Episode 34: Twist Spin Shot
So, it's Ryoma's turn to play in Singles, his opponent turned out to be none other than Fuji Syusuke's youger brother, Fuji Yuuta. Before the match even started, Ryoma provoked Yuuta by actually saying that hopefully, he would be as skilled as his brother, Syusuke, and we all know how touchy Yuuta becomes when compared or related to his brother. A visible tick appeared on Yuuta's forehead. :)
Meanwhile, on Seigaku's corner, almost all of them are worried for Ryoma. His opponent, as Inui puts it, defeated all his 16 matches against lefties. Inoue even described how advantageous it would be for a lefty when playing a match. This put all the ichinenseis (freshmen) on edge and really worried for Ryoma. Inui even said that if he only knew Ryoma would be facing a lefty, he would have Ryoma play a practice match against Ryoma (well, THEY didn't know better, but WE know they already played each other XD)
So anyway, Yuuta's been the subject of many "ooh"s and "aah"s from the spectators for a while now, rather, him and his Rising Shot. Rising shot returns the ball faster than normal returns since the player would be hitting the ball right after it bounces and before it curves off. Ryoma's been having a tough time since he couldn't play his special net plays. So, Yuuta kept his service game. It's now 1-0 to Yuuta.
Syusuke was surprised to see that his own brother has improved this much and also, his Rising Shot. He knew that Yuuta was suffering because of him. He knew how hurt Yuuta is when people compare him to Yuuta. Yuuta's his own person.
Now, it's Ryoma's turn to serve. He hit a very intense Twist Serve using his left hand which confused Kachiro. However, Katsuo explained to Horio and Kachiro that Ryoma's opponent's a lefty so it would be only be logical if he would hit it using his left hand. However, Yuuta returned his twist serve using a Super Rising (very similar to Rising Shot). Ryoma's twist serve is useless to Yuuta, but you wouldn't know that Yuuta returned that awesome twist serve because of his facial expression. Yuuta's really angry. You ask why? it's because Yuuta knows that Ryoma just tested how good he really is in using his Rising Shot.
To break or to increase some tension. Ryoma just told Yuuta after Yuuta returned one of his twist serve that he played more talented lefties than him. This served to annoy Yuuta more. This time, however, Ryoma used his incredible speed to match Yuuta's Rising Shot and returned all his shots. Yuuta is now on the verge of having an aneurism due to Ryoma's taunting and ability to return his shots. Yuuta thought that it would be the best time to show Ryoma what's he really made of. As Ryoma hit the ball towards him, Yuuta gets into this position and hit a really fast counter-spin ball towards Ryoma.
Ryoma is beyond shocked. The ball just bounced upwards in a tremendous speed (and strength) he couldn't match. Yuuta's Twist Spin Shot finally appeared.