An Unexpected Lineup

"The First Singles match is about to begin, featuring Kevin Smith from the West Coast team against Kirihara Akaya from the Kanto team."

No sooner had Sanada and Kirihara voices came over the stadium's loudspeaker.

Upon hearing that Kirihara be playing, Ryoma's eyes revealed his unwillingness.

"It's my turn to perform, Vice President! I knew it would be me!"

Because Ryoma wasn't selected, the Seigaku and others in the spectator area were also disappointed.

Seeing that Ryoma's name wasn't on the big screen, Kevin on the other side was also somewhat unable to accept it.

"What on earth is going on... Why isn't it Echizen Ryoma?!"

"Ah! What! How is this possible? Why... why didn't they send Echizen Ryoma to fight..."

Coach Baker, who heard the broadcast, rushed to the stadium. After confirming that it wasn't Echizen Ryoma playing, he couldn't believe it either.

After a moment of stunned silence, Coach Baker suddenly turned to look at the Coach bench.

"Could it be that Mr. Sakaki... did this on purpose...?"

Seeing Coach Sakaki's calm demeanor, Coach Baker couldn't help but have doubts.

At that moment, Horio was standing on the Coach's bench with his back to Coach Baker, suddenly turned around.

Seeing Coach Baker's incredulous expression, Horio smiled at him.

At that moment, Coach Baker saw Horio's smile as filled with sarcasm and contempt.

Seemingly noticing Coach Baker's gaze, Coach Sakaki also looked at him.

"Damn it... you deliberately prevented Echizen Ryoma from competing!"

Coach Sakaki's expression remained unchanged as he watched Coach Baker grit his teeth.

"I know exactly what you're up to. As your Coach, I will not allow you to use tennis to do that kind of thing."

"I see. It seems that Horio's speculations were true. Coach Baker did indeed have ulterior motives."

Coach Hanamura also noticed Coach Baker's unusual behavior. Recalling what Horio had said when the starting lineup was finalized, Coach Hanamura immediately understood.

"In that case, Horio, you should stick with the off-court coaching for the last game."

"It's alright, leave it to me."

The most important First Singles Coach Sakaki will still be filled by Horio, and after saying that, he left with Coach Hanamura and Tezuka.

"It's probably because of what Kevin said at the press conference that the Coach deliberately contradicted him."

"If we go along with them under these circumstances, it's tantamount to giving them a free pass."

"What a pity, little one."

Atobe and Oshitari guessed a bit about why Coach Sakaki did this, and Kikumaru could only offer words of comfort to Ryoma was unable to play.

"What are we going to do now? The script you arranged is all ruined, and there's no hope for Miss Takayama's contract."

At the West Coast team's tunnel entrance, Nakamura also hurriedly arrived at the stadium.

"Hmph, no, Mr. Nakamura, Miss Takayama just said that we must win, but she didn't say that our opponent must be Echizen Ryoma."

"If that's the case... then it's not wrong..."

"No matter what, we must win this game. We can talk about everything else after we win."

Kevin, who was standing nearby, felt like he had been tricked when he heard that Coach Baker was no longer going to try.

"Boss, I still can't accept this. I came here because I heard I could compete against Echizen Ryoma, and now it's like this..."

"If you have any objections, say so after you win."

Upon hearing Kevin's rebuttal, Coach Baker's expression darkened, and he could only interrupt Kevin in an unfriendly tone.

Hearing Coach Baker's tone change, Kevin could only grit his teeth and agree.

"Sorry to keep you all waiting, now we will begin the First Singles match."

Kanto team Kirihara Akaya vs. West Coast team Kevin Smith.

Inside the stadium, the previously brightly lit venue suddenly went dark, and then two spotlights shone on the two players who were about to compete.

"The extravagance was certainly impressive, but even the most beautiful clothes can look bad on the wrong person."

Seeing the stark difference in treatment given to the First Singles compared to before, Horio also felt grateful for Coach Baker's good intentions.

"The match begins, Kirihara serves."

"Damn it, it should be Echizen Ryoma standing there..."

Across from Kirihara, Kevin's displeasure was as obvious as could be.

Kirihara also noticed Kevin's displeasure, and this somewhat dismissive attitude provoked Kirihara's strong sense of pride.

From the moment he served, Kirihara was at 100% full strength.

"Damn it, why isn't it Echizen Ryoma? Why do I have to play this boring match?"

Despite facing Kirihara at full strength, Kevin, who also possesses considerable skill, was able to calmly handle the situation.

After several rounds of fighting, seeing that Kevin's impatience hadn't changed at all, Kirihara's temper flared up.

"What's with that expression? Your opponent is none other than me, Kirihara Akaya."

Then, Kirihara drew a semi-circle from top to bottom with his right hand and swung his racket to hit the ball.

The tennis ball, which had originally carried considerable force, became somewhat light and airy, flying towards Kevin with a unique spin.

"Hmph, you think you can score with a ball like that?"

Kevin, who was already not very motivated, became even more disdainful when he saw Kirihara hit such a light, floaty shot.

Quickly move to the ball's landing point, ready to return the shot.

However, the ball, which had been floating lightly, failed to bounce after landing and eventually disappeared from the ground.

"What! It's gone."

Kevin was clearly caught off guard as the tennis ball disappeared from his sight and then reappeared on his other side the next second.

"Kanto team scores, 15:0"

"Hmph, this is my Ghost Ball, specially designed to deal with left-handed people like you."

"This move is called... Ghost Ball!?"

"A good idea is to use a near-vertical swing with your right hand to hit a powerful sidespin ball, and then use the reverse spin after the ball lands to move it to the other side."

On the Coach bench, Horio, having just witnessed the intense spin of that ball, agreed with Kirihara's idea.

Bang...

"Kanto team scores, 30:0"

Bang...

"Kanto team scores, 40:0"

"Oh... I see."

"What do you mean by 'I see'..."

"So that's the true nature of the so-called 'Ghost Ball'... It involves spinning the ball at high speed to the right while playing, and then hitting a cross-court ball from the right side of the court into the opponent's court."

Left-handed players reflexively dart to the right when returning a shot, but the constantly spinning ball bounces off to the left, making it appear as if the ball has vanished in an instant for opponents in their blind spots.

Off the field, after watching Kirihara's series of Ghost Ball, Atobe also noticed something amiss.

"Damn it, another Ghost Ball! But I won't let you get away with it this time."

On the court, Kirihara once again unleashed the Ghost Ball shot swing.