Tokyo Metropolis Tournament Venue (Boys' Team Competition!)
The Lawson Tennis Center had hosted the JR Tournament a few months ago and was one of the busiest tennis venues in Tokyo Metropolis. This year's Metropolitan Tournament was being held there again, as was customary, and the venue was just as lively as ever.
The Metropolitan Tournament was much larger than the Regional Tournament. The Regional Tournament had only twelve teams competing for two spots in the Metropolitan Tournament, while 108 teams were vying for the mere four spots in the Kanto Tournament.
That was why the Metropolitan Tournament drew more than ten times as many spectators as the Regional Tournament.
Most of them were coaches from prominent tennis clubs, keeping a close eye on their own players' performances and watching for promising newcomers.
"Ginkou, Yamabuki, St. Rudolph..."
Amid the crowd, a middle-aged man in a plaid shirt and tie, with a shoulder bag slung over him, studied the list of competing teams and murmured to himself.
"These are the same teams that made it to the Metropolitan Tournament this year."
"Hyotei and Yamabuki, who made it to the National Tournament last year, are seeded number one. But Seigaku, who only reached the quarterfinals of last year's Metropolitan Tournament, is competing as the runner-up this year?"
He was Inoue, a well-known reporter for Tennis Weekly. He had published plenty of firsthand reports, including stories about the changes at Hyotei and Rikkai Dai.
"Yamabuki has a few new faces this year."
Following the flow of the crowd, Inoue spotted Yamabuki's regulars approaching. After last year's third-year regulars graduated, the rookies who had once been picking up balls on the court had seized their chance to join the team.
But Yamabuki was different this year. Several of its players still looked quite young.
"Only