Chapter 38: Expanding the Arsenal

The opponent kept hitting deep, forcing Jiang Hong to retreat for defense. Continuing to play this way was highly disadvantageous for him; he would inevitably crumble sooner or later. He had to change his tactics. Attempting a drop shot against such heavy, deep-court returns carried too high a risk of failure, so Jiang Hong abandoned that idea.

His eyes flickered. As the ball soared toward him, he suddenly executed a lob. Faced with the lob, Dehille had no way to return it with a power shot and was forced to use a backhand underspin.

"Now!"

Jiang Hong reached the landing spot, and as the ball bounced to his waist level, he suddenly unleashed a backhand side-spin shot. The unexpected drop shot caught Dehille completely off guard.

15:15!

"Great shot!"

Watching from the stands, several spectators who had been holding their breath against Dehille’s "cannon" serves erupted in cheers the moment Jiang Hong secured the point. The immersive experience of being court-side was incomparable to watching on television. After all, when facing a foreign player, there is an instinctive hope for the home-grown athlete to prevail.

Zhang Long, watching from the sidelines, felt more than ever that his own loss to Jiang Hong was far from unjust. Both in technique and tactical acumen, Jiang Hong was leagues ahead of him.

"A drop shot?" Dehille was surprised. Lower-ranked players usually focused on mastering a single specialty; it was unlikely they could be proficient in everything. If someone seemed good in every aspect, they were often mediocre at best. Based on the first service game, Dehille had assumed Jiang Hong was a serve-based player like himself. He hadn't expected Jiang Hong’s touch game to be so refined.

"How could a player with such excellent technique have no world ranking?" Dehille now found himself hoping that Jiang Hong’s level was actually higher. That way, losing wouldn't be as embarrassing, and it would explain why they hadn't crossed paths in the opening rounds.

Dehille quickly adjusted his mindset, and the two began a fierce struggle. The score soon reached 3:2, 30:40. It was Dehille's service game, and he continued to rely on his heavy cannon serves. Perhaps as he grew into the rhythm, his movement speed even increased. The ball struck the court like lightning, slamming into the second zone in front of Jiang Hong.

Before the ball even touched the ground, Jiang Hong had already arrived at the landing spot. He turned his body sideways and swung his racket, returning the ball to the center line. Dehille moved and swung in turn. Jiang Hong maintained his rapid positioning, and the two traded shots in close quarters, neither opting for wide-angled cross-court shots. Because the speed of the ball was so high, even a minor mistake on a wide-angle change would send the ball out of bounds.

The two fell into a long, grueling rally. Jiang Hong frowned, thinking, "This won't do. I played two matches just yesterday; if this turns into a test of endurance, I'm at a disadvantage."

Facing Dehille's return, Jiang Hong suddenly stood firm half a meter from the ball's landing spot. His entire body remained as still as a post, his arm straightened and then whipped out like a lash.

"Bang!"

The ball took a 45-degree turn, screaming vertically along the sideline toward the corner of the opponent's half. Dehille’s expression changed as he saw the trajectory, and he immediately accelerated. He lunged toward the corner, split his legs, and stretched out his arm to swing the racket. He managed to save what seemed like a dead ball!

Jiang Hong saw the return, but because it was rushed, the angle was high and the pace slow.

*Scrape, scrape, scrape.* His shoes bit into the court. Jiang Hong rushed to the net. Just as the ball crossed the line, he reached out and delivered a powerful, heavy smash into the open half of the court.

"A volley!" Dehille’s eyes widened, but having chased down the previous shot, he was unwilling to give up. He dashed to the right and managed to return the ball just before it hit the ground a second time.

Jiang Hong didn't relax for a second. Seeing the ball returned, he shifted two steps to the side, flicked his wrist, and effortlessly sliced the ball over. This time, Dehille watched as the ball bounced and sailed out of bounds.

4:2! Jiang Hong had successfully broken the serve.

Dehille’s power serves were incredibly draining, and those consecutive extreme saves had pushed his stamina to the brink. After these rounds, Dehille found his opponent particularly headache-inducing. Not only was his forehand impeccable, but his backhand also kept him under tight pressure. Furthermore, during the long rallies, Jiang Hong frequently shifted tactics, catching him off guard.

Having trained both his forehand and backhand extensively, Jiang Hong’s judgment of the ball's path was incredibly precise, leaving almost no room for unforced errors.

When it was Jiang Hong’s turn to serve, although he lacked the raw power of his opponent, his placement was devilishly precise. Combined with Dehille’s fading stamina, the difficulty of returning the serve skyrocketed. In just three minutes, Jiang Hong successfully held his serve. The score hit 5:2.

During the changeover, Jiang Hong sat in the rest area and took a bite of a banana. His mind was calm. Though his opponent’s serve was formidable, as long as he could successfully return it, he had the means to dismantle his opponent using his diverse arsenal.

The brief 60 seconds flashed by, and the two returned to the court.

"Bang!"

Jiang Hong dashed to the landing spot and swung his racket to return the serve.

"Hm?"

As his racket struck the ball, Jiang Hong realized that while the serve was still fast, it was far from the pace at the start of the match. It seemed the opponent’s stamina was failing.

"Strike while the iron is hot!"

Jiang Hong knew he had the opportunity to end the match with a winner, but he chose not to. Instead, he kept changing the lines, forcing his opponent to run back and forth. Since Jiang Hong’s angle changes weren't extreme, Dehille could reach them if he kept moving, forcing him into a grueling shuttle run.

"Bang!"

Jiang Hong kept maneuvering him until Dehille failed to reach the ball, stumbling and nearly falling to the ground, his swing missing the air entirely. Such unforced errors indicated his stamina had reached its limit.

Dehille’s subsequent serves confirmed this, with the speed dropping to around 160 km/h. Jiang Hong didn't hold back, immediately using his forehand technique to apply pressure deep in the court. With his stamina so severely depleted, Dehille would commit a forced error within two shots.

Ultimately, on Dehille’s own service game, Jiang Hong completed a reverse love game, taking the first set 6:2.

The 120-second break between sets was nowhere near enough for Dehille to recover. In the second set, even with his prized serve, he managed to hold only one game. Jiang Hong used a serve-and-volley play to seal the victory of the entire match.

Watching from the stands, Zhang Long had only one thought: "How brutal." He couldn't believe he had actually managed to win a few games against this monster.

Soon, however, his gaze returned to the court.

"Fuck..."

Dehille was spewing obscenities, hunching over and swinging his arms, repeatedly smashing his racket into the ground to vent his frustration. Throughout the match, he had felt like he couldn't unleash his full strength, as if he were trying to swat a mosquito with a cannon.

Jiang Hong watched his opponent’s actions and pondered one question: "If he ruins the court, will the tournament committee make him pay for the damages?"