had known I would be playing in the First Singles match, I could have been in top form beforehand."

"A qualified athlete must maintain peak performance regardless of when the competition takes place; this is a test of an athlete's willpower."

Although Kirihara were to improve his performance, this immature competitive attitude still needs to be corrected.

Hearing Horio's words, Kirihara stopped worrying about who should compete.

"Where's Fuji- Senpai? He's in the next match, why has he suddenly disappeared?"

Back in the lounge, Horio wanted to check on Fuji's condition, but everyone else was there except for Fuji.

At that moment, Fuji was sitting alone somewhere in the gymnasium, checking his racket, when Coach Baker walked over.

"Fuji, may I sit next to you?"

"Oh, sure, no problem."

"The reason I'm here is because there's something I think you should know before this match begins..."

"Honestly, he's about to play in the next match and he's still disappearing. Looks like we'll have to wait until he enters the stadium to talk to him."

After leaving the players' lounge, Horio went to buy a drink.

Just as Horio finally spotted a vending machine, two figures that shouldn't have appeared at the same time appeared not far from it.

"Isn't this Coach Baker? What brings you here to chat with our players? Are you perhaps planning some scheme to trick them into deliberately losing to you?"

Seeing Coach Baker's ill-intentioned look, Horio immediately went over to him.

"Oh, Coach Horio. I was just telling your players about his next opponent, Arnold Iglijef. It's not like what you're saying."

Upon seeing Horio's sudden appearance, Coach Baker, who had just been playing the victim for Fuji, was clearly flustered and quickly offered an explanation.

"Does he have any special story? Could it be the story of his parents immigrating from Europe with him after the Berlin Wall fell?"

You can use this kind of story to fool those reporters, but to tell this kind of story to our player, Fuji, who is Arnold's opponent, right before the competition starts Fuji.

If I were to report your actions to a reporter, what consequences do you think there would be?

Coach Baker assumed Horio was unaware of this, but upon hearing Horio actually say it, his expression became noticeably unnatural.

Horio knew all the information about the West Coast team members.

Don't forget, it's not just Coach Baker who knows reporters; Horio and even the regular players from various schools also know.

Everyone knows a reporter, and that person is Inoue.

As a highly experienced tennis journalist, he had the connections to obtain this information.

Coach Baker panicked when he heard that Horio was going to expose his actions to reporters.

"I didn't mean that. You misunderstood Coach Horio. I think that although we are opponents, we are also tennis lovers, right? And I just happened to run into Fuji, so I suddenly wanted to chat."

"You like tennis? That's not what you said at that televised press conference. For you, tennis is more of a tool for making money."

Speaking of press conferences, yours was indeed quite grand. It seems your West Coast team has plenty of funding. But if you have so much funding... why are you in such a hurry to find sponsors?

It would have been better not to explain, because once he did, Horio seized on it again, and Coach Baker's face turned deathly pale.

As a Caucasian, his skin was already very fair, but after being startled by Horio, he looked like a ghost.

"Hmph, Richard Baker, I don't care what your purpose is, and I don't care about the things you've done."

But please don't tarnish tennis. I don't care if you use tennis to gain fame and fortune, which indirectly promotes the development of tennis.

But if you try to win the game using such underhanded tricks, I'll make sure you lose miserably.

Horio, who had been speaking to Coach Baker with a smile on his face, suddenly moved and appeared in front of Coach Baker in an instant.

Coach Baker, who was already terrified, was even more frightened when Horio suddenly appeared in front of him from a few meters away, and he fell to the ground.

Seeing the cold expression on Horio's face, Coach Baker realized that this was someone he shouldn't mess with.

His original plan to use a self-inflicted injury was naive, so under Horio's cold gaze, Coach Baker fled the scene without hesitation.