Who would still play tennis after being reborn?

Chapter 156 Playing tennis is fun (Duplicate content has been corrected)
The game continues.

However, Gu Cheng, who had no longer concealed his strength, unleashed one of his ultimate counterattacks, the Reverse Scale Slash, which left Benneteau, who was already low on morale and had suffered a minor knee injury, even more exhausted.

The electronic buzzer at the service line sounded, and Gu Cheng's movements were so fast they almost left afterimages.

As the tennis ball whistled through the air, Bennetteu instinctively dove to the side to save it, the sharp pain in his knee causing him to twist into a bizarre arc in the air.

The ball grazed the racket and flew out of bounds. The moment the scoreboard flipped to 30-0, a suppressed gasp filled the stadium.

"give up!"

Roger roared from the sidelines, his white hair stuck to his forehead with sweat.

Benneteau raised his intact left hand toward the referee and said, "Continue."

As he bent down, he saw Gu Cheng staring at his knees, a flicker of hesitation in his eyes.
He accurately seized the opening and immediately tore through the opponent's defense with a cross-court slice shot in the next round, drawing scattered applause from the stands.

Sweat dripped onto the anti-slip strap on the racket handle, and Gu Cheng wiped his face.

He suddenly realized that his battered opponent was using his own flesh and blood to reshape the meaning of the match.

When Benneteau leaped again to intercept the high ball, he could even hear the faint sound of his opponent's joints grinding together. The tennis ball grazed Benneteau's ear and flew into the corner, the red light flashing on the scoreboard stinging everyone's eyes—40-0, Gu Cheng took the lead and reached match point.

Benneteau pressed his racket to the ground, panting heavily as he looked up.

At a distance of more than ten meters, his eyes met Gu Cheng's for the third time.

This time, it wasn't flames and ashes, but two clusters of fire flickering in the storm yet never going out. Gu Cheng's serve came with the force of a whirlwind, and Benneteau practically knocked the ball back to the opponent's half with the handle of his racket.

The ball was too slow and landed too straight; Gu Cheng's smash was like a thunderbolt.

The moment the white tennis ball hit the side net, the entire stadium was so quiet you could hear the wind.

Bennetteu slammed his knees into the ground, but then burst into laughter. (Sweat)
Water mixed with tears slid into the corner of my mouth, the salty taste filled with the breath of freedom.

Amidst a tidal wave of cheers, Roger rushed onto the field and helped the swaying Bennetteu.

The medical team's stretcher stopped outside the baseline, but Gu Cheng walked against the flow of people towards his opponent.

He bent down to pick up Benneteau's fallen racket; the deep cracks on the frame resembled some kind of medal. "Can you still stand up?"

Gu Cheng reached out, his fingertips still trembling from the impact of the shot.

Bennetteau grabbed the hand for leverage to get up, his right leg almost completely numb.

The two looked at each other and smiled, sweat dripping onto their clasped hands.

The audience in the stands suddenly began to applaud, the rhythm gradually increasing until it turned into a unified shout.

At this moment, the lines between victory and defeat become blurred, and only the pure love for tennis shines brightly in the summer air.

Although the power of the triple spin serve was not as great as it was at the beginning due to physical exertion, Benneteau and Roger had the possibility of returning it, but their constant running around the court made their returns very weak.

Moreover, even if they successfully returned the ball to Gu Cheng's court.

What awaited them was a reverse slice, a return shot even more difficult to return than a triple spin serve.

It's fair to say that the two players were like firefighters on the field, constantly running around trying to put out fires.

The key issue is that, faced with one massive fire after another, the two men had no firefighting equipment at all.

The two did manage to prolong the match a bit, avoiding the embarrassment of a quick end, but this also exhausted their last bit of energy.

"Game, Gu Cheng wins, score 6-4!" The referee's cold voice announced the end of the tenth game.

The final score was 6-4.

The numbers on the big screen were like a huge red brand, burning the retinas of Benneteau and Roger.

The outcome of the match has been completely decided.

Gu Cheng didn't even celebrate much, simply touching his racket with a calm expression. For him, this was just a first-round match that he had won smoothly and methodically. Although his opponent's tenacity caused a little trouble, the outcome was already predetermined.

Bennetteu and Roger dragged their nearly numb legs toward the sidelines seating area.

Their world consisted only of heavy breathing, the muffled thumping of their hearts in their chests, and an endless, abyss-like exhaustion.

He slumped into the chair, buried his head in the towel, and his shoulders trembled slightly uncontrollably.

The towel was quickly soaked with sweat, and its color became even darker.

……

Gu Cheng glanced at him but didn't go up to say anything to comfort him.

No need.

Every competition has winners and losers.

Just like if he and Zhang Ming had lost today, Bennetteu and Roger wouldn't have come up to comfort him.

"That's amazing! We were all fooled by Gu Shen. He didn't seem to be suppressed at all. He was clearly trying to hide his strength. Now that he's found out, he can't hide it anymore and has to win the game as quickly as possible."

"Beneteu and Roger truly lived up to their reputation as the second seeds in doubles, persevering even under those circumstances. Benneteu was just unlucky with that last point; otherwise, the match might have lasted a little longer."

"Is Mok still exerting his strength?"

"It's another new skill. From the previous triple spin serve to the current reverse slice, Gu Shen has shown everyone with his actions that even without the skills in The Prince of Tennis, he can still play amazing skills that shock the world."

"Gu Shen's form is simply invincible. I'm starting to believe that he can win all the honors at the Australian Open if he participates in four different tournaments at the same time."

"Mok's mouth is practically blessed; he's so confident."

"In short, awesome! To beat the doubles second seeds Benneteau and Roger one against two is a feat that even Novak Djokovic, the former singles number one seed, would have to admire from afar!"

……

"Brilliant!"

Zhang Ming and Gu Cheng high-fived each other as they celebrated their successful advancement to the second round of the doubles match.

"Damn, at first I almost thought you might be forced to use that thing, but I didn't expect you to have this hidden move. Reverse Scale Cut, good name, it feels much more powerful than Tezuka Kunimitsu's Zero Style Chop."

Zhang Ming was filled with emotion.

One is a relatively slow slice shot, and the other is an extremely fast return shot that completely defies the principles of kinematics. There is no doubt which one is more powerful.

"It's a pity that I expend too much energy in singles matches, otherwise they wouldn't even be able to force you to return that shot."

"However, even if everyone knows about this ultimate counterattack, it is still incredibly difficult to break. Unless they can return the ball before it hits the ground, but... it seems like very few people can do that."

"It's okay." Gu Cheng shouted in Zhang Ming's ear, "I'm in great shape. I feel like I've found the feeling I had when I played in the previous games. I'm very happy now, incredibly happy."

"Have you played in competitions before?"

"How did I not hear it being said?"

Zhang Ming looked curious.

With Gu Cheng's skill and those amazing ball skills, even if he only participates in some lesser-known competitions, he will still cause a huge stir on the internet.

To be honest, he had never heard of Gu Cheng's name on the internet or in the tennis world.

"I have played, and I've played in many competitions, it's just that most people don't know that," Gu Cheng explained with a smile.

"You always like to say only half of what you mean, leaving people confused and frustrated."

Zhang Ming shook his head and didn't ask any more questions.

Yu Haoyang rushed up and hugged the two of them: "We must celebrate properly tonight, Acheng, you are so awesome! We were all stunned in the stands, and of course, the foreign friends were also stunned. They didn't know that tennis could be played so skillfully. They all said that you know Chinese Kung Fu!"

"Oh no, we can't hide our kung fu skills anymore." Cao Hui laughed along. "Let's celebrate! We absolutely have to celebrate!"

Listening to the two of them bantering back and forth, Gu Cheng rolled his eyes: "Let's put the celebration aside for now. Don't forget, there's still the youth competition later. I don't care, the opponents in the first round aren't strong. It seems like they barely made it into the main competition. But you two, don't get eliminated in the first round."

"Don't worry, I'm quite confident about my first-round opponent," Yu Haoyang said, patting his chest.

"Me too."

……

Click, click, click!

at the same time.

the other side.

"Mr. Moke, your words are like magic, so accurate! Gu Cheng, after being suppressed for a short time, brought out a new local specialty and won the second game with lightning speed, accomplishing an impossible miracle."

"Local specialties?" Moke frowned, clearly not understanding what the reporter meant by that question.

"It's a Chinese way of saying it; you can think of it as a new ball technique."

"Oh."

"So... Mr. Moke, could you talk about this match? Or give a summary of it?"

"Also, why are you so confident in Gu Cheng? Did he confess to you before the match?"

Mr. Mok looked at the reporter who made these remarks and asked, "If you were a professional player, would you reveal your hand to someone you have no connection with before a match?"

The reporter shook his head.

"If you don't know it, then Gu Cheng certainly won't either."

Moke smiled and said, "So these are all my own personal judgments. I have studied Gu Cheng. He never fights a battle unprepared. So even though he fell into a disadvantage in the middle of the second set, I still believe he has the ability to break the deadlock."

"In fact, I was right, he really did it."

"And he also made history as the youngest player to ever play in the Australian Open, defeating the second seed in doubles in the first round of singles."

"I think his performance in this game was perfect."

Moke's expression turned serious as he said this.

Mo Ke adjusted his glasses, his fingertips quickly tracing the trajectory of each shot in the interview notebook, as if reviewing the game: "When Gu Cheng used his reverse cut, I noticed that his movements were sharper and more aggressive than before!"

"It's different from what you imagine. It's not just about exerting force casually, but about precisely coupling ergonomics and aerodynamics."

Did you notice the parabola of the ball's trajectory? The sudden drop as it crossed the net deviated by a full 37 centimeters from Benneteau's predicted interception point.

As he spoke, he suddenly stood up and imitated Gu Cheng's hitting motion, as if he had already gained a very high level of understanding of the "Reverse Scale Cut" technique.

Moke's suit sleeve slipped down to reveal a green wristwatch: "This kind of return cut is not a simple speed suppression, but a combination of lateral spin and vertical drop in the tennis ball by changing the angle of the racket face at the moment of impact."

It's like installing a miniature gyroscope on the ball, causing it to bounce inwards in a bizarre way after landing—this goes beyond the scope of traditional tennis technique and is more like a physics experiment.

The reporter who asked the question was bewildered.

Is Gu Cheng's "reverse attack" really like that? Or is... Mo Ke just making things up here?
He had no idea about the principle of the reverse cut, and he didn't even know that Gu Cheng had mastered many other tennis skills that had never appeared in The Prince of Tennis.

But seeing Mok's confident demeanor, the reporters were somewhat bewildered, unsure whether to believe him.

Or rather, to raise questions?
But thinking of Mok's mouth, which could eloquently describe anything, some reporters who wanted to ask more questions kept quiet.

Chairman Moke holds grudges very well.

Seeing the skeptical looks on the reporters' faces, Moke quickly pulled out a data chart from the folder, something he didn't know when he had made.

"Looking at this heat map of movement, Gu Cheng proactively reduced unnecessary movement after the sixth game, precisely calculating the landing distance for each shot."

"He wasn't just wasting his energy; he was managing his energy curve like a strategist. Did you notice when Benneteau's knee gave way? Gu Cheng's serves suddenly focused on the opponent's backhand; this tactical awareness is comparable to a top hunter."

Mok spoke fluently and confidently, revealing no sign of his unease. Many reporters gradually began to believe that Chairman Mok was indeed very knowledgeable about tennis.

In particular, he studied Gu Cheng very thoroughly; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to say so much or produce that table.

What they didn't know was that the chart Mok showed them was just a graph of a player from the Australian Open qualifiers. He had cleverly concealed the upper right corner of the chart, preventing the reporters from seeing it.

"Of course, Gu Cheng is very strong as a top hunter, but the two who are the second seeds are also very strong. Their perseverance impressed me."

When asked about the fierce resistance from the second seed in doubles, Mok's tone turned serious: "Beneteu's change of direction slice in the 8th game actually broke the initial trajectory of the reverse slice, but Gu Cheng's second start speed reached 8.3 meters per second - which is already the reaction threshold of a sprinter."

No one knew where Moke's data came from, but the reporters couldn't voice any doubts at that moment.

"Did you notice Gu Cheng's eyes when the scoreboard showed 40-0? That wasn't the arrogance of someone who had victory in their grasp, but rather the calculation of how to end the match with the fewest moves. That kind of composure is the most terrifying weapon."

Suddenly, a reporter raised their phone: "Mr. Moke, there are rumors circulating on social media that Gu Cheng may participate in singles, doubles, mixed doubles, and youth tournaments simultaneously. Do you think this is physically feasible?"

"I remember I explained this topic when Gu Cheng was invited to participate in the Australian Open main draw, right?"

"However, since everyone still has doubts, let me continue!"

Moke gazed toward the players' tunnel in the distance, a meaningful smile playing on his lips: "When someone can play tennis as an art of fluid dynamics, the limits of physical ability are no longer measured by conventional standards."

"Do you remember him saying 'I'm happy right now'? At the highest level of competition, this pure passion often pushes physiological limits more effectively than creatine kinase."

He paused, his gaze sweeping across the entire arena. "As for whether we can sweep all four titles? I can only say—when the reverse scales cut through the Melbourne sun, all impossibilities are being redefined."

(End of this chapter)