The next day.

At the Qinzhou Sports Center, before a tennis match sponsored by a certain sports brand, Han Qi, dressed in professional athletic gear, yawned long and hard, sporting faint dark circles under his eyes.

“Darn it.”

He was feeling a bit sleepy.

Despite Han Qi’s strong will to turn off the lights and sleep last night, he was frustrated to find his mind filled with thoughts about the plot of “Prince of Tennis” after the lights went out. The more he thought about it, the harder it was to fall asleep, and he drifted off into a hazy slumber without knowing how long it took.

“Get ready.”

The coach’s voice rang out.

After warming up, Han Qi finally took to the court.

This was a medium-scale tennis match within Qinzhou, where winning or losing wasn’t of utmost importance. However, Han Qi didn’t want to lose today because his friends were in the audience watching him, and he didn’t want to embarrass himself in front of them.

Amidst the cheers of the audience.

The tennis match began!

Han Qi’s opponent was a seasoned veteran with impressive skills, who initially suppressed Han Qi in terms of score. This was partly due to Han Qi not having rested well the previous night, leading to a lack of focus today.

“Stay calm.”

Han Qi reminded himself.

Sports rely on both skill and stamina. While the veteran’s experience was rich, his stamina couldn’t keep up with the younger Han Qi, and the power of his tennis strokes gradually weakened.

After regaining his focus.

Han Qi caught up in the score.

Both sides gradually entered a stalemate.

When the overall skill levels are not vastly different, the latter part of the match often comes down to the players’ willpower and mindset, which is different from the flashy and stylish descriptions in “Prince of Tennis”—

I’m really going crazy!

Why am I thinking about it again!

I’m still in the middle of a match!

Forcing himself to suppress these strange thoughts, Han Qi was almost entangled with his opponent. The outcome was highly suspenseful, keeping the audience engrossed and the commentators eagerly speculating on the match’s direction.

“It’s truly unpredictable.”

The commentator exclaimed excitedly, “Han Qi didn’t seem to be in good form at the start, but as the match progressed, he gradually found his rhythm. Han Qi’s opponent is a veteran, and we can see how the veteran uses experience and wisdom to play tennis despite his lack of stamina…”

Panting heavily.

The match reached the half-hour mark.

The sixth game was the match point, also the deciding game. The previous games had ended in a tie, and the balance of the match depended on this game. Both sides played very conservatively, avoiding reckless attacks due to the high risk involved.

“Thud!”

Han Qi lost a point.

His disadvantage was instantly magnified.

His opponent, despite being exhausted, couldn’t hide a smile. The final outcome of this game became clear with Han Qi’s lost point.

“Am I going to lose?”

At this moment, Han Qi thought of “Prince of Tennis” again, which described many different match scenarios, including situations similar to Han Qi’s: “What would Long Ma do?”

Han Qi thought he was going crazy.

There were too many ideal scenarios in the book, and many moves were more for show than practicality. But even crazier, during his next serve, he inexplicably shouted:

“Twist Serve!”

This wasn’t a conventional front serve. Han Qi chose a side serve as described in “Prince of Tennis,” swiftly slicing the ball with his racket and using a sudden twist of his forearm to powerfully hit the ball.

His opponent was caught off guard.

As the tennis ball bounced out of bounds, Han Qi scored a big point, and the entire venue erupted. The commentator’s voice was filled with excitement and astonishment: “A beautiful spin serve, an ACE!”

In tennis.

An ACE is a serve where the ball lands in the valid area, but the opponent fails to touch it, resulting in a direct point. If the opponent touches the ball but it goes out of bounds or into the net, it’s simply called a service point, not an ACE.

“I won!”

Amidst countless cheers.

Han Qi’s face turned bright red. He had actually shouted it out, akin to two kids fighting, with one suddenly striking a ridiculous pose and shouting “Kamehameha.”

The level of embarrassment was off the charts!

Fortunately, no one around seemed to hear his shout, as everyone was busy cheering for his serve. Only the referee might have heard it, judging by the strange look in his eyes.

Teammates rushed up to celebrate.

Back in the locker room, the coach looked at Han Qi with surprise and curiosity: “When did you start practicing spin serves? Your serving style is so unusual that your opponent didn’t anticipate the direction of your serve at all.”

“You might not believe it if I told you.”

Han Qi replied with a peculiar expression, “I learned it from reading.”

Everyone burst into laughter, assuming Han Qi was joking.

But during the reporter interview session, when asked about his thoughts on the final serve, Han Qi mentioned the book again in front of his teammates: “I’ve been reading a book called ‘Prince of Tennis’ recently. It’s written very professionally, so I got some inspiration during the match. Of course, there was an element of luck in that serve, and my opponent deserves respect.”

Reporter: “…”

Teammates: “…”

The sports reporters were bewildered, and Han Qi’s teammates suspected he had been paid to advertise “Prince of Tennis.”

However, keen literary authors wouldn’t miss such a great piece of material.

The next day, one of the hot news topics in Qinzhou’s literary newspapers was:

“Famous professional tennis player Han Qi claims he’s also reading the youth fantasy ‘Prince of Tennis’ and has learned some professional tennis moves from it.”

The news shocked many readers of “Prince of Tennis”!

“Is it true?”

“Even professional tennis players say ‘Prince of Tennis’ is written professionally. I used to think the various tennis moves described in the book were just made up by Chu Kuang. This is truly remarkable.”

“I like ‘Prince of Tennis’ even more now.”

“Isn’t the most amazing thing that Han Qi is actually learning moves from ‘Prince of Tennis’?”

“Haha, that must be a joke.”

“It’s not entirely a joke. During yesterday’s tennis match at the Qinzhou Sports Center, Han Qi’s final killer serve was practically a replica of the Twist Serve. The only difference is that Long Ma is left-handed, while Han Qi used his right hand!” said a reader who watched the match.

Subsequently.

Many readers with some knowledge of tennis also confirmed through various channels that the tennis knowledge in “Prince of Tennis” was indeed very professional.

No one in the industry could have anticipated.

A professional tennis player would have such a near-breaking-the-fourth-wall connection with “Prince of