Who would still play tennis after being reborn?

Chapter 147 Tezuka Phantom?

Zhang Ming's eyes narrowed as he watched the ball flying back from Gu Cheng's side.

This was a backhand cross-court smash. The ball speed wasn't fast, and the spin didn't look strong, but the landing point was exceptionally tricky, landing right in the corner where the baseline and sideline met.

"This kid's ball control is truly phenomenal."

Although he hasn't even touched the ball yet, the angle and landing point of the ball alone are something that ordinary professional players cannot do.

"If his fundamentals were a bit better, he could probably beat Federer and the likes with ease!" Zhang Ming remarked.

What is tennis about?
Fundamentals are crucial, but these can be improved through training. However, skill and ball control truly require some talent.

Without talent, even if you practice 24 hours a day, you won't make much progress.

Gu Cheng is so strong, why has he never played in a professional game before, and there are no rumors about him in China?

If it weren't for that encounter at the Tennis Tennis Center, Zhang Ming thought that, given Gu Cheng's personality, he didn't know when he would have stepped onto the professional stage.

Maybe in a year, maybe in three years, or even five years.

However, even with such strong skills, one's fundamentals are not particularly good. At least compared to the world's top 100 professional players, they are far inferior to top professional players like Federer.

This makes no sense.

A tennis enthusiast who plays tennis so well must have consistently maintained a solid foundation in basic training; in other words, their fundamentals are quite strong.

However, this speculation doesn't quite apply to Gu Cheng.

To be honest, Zhang Ming had thought about this question more than once, but he had no answer in his heart and could only let it go in the end.

Many times, Zhang Ming wanted to ask Gu Cheng, but in the end, he couldn't bring himself to do it.

Everyone has their own secrets.

Gu Cheng has it, and so does he.

Some things can be shared with others, but others cannot.

He asked whether Gu Cheng would tell or not when the time came.
Tell me, it might involve some of my secrets.

Even if he didn't say anything, Zhang Ming was probably feeling a little upset.

Rather than putting both of them in a dilemma, it's better not to ask and keep it a secret.

With this thought in mind, in just a moment, Zhang Ming moved his feet and quickly adjusted his footwork. The instant the ball bounced up, he precisely sliced ​​the ball back, pulling the angle extremely narrow, almost brushing the net, and landing it on the outside of Gu Cheng's forehand side.

This was one of Zhang Ming's tests – a test of ball control precision.

"The force and rotation are stronger than before, but I can't feel exactly how much stronger it is. I'm not sure if it's that...

Zhang Ming shook his head inwardly.

To be honest, he didn't know if it was a profound state of selflessness, the ultimate refinement after countless trials.

The ultimate refinement is not a specific skill, but a state of being. In the words of The Prince of Tennis, it is a high-level application of the power of selflessness after mastering the state of selflessness.

It represents the comprehensive embodiment of a player's experience, muscle memory, tactical awareness, and mental qualities accumulated through countless training sessions and actual matches.

Once in this state, players will exhibit extraordinary stability and explosiveness in the game, and may even make the best choices almost instinctively under high pressure.

Therefore, Zhang Ming's first step was to find out if Gu Cheng's return shot had the same effect as the "Thousand Refinements" technique in The Prince of Tennis, returning double the power and spin to the opponent's return shot.

But it's clear that his ball control isn't that strong yet.

He could only sense that the force and spin of the incoming ball were indeed much stronger, but he couldn't tell if it was twice as strong.

"try again."

Facing Zhang Ming's incoming ball, Gu Cheng quickly started moving. His footwork wasn't fast, but he had already anticipated Zhang Ming's intention.

He completed his swing just before the ball hit the ground, hitting a straight passing shot with a slight topspin. The shot was as straight as an arrow, almost grazing the net post, and landed precisely on the edge of the opposite service court!
"..."

Zhang Ming frowned slightly, and for the first time, a thought popped into his mind: "This guy... he's really something."

However, he did not stop; instead, he quickened his pace and began to probe further.

Zhang Ming changed his strategy on this play.

He deliberately slowed down his swing, using only a third of his strength to hit a short ball. The ball dropped rapidly as soon as it crossed the net, landing near the net.

This is a typical "luring the enemy in" tactic, the purpose of which is to make the opponent actively increase the power to return the ball, thereby exposing more weaknesses.

Sure enough, Gu Cheng stepped forward, preparing to gently push the ball back.

But the moment he touched the button, Zhang Ming's eyes suddenly lit up.

