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Chapter 251
Chapter 252
Chapter 253
Chapter 252
Chapter 253
Golden age 251: The Prince of Aces
Golden age 252: The Shortest Match
Golden age 253: No Way Forward
- Everyone has returned to the courts. Ryoma thanks Mifune for letting him borrow his horse.
- Mifune asks if Ryoma managed to take the brat girl back, to which Ryoma responds that the match ended in a draw, and then, looking at Sakuno in the stands, adds that there was nothing he needed to take back since nothing had been taken from him in the first place.
- Mifune orders Ryoma to settle the score in this match, then. Turning around to face his opponent, Ryoma says that of course he has no intention to lose in tennis.
- It's singles 3: Ryoma vs Ludovic.
- After Ludovic gushes over Sakuno internally, he asks Ryoma what her favorite flower and color are. As Ryoma is taken aback by the question, Ludovic makes fun of him for not knowing. Kite, Yushi, Fuji and Inui snicker at their flustered teammate.
- The match starts with Ryoma's service game. Tokugawa wants to see how far Ryoma's tennis has evolved.
- Ryoma's first serve goes down the line, landing right in the corner of the service box. However, Ludovic quickly catches up to defend and puts the return in the corner. Leaving Ryoma no time to react, it's a return ace.
- 0-15, Ryoma serves again, this time targeting the outside corner while putting a spin on the ball that carries it out of the court even further. But once again, the French prince gets behind the ball without a problem and sends another return ace Ryoma's way with a short cross backhand. 0-30.
- Japan's bench is stunned as Ludovic puts another return away to win his third point with his third shot.
- Timothee and Tristan explain that because Ludovic has been playing tennis on horseback since he was a little kid, his upper body strength and balance are exceptional, giving him the ability to hit at full power from any position. That's how he became known as the Prince of Aces.
- Ludovic scores another return ace and wins the opening game in just four shots and a mere ninety seconds, impressing even Akaya with his speed.
Golden age 252: The Shortest Match
- It's Ludovic's service game. Ryoma manages to get his racket on the ball and puts it back in play, but Ludovic has already come into the net and puts the volley into the corner to score the first point of this second game.
- Ludovic apparently can't stand having his serve returned and turns up the heat. He scores three aces on the following serves and takes the second game in a flash, once again not exceeding ninety seconds.
- Another couple of quick games later and it's 4-0 in France's favor. It turns out that Ludovic also holds the record for the shortest match of the tournament with 29 minutes, 32 seconds. (TN: This doesn't make much sense since he didn't play in the first round and all the group league matches were one setters. Even if you cut the time in half to account for that, it's still slower than Akaya's Kanto record.)
- Irie notes that Ludovic is a nasty opponent. Any shot you hit at an angle is coming back with double the angle and even hitting full power shots only puts you on the receiving end of a return ace.
- Despite everything, Ryoma continues with his usual attack patterns. Oni yells out at him, asking how often he needs to try to understand that it's useless. Just then, Ryoma activates the Pinnacles of Mastery in his legs...
- ...But Ludovic passes him again. 0-40.
- Ryoma switches to his right hand, causing Osval to wonder if he has given up. But of course it's all in order to send a Twist Serve the French prince's way. Yet, once again, it's no use. Ludovic scores another return ace and now has a commanding 5-0 lead.
Golden age 253: No Way Forward
- Breathing heavily, Ryoma is sitting on the bench during changeover. Mifune scoffs at him, asking if he's exhausted already. Defiantly, Ryoma asks who Mifune's talking about and that the match is just getting started. Mifune says Ryoma's form is terrible, then leads forward to whisper something in his ear.
- The Japaneses supporters are worried. Yushi asks Atobe if there's any way that Ryoma can shut down Ludovic's counters because if not, their prince will be on the losing end. Atobe says to keep watching.
- Just then, Ryoma gets Ludovic's serve back in play, hitting the ball straight back at his opponent. Ludovic aims for another winner, but Ryoma again manages to catch up to it. He has figured out that with Ludovic cannot use the same hitting form for balls that are aimed straight at him that he used to hit the angled winners from before.
- Ludovic lets Ryoma run left and right, but the rally continues. Inui comments that this in itself still puts Ryoma at a disadvantage. He now needs to figure out a way to score despite only hitting to the center.
- The rally goes on and on. Ludovic continues to attack and Ryoma continues to defend. Ludovic wonders what in the world Ryoma is thinking. Kintarou provides the answer for him, saying that Ryoma is the person who hates losing the most.
- Just then, Ryoma himself triumphantly declares that the speed of Ludovic's shot has dropped.
- Flashback: during the last changeover, Mifune told Ryoma to remember what he's learned from Byoudouin.
- Ryoma unleashes a glowing shot, however, Byoudouin notices that there is something different about it compared to his own...
