"Let’s keep going!" Katrina had just wanted to have a bit of fun with Shen Yibin, but she never expected to lose a point to someone who had just learned how to hold a racket. Now, she was getting serious.
"Okay, I’m ready!" Shen Yibin gripped his racket tightly. Scoring that point had given him more confidence. He never thought that the Swordsmanship he had practiced with Xiaoliu for so long would actually come in handy on a tennis court. ’Following that logic,’ he thought, ’maybe I can try games like badminton or baseball in the future?’
"BAM!" This time, Katrina brought out her full arsenal. She changed her serving stance, tossed the ball high, and as it began to fall, she leaped up and powerfully swung her racket, smacking the ball over. The speed and angle of this serve far surpassed her previous ones. Even Bianca felt that if she were in Shen Yibin’s place, she’d have a hard time returning it.
’What a beautiful serve!’ Katrina secretly pumped her fist, cheering for herself. This serve had exceeded her normal skill level. In her eyes, Shen Yibin probably wouldn’t even touch the ball. She was going to win the game with an ace!
However, just as the corners of her mouth curved into a smile, it froze before it could fully bloom. With a few sliding steps, Shen Yibin reached the ball’s landing spot, swung his racket, and hit it back. Completely unprepared, Katrina could only watch helplessly as the ball landed inside the line and then bounced away. Shen Yibin had scored a point directly off her pride-and-joy serve.
"Forty-thirty! What a beautiful shot!" Bianca started clapping for Shen Yibin. Ryan and Bernanke, beside her, also began to applaud. For a novice who had just picked up a racket, Shen Yibin’s shot was truly impressive.
"Nn!" Hah’Er joined in, clapping its thick paws together with a dull thud. Seeing its adorable, clumsy appearance, the slightly frustrated Katrina couldn’t help but laugh. She then began another round of serves. However, Shen Yibin was gradually getting used to the tennis racket now. In the following few points, she couldn’t gain any advantage, and despite her large lead, Shen Yibin staged a major comeback and won.
"It’s such a shame. If I had met you more than ten years ago, I definitely would have urged you to become a professional tennis player," Bernanke said, looking at Shen Yibin seriously. He was the most skilled tennis player of the four and had even trained briefly at a professional tennis center when he was younger. Unfortunately, he was cut due to a lack of talent. His eye for the game was still sharp, however, and he had never seen any tennis player improve as quickly as Shen Yibin.
"I’ve practiced some other skills in the past. Perhaps those skills are what’s helping," Shen Yibin said with a shrug. Things weren’t as Bernanke imagined.
"I’ll play you next," Bernanke said. He wanted to see for himself just how high Shen Yibin’s aptitude was, so he picked up his own racket and walked to the other side of the court. "You can serve."
"Uh, I don’t really know how to serve. You should do it!" Shen Yibin tossed the ball Bernanke had thrown him back over the net. He really hadn’t learned how to serve, and the techniques he’d learned from Xiaoliu didn’t seem to be of any use for it.
Bernanke didn’t stand on ceremony and immediately started his service game. He had been playing for far longer than Katrina, and his serves were much faster and had far better angles. Shen Yibin failed to return the first serve properly; the ball hit his racket and flew toward Hah’Er, startling Katrina and the others.
"Nn!" Hah’Er, on the other hand, wasn’t nervous at all. Over the past few days, it had often experienced Shen Yibin hitting fruit in its direction, so it was long used to it. It habitually stretched out its two paws and snatched the tennis ball out of the air.
"Whoa, Kung Fu Panda!" Katrina and the others were so surprised their jaws dropped. They never expected this Panda to have such a trick up its sleeve. No wonder it could play a superhero.
After that little interlude, the two resumed the match. Shen Yibin undoubtedly lost the first game; Bernanke served him a love game. But instead of feeling smug, Bernanke was growing more and more astonished as they played. Shen Yibin’s improvement was simply too fast. For the first point or two, he made an error on every return. But by the last two points of the game, Shen Yibin could already get the ball over the net and even rally with him for one or two exchanges.
"Again!" Shen Yibin was getting more and more into it. He felt that he had begun to figure out some of Bernanke’s techniques over these past few rallies. If they kept playing, he might even be able to win a point off him.
"No problem!" Bernanke didn’t want to end it so soon either, so he took the ball and began serving again. And so, the two began their second game!
"Whoa, Mr. Shen finally scored a point! Congratulations." By the end of the second game, Shen Yibin had finally managed to win a point from Bernanke. His shots still lacked any real technique, but he always managed to get the ball over the net. After a while, Bernanke would occasionally make an error, and that was how Shen Yibin finally got a point.
"Continue?" Bernanke was growing even more interested. He looked at Shen Yibin and asked.
"Of course!" During the last point, Shen Yibin had rallied with him for more than ten exchanges. He felt that he would last even longer in the next game.
First point: Shen Yibin and Bernanke rallied for sixteen exchanges before Bernanke ended it with a volley at the net.
Second point: Shen Yibin and Bernanke rallied for twenty exchanges before Bernanke finished it with a cross-court winner. Shen Yibin gave it his all but couldn’t reach it.
On the third point, it was finally Shen Yibin’s turn to score. The two rallied from the baseline for over thirty exchanges until Bernanke finally made an error, hitting the ball into the net.
As the match continued, the rallies for each point grew longer and longer. Bianca, Katrina, and Ryan could only look at each other in bewilderment. ’Is this a tennis match or a marathon?’ They were just watching the two of them run all over the court.
No matter how tricky the angle Bernanke hit, Shen Yibin could always manage to get to the ball in time and hit it back. However, because his own hitting technique was so one-dimensional, he couldn’t pose any real threat to Bernanke, and his shots were easily returned. One attacked relentlessly only to be blocked at every turn; the other wanted to attack but had no real weapons. And so, the two fell into a stalemate.
"Bianca, what’s the world record for the longest singles match in tennis?" Katrina suddenly asked.
"The first round of Wimbledon in 2010. The American, Isner, defeated the Frenchman, Mahu. The match was played over three days and lasted 11 hours and 5 minutes. Why do you ask?" Bianca looked at Katrina curiously.
"I think if Mr. Bin and Bernanke trained for a little while longer, they’d definitely break that record. Those two have practically turned tennis into a marathon!" Katrina was speechless at the pair of them.