Who would still play tennis after being reborn?

Chapter 31 Could that kid also be a student from No. 1 High School?
Yu Xinjie stood on the court, his hand holding the ball trembling slightly.

Zhang Ming noticed his nervousness, adjusted his headset, and said with a smile, "Don't be nervous, we're just playing casually, just play to your usual level."

"Mm." Yu Xinjie nodded, but he was still a little nervous.

"Want to win?"

Zhang Ming seemed to have guessed what Yu Xinjie was thinking, and then said, "Wanting to win is a good thing, especially when facing a stronger opponent. Wanting to win can further motivate you, but I think putting too much pressure on yourself is not good."

"As a professional player ranked 147th in the world, I'm not bragging, but to put it arrogantly, you have absolutely no chance of getting a single point from me."

Yu Xinjie smiled wryly, but did not refute.

Even the students watching didn't say anything.

Li Yang, however, defended Yu Xinjie and remarked, "That's quite arrogant of you to say."

"He hasn't even gotten a single point. Old Yu's skills aren't bad either, okay?"

Although Li Yang was terrible at both sports and academics, he had seen Yu Xinjie play tennis and thought he was definitely not bad. He believed that beating Zhang Ming was a pipe dream and impossible.

But... surely we shouldn't end up with absolutely no points!

Li Yang looked indignant.

"If you don't understand, shut your mouth." Gu Cheng gave him an annoyed look.

Li Yang said dejectedly, "I'm telling the truth!"

"Do you also think that Lao Yu won't get a single point?"

Gu Cheng looked at the two people on the field without explaining.

Does this need to be said?
The gap in skill between an amateur tennis enthusiast and a world-class professional player is unimaginable, and Zhang Ming's statement is not an exaggeration.

If a professional player who can make it into the main draw of the four Grand Slam tournaments doesn't even have that much confidence when facing an amateur, then they shouldn't be playing professionally.

"Take a deep breath, and remember, stay calm."

Zhang Ming was teaching Yu Xinjie how to ease his tension, and then said into the headset, "Serve, I'll try to play a few more points with you, after all, if we don't hold back at all, a game of receiving serves will be over very quickly."

The audience burst into laughter at these words.

"However, I'm wearing a headset, which definitely affects my performance to some extent. If you really have the ability, you might actually be able to get a point from me."

That's what he said, but Zhang Ming didn't look like he was about to lose points at all.

Clearly, in his world, there's no way he could lose points against a high school student.

The gap between amateur and world-class professional players is larger than imagined.

This was a complete and utter defeat.

Whether it's skill, power, or understanding of tennis, the two are not on the same level.

After hearing Zhang Ming's words, Yu Xinjie took a deep breath and served what he believed to be a serve with peak speed and power into Zhang Ming's service area.

"The serve speed is good, but the angle is a bit off. I can't score points with a serve like that."

Zhang Ming appeared casual, taking two steps to the right and pressing the tennis ball towards Yu Xinjie's backhand corner with his forehand.

Yu Xinjie quickly caught up and barely managed to receive the ball, but his breathing became disordered due to running back and forth.

Seeing this, Zhang Ming didn't play such a tricky shot next, but instead chose the middle line.

Now, it was much easier for Yu Xinjie to receive the ball.

After gritting his teeth and fighting back, Yu Xinjie shouted, "Senior Zhang Ming, don't hold back. I want to see how long I can last."

Zhang Ming was taken aback: "Are you sure?"

Yu Xinjie nodded emphatically: "Confirmed."

Zhang Ming's face darkened: "Then... so be it."

As he spoke, Zhang Ming's hands did not stop moving at all. The racket in his hand was like an extended arm, covering the tennis ball that Yu Xinjie hit. Before Yu Xinjie could run back, he pressed it directly to the baseline.

call out!
The tennis ball flew towards Yu Xinjie's half of the court.

boom!
Then it slammed hard into the ground and flew out of the arena.

Everyone was stunned for a moment, and Yu Xinjie stood there in a daze.

"Should I slow down?"

Zhang Ming asked the question.

"No need, this is fine..."

Yu Xinjie's tone was unexpectedly firm.

Yeah, and he's also a bit of a show-off.

Yu Xinjie served the second ball, and Zhang Ming no longer held back, hitting a forehand down the baseline, followed by a tennis volley to win the second point.

For the third point, Yu Xinjie used a serve-and-volley approach.

But Zhang Ming had clearly seen through this little trick, and with a lob, he easily scored the third point, bringing the score to 40-0.

Seeing this, Li Yang remained silent.

Zhang Ming demonstrated what a world-class professional player is by showing his skill. He said Yu Xinjie couldn't get a single point, and he really couldn't get a single point.

Complete dominance. On his final serve, perhaps due to excessive nervousness, Yu Xinjie made two consecutive unforced errors, allowing Zhang Ming to easily break his serve.