He felt a sudden sense of "oppression".

The power and spin are significantly improved compared to his returns.

Although Gu Cheng's movements were very light, the trajectory of the ball carried a strange "steadiness," as if it was not an ordinary push, but rather concealed some kind of power ready to be unleashed.

The ball bounced higher than expected after landing, and with a strange reverse spin, forcing Zhang Ming to run a few more steps to barely return the ball.

"interesting……"

Zhang Ming's lips curled up slightly as he thought to himself, "He seems to be able to sense and utilize the force and spin of my return shot, and amplify it. This is indeed very similar to the ultimate refinement through countless trials."

This is one of the core characteristics of "the ultimate refinement through countless trials"—every shot from your opponent becomes nourishment for your return shot.

The stronger your opponent's return shot, the stronger your return shot should be, even stronger.

Double it!!

Through long-term training and competition experience, a near-reflexive feedback mechanism is formed, which can automatically analyze parameters such as the angle, speed, and spin of the opponent's ball and counterattack in the most efficient way.

Zhang Ming realized that his guess about it being tempered and refined was probably correct, as for whether it was...

But he was still unsure, so he continued to intensify his probing.

With this shot, Zhang Ming decided to break the rhythm.

He served a low, fast flat shot, trying to disrupt Gu Cheng's rhythm.

Sure enough, the ball came quickly and suddenly. Gu Cheng hesitated for a moment before he caught it.

"Something's not right. Given this kid's skill level, my flat serve isn't even that fast to begin with. There's no reason why he could return it so dangerously. Could I be wrong?"

Zhang Ming frowned: "Or is there something I haven't considered? If it were truly honed through countless trials, it shouldn't be this weak, right?"

What surprised Zhang Ming even more was that Gu Cheng was not only slow, but also slow to react. If it weren't for the fact that his serve was not fast, he would have seriously doubted that Gu Cheng might have hit an ace.

Can I hit an ace against Gu Cheng?
Zhang Ming was somewhat surprised by himself.

This is Gu Cheng! Gu Shen in the eyes of netizens.

He's on par with top professional players like Federer, or even stronger.

How could someone like him just decide to hit an ace whenever he wanted?
Do not make jokes.

Zhang Ming himself didn't dare to think in this direction, unless Gu Cheng went easy on him. But the key point is that even if Gu Cheng was willing to go easy on him, he couldn't go easy on him too much, and he couldn't let Gu Cheng hit an ace.

This is the key.

"There are definitely things I haven't thought of."

Are there any limitations to rigorous training?

Zhang Ming quickly recalled the series of events that occurred after the start of the national tournament in The Prince of Tennis.

Is there anything I've overlooked?

Zhang Ming had a headache.

In the next few goals, Zhang Ming began to try some psychological tactics.

He first hit similar shots for several rounds in a row, giving Gu Cheng the illusion of "habitual response", and then suddenly changed direction, hitting a backhand slice shot at a very high angle, directly cutting the ball behind Gu Cheng.

For an average player, this situation would either result in a mistake or result in a very low-quality return.

However, Gu Cheng seemed to have a slower reaction speed. He needed to position himself in advance and even started moving before the ball landed. In the end, he completed a backhand lob with an extremely elegant turn and gently sent the ball to Zhang Ming's backcourt corner!

"That doesn't make sense!?"

Zhang Ming's eyes widened.

This seems quite different from the ultimate level of refinement he had in mind.

This scene left the two people standing outside completely bewildered.
The match between these two was truly bizarre.

Up to this point, there's absolutely no competitive element to speak of. Even though, due to Gu Cheng's instructions, Zhang Ming's serves are very light, almost like a beginner learning tennis, only with much better accuracy and angles.

"What exactly is Acheng trying to test?"

"The more I look at this, the more uncomfortable I feel. If it were a real test of ball skills, I wouldn't be playing this kind of ball, would I?"

"It's pointless!"

Yu Haoyang still couldn't figure it out, and couldn't help but look at Cao Hui.

Cao Hui was also confused, his gaze shifting back and forth between Gu Cheng and Zhang Ming. Finally, he gave an answer: "Brother Ming should have figured something out."

"How do you know he figured it out?" Yu Haoyang was taken aback and pressed, "He seemed the same as I did before!"

Cao Hui explained, "It's the same, but also different. You did exactly what A-Cheng said, which is to hit the ball over the net while trying to reduce the power and spin. But Ming-ge is different..."

"What's the difference?"

