Chapter 207: Forfeit

Kirihara continued to ask like a well-behaved child: "Amadeus's weakness? An overworked shoulder?"

Mifune explained: "Amadeus just finished participating in the professional tour, and the intensity of professional matches is much higher than the U17 World Cup."

"It must have been overused at that time, and he didn't rest well!"

"Just now, Amadeus used 'Shadow' to target Takahashi's right leg; now Takahashi has found Amadeus's weakness and has also started targeting it."

"Giving him a taste of his own medicine!"

"Hahaha!"

Byodoin said in a low voice: "Amadeus is able to find others' weaknesses by relying on his special move, 'Shadow'."

"What does Takahashi rely on to find the weakness of a professional player like Amadeus?"

"What a terrifying middle schooler!"

……

"Bang!"

……

"Bang!"

On the court, Takahashi kept leaping up, hitting Smashes.

And Amadeus kept raising his arm with effort, swinging his racket.

Takahashi's expression was as calm as ever, but Amadeus's face was covered in sweat.

That sweat was not only from the exercise, but even more so the cold sweat brought on by the overuse of his arm.

Watching Takahashi's increasingly agile figure, Amadeus's expression turned gloomy.

Because during this time, he discovered that the Other Dimension seemed to have no consumption for Takahashi, or even if there was, it was not much.

But constantly returning the opponent's Smashes was putting an increasingly heavy burden on his own shoulder.

If this continues, his already overworked shoulder might suffer even more serious damage.

"Thud!"

Amadeus did not receive this ball, letting the tennis ball land.

"3-0!"

"Japan Team scores!"

……

The fourth game was Takahashi's Serve game.

Amadeus's mood was somewhat complicated now; he knew that after losing three consecutive games to his opponent, he had no hope of winning anymore.

Because his special moves had all been cracked by his opponent.

And if he continued to exhaust himself, he would be the first one unable to hold on.

As a professional player, he shouldn't have such self-abandoning thoughts before the match ended.

He should continue to work hard and continue to fight until the very last moment.

But right now, what he also valued was his arm, his future.

As long as his body remained in peak condition, he would still have hope of achieving victory.

The failure of this match, compared to his entire tennis career, was actually not important.

So he was very conflicted right now about whether to continue fighting to the end.

Since this game was Takahashi's Serve game, let him just score with his serve!

As for the next game, he would decide then!

Just as Amadeus was thinking, the tennis ball turned into a streak of light and came toward him.

A simple ball path, relatively ordinary speed, a very easy ball to receive.

A habit carved into his bones made Amadeus raise his arm and successfully return the ball.

The moment he returned it, a familiar sour, numb sensation came from his shoulder again.

Another Power Ball?

……

"Bang!"

……

"Bang!"

Amadeus barely returned the ball; he shook his arm, trying to shake off the sour, numb sensation and the waves of stinging pain in his arm.

"Bang!"

……

"Bang!"

……

Amadeus held the racket with both hands and raised his arm upward with force.

A violent stinging pain struck.

"Clatter!"

The racket fell straight to the ground.

"15-0!"

"Japan Team scores!"

Amadeus looked deeply at Takahashi, his gaze filled with intense wariness and a little bit of fear.

Because just now, he had confirmed that Takahashi was intentionally hitting Power Balls, specifically to force him to use his already overworked arm to a great extent.

Takahashi Yanichi could have completely used the Spiral Serve to score directly just like in the second set, but he chose to prolong the rhythm of the match, continuously hitting various Power Balls, including Smashes, targeting his arm.

Specifically targeting the same muscle, at that.

But how did Takahashi Yanichi discover that his arm was already overly fatigued?

Amadeus was startled, recalling the entire process of the previous set.

He suddenly realized, had Takahashi Yanichi been targeting his arm since that moment?

He had been targeting Takahashi Yanichi's legs throughout the previous set, continuously hitting the super high lob called "Whale," while Takahashi Yanichi used his dimension-transcending ability to amplify his speed, catching the "Whale" while simultaneously hitting a Smash.

In fact, with Takahashi Yanichi's strength, he could have completely chosen Smashes with more devious angles or faster balls to score, but he abandoned speed, and every Smash he hit was directed toward the side of his tennis racket.

Thinking of this, Amadeus's eyes turned gloomy.

He did it on purpose!

While he was targeting him, he had also begun to target him!

So, throughout the entire set just now, the fatigue level of that muscle in his shoulder, which had already been overused, rose in a straight line.

This was not a normal performance, nor a normal expenditure!

It was under Takahashi Yanichi's control!

Even on the last ball, he had already felt a stinging sensation in that shoulder muscle.

Amadeus picked up the tennis racket from the ground and walked to the umpire's chair on the side.

"I forfeit!"

Amadeus's low voice rang out.

Even the umpire, who was accustomed to seeing storms and waves, was shocked by this statement from Amadeus!

A professional player actually voluntarily forfeiting in the U17 World Cup!

After recovering for several seconds, the umpire announced loudly: "Due to the forfeiture of Amadeus from the Switzerland Team, the Japan Team wins!"

Accompanied by the umpire's voice, the entire spectator stand erupted!

"A professional player actually voluntarily forfeiting against an amateur player, he is too shameful!"

"That's right! Normally, it should be the amateur player forfeiting!"

"However, Amadeus has already lost three sets; he probably feels there is no hope of a comeback against the wind, so he just forfeited. This is still better than a professional player losing to a 12-year-old amateur player. Although both are very shameful!"

"This Japan Team player is the one who defeated D Country's Q. P in the exhibition match back then, right! He really is a genius."

"Yes, that's him! Because of him, I bought a ticket for this match. Watching the whole match, it was well worth the ticket price!"

"Not only Q. P, but now even a professional player has lost to him, and he is only 12 years old! My god! I have a feeling the landscape of the world tennis scene will change because of him!"

In a corner of the spectator stand stood the D Country players wearing black team uniforms.

"Let's go, there is no need to watch the subsequent matches."

Borg said.

"I didn't expect Amadeus to actually voluntarily forfeit; it really opened my eyes."

Bismarck said.

"Forfeiting is the best choice for Amadeus at the moment."

Coach Returu explained.

"Why?"

Bismarck asked.

"After all, this is only the group stage. Even if Switzerland loses to Japan, they can still qualify as the second-place team in the group. Moreover, the current record is 2 wins and 1 loss, and it is still uncertain how things will turn out later."

"And Amadeus's arm has been continuously targeted by Takahashi Yanichi. If he were to play the entire match, his arm would definitely be injured. Furthermore, judging by the situation in the previous sets, Amadeus could not win anyway."

"Since he is destined not to win, Amadeus choosing to protect his arm is also a very normal choice for a professional player."

Returu said.

"I didn't expect Takahashi Yanichi to be able to force a professional player to such a point."

"I always feel that compared to the last exhibition match, his strength seems to be even stronger."

Bismarck continued.

"Takahashi Yanichi will definitely be the greatest enemy of our D Country Team in the future!"

Borg said slowly.

And he would also be the greatest enemy of him, Borg!

Borg added in his heart.