1-0, Zhang Ming is in the lead.

When it was Zhang Ming's turn to serve, he delivered a serve that combined speed and power with a tricky angle, securing an ace for Yu Xinjie.

"Really? That was an ace, wasn't it?"

"Amazing!"

A gasp of surprise came from the sidelines.

Li Yang, who had been stubborn and unconvinced before, fell silent this time and could only say dejectedly, "Old Yu is too unhelpful; he can't even catch the ball."

"Why don't you go?" Zhou Xiao said speechlessly, "It's already quite impressive that Lao Yu can play two balls with Zhang Ming. You know, he's a world-class professional player."

"It's like asking me to play against top NBA players; the gap is too big, and the outcome is no surprise."

Li Yang: "..."

The rest of the match was one-sided. Although Yu Xinjie managed to return a few of Zhang Ming's serves, the overwhelming strength of Zhang Ming meant that the game ended in silence in less than three minutes.

"I can see that your movements are very standard."

After the match, Zhang Ming gestured to Yu Xinjie not to leave the court immediately, pointing out some of his problems: "Actually, you don't need to worry about your hitting method, whether it's forehand or backhand. Look at the top 100 professional players in the world, and you'll find that there are 100 different hitting methods. As long as you follow the basic techniques, the hitting method is not important. The key is whether the hit is effective."

"Have you seen the match between Federer and Nadal?"

Yu Xinjie was slightly taken aback, then nodded.

"Federer's forehand and Nadal's forehand both adhere to the basic principles of the technique, but their hitting methods are almost completely different."

Zhang Ming patiently explained: "In fact, when Nadal first debuted, his hitting style was very special. Many people said that his movements were problematic, but for him, that kind of hitting style was very effective."

"Understand?"

"There's no need to strive for perfection. As long as your basic movements are correct, then just hit the ball in whatever way is most effective. Go back and think it over carefully. Once you've figured it out, your skills will definitely improve, if not drastically."

"Thank you."

Zhang Ming smiled and nodded, signaling the next student to enter.

Compared to Yu Xinjie, who was the first to go on stage, Wu Yifei, who was the second to go on stage, was obviously more nervous.

He had watched the game from the sidelines. Yu Xinjie's skill was no worse than his. Since the opponent didn't score a single point, he probably wasn't much better off.

However, being shut out by a professional player is not shameful.

As expected, Wu Yifei's situation was similar to Yu Xinjie's; he was also defeated 2-0 by Zhang Ming.

Like Yu Xinjie, Zhang Ming also shared some of his questions with Wu Yifei.

One by one, the students who had signed up entered the venue, and then soon left dejectedly with their rackets.

Yu Xinjie didn't watch from the sidelines. After Wu Yifei's match ended, he found Gu Cheng and the others in the crowd.

"Acheng, you really should have signed up. World-class professional players have a truly unique eye, something many coaches can't do." Yu Xinjie looked at him with regret.

He benefited greatly from his recent match against Zhang Ming.

The difference in vision and skill between top professional players and tennis coaches is enormous.

Zhang Ming has the opportunity to play against top professional players in the tennis world, something that coaches at tennis halls don't have, and it's even difficult for them to meet.

"Well played." Gu Cheng gave him a thumbs up.

"Sigh, being shut out is bad enough, we're lucky we didn't embarrass our Class Two." Despite saying that, Yu Xinjie didn't show any frustration about losing the game.

It's normal to lose when your opponent is a world-class professional player.

"Are you really not going to give it a try? Go talk to Teacher Wei now, and given Zhang Ming's character, he probably won't refuse."

"let me see."

"Ah."

While the two were talking, Li Yang suddenly shouted, "Xia Zhitong is coming on stage."

Ok?
Wearing a white tennis outfit, Xia Zhitong immediately became the focus of everyone's attention the moment she stepped onto the court.

Xia Zhitong looks so ethereal in her sporty style; in Gu Cheng's words, she's so youthful and radiant.

"Is it a girl?"

Zhang Ming was somewhat surprised.

I played a dozen or twenty matches against guys, but I never expected that the last match would be against a girl.

However, Zhang Ming quickly realized what was happening. Liu Xing, who was standing next to him, almost popped his eyes out when he saw Xia Zhitong. He paused for a moment, then quickly ran behind Zhang Ming and whispered while handing him water, "It's her."

Zhang Ming looked at Liu Xing in surprise: "You know him?"

"You've seen it."

"Have I seen it?"

Liu Xing rubbed his forehead: "Gu Cheng's girlfriend, the girl who sat there watching the game last time."

Zhang Ming finally remembered something, but after taking another look, he almost fainted: "Could that kid also be a student from No. 1 High School?"

(End of this chapter)