"The first two goals were indeed the same as yours, but it was different after that. Ming-ge must have realized something, so he has been testing A-Cheng. He should know what A-Cheng is doing now, but he is not very sure, so he is still trying."

Yu Haoyang looked surprised: "You can tell the difference? I don't see any difference at all!"

Cao Hui was both amused and exasperated: "Actually, I'm just guessing, but it should be pretty close to the truth. Take a closer look. Although Ming-ge has always been doing what A-cheng said, his serves and returns are actually different. Sometimes he uses a lot of force, and sometimes he uses little force."

"You can tell from that?"

"You can tell just by looking at Acheng's reaction. When Ming-ge serves with a lot of power and speed, it looks like Acheng has a hard time receiving the serve. His footwork is very slow, and he almost missed receiving several balls. You must have seen that, right?"

Yu Haoyang nodded: "I did see that, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything, does it?"

"If you look closely, you'll see that there are actually differences."

Cao Hui patiently explained, "With A-Cheng's strength, that kind of serve shouldn't be able to threaten him, but judging from the previous situation, it definitely was. We saw it with our own eyes. Do you know what that means?"

"This means that the ball skills that Acheng is testing may be skills that he has not yet mastered, or skills that he has mastered but not fully mastered, or skills that he feels are still flawed."

Upon hearing this, Yu Haoyang frowned and muttered to himself, "He has mastered it but not completely, or there are flaws that need to be addressed. Moreover, it is for the second seed in the afternoon doubles match. In other words, this skill is definitely not weak. It is not weak, but it has flaws. Among the skills that Acheng has shown so far, the Tangwei Serve is one of them."

"But if we want to solve the weakness of Tannhäuser's serve, we definitely can't use the current method of hitting light balls, so we can pass on that. As for the remaining skills, Tezuka's territory is one of them."

Thinking of this, Yu Haoyang suddenly said, "Could it be a Tezuka phantom?"

"Tezuka Phantom?" Cao Hui was taken aback and said, "You mean, A-Cheng might be experimenting with Tezuka Phantom?"

Yu Haoyang initially thought so, but quickly shook his head: "It shouldn't be. If it were Tezuka Phantom, A-Cheng wouldn't have tried to catch the ball; instead, he would have controlled the tennis ball to fly out of bounds."

"Furthermore, it seems unnecessary for the experimental Tezuka Phantom to deliberately hit balls with less force."

"Old Cao, besides Tezuka Phantom, are there any other tennis skills that require practicing in this way?"

Cao Hui instinctively frowned, his gaze falling on Gu Cheng's face, who was still experimenting. Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind: "Haoyang, do you think it's possible that when Acheng tells us to hit the ball with less force and less spin, it's not to test any skills, but for our own good?"

"For our own good?"

"Correct."

"Does such a skill exist?"

Cao Hui asked, "Are there any ball skills that are related to power and spin, and also to the opponent?"

"Force, spin, and the opponent..."

Yu Haoyang quickly connected these keywords together, and soon, a skill—no, it should be said that it wasn't a skill, but a realm—appeared in his mind.

At that moment, Cao Hui seemed to have thought of something as well. The two exchanged a glance and finally uttered the same sentence almost simultaneously: "The ultimate refinement through countless trials!!"

"You thought of that too?"

"you……"

Cao Hui took a deep breath: "That's right, it should be the ultimate refinement. Acheng told us to use less force and less spin on the ball, which was actually for our own good. After all, refinement can return the opponent's ball twice as much. If we use our full strength, we can only watch Acheng's return ball with envy. If we force the ball, we may hurt ourselves."

Yu Haoyang nodded and continued, "Moreover, the ultimate technique of 'thousands of hammers and mortars' has a major drawback: besides the doubled return, the person who uses it will experience a significant decline in other aspects of their physical function. Therefore, this ball skill actually needs to be combined with the Tezuka Domain."

"But... nowadays, Tezuka's domain is practically broken."

"Without the Tezuka Domain, the flaws of the ultimate refinement are too great."

The two didn't speak in a low voice, and since they were both on Zhang Ming's side, their words quickly reached Zhang Ming's ears.

With his eyes slightly narrowed, Zhang Ming slowly exhaled, his dark pupils fixed on Gu Cheng, and said in a low voice, "I almost forgot, there is such a big flaw in the Thousand-Fold Refinement. If these two hadn't reminded me, I would have really forgotten about it."

"Now I'm sure of it, kid... you've really mastered the ultimate technique of tempering through countless trials."

(End of this chapter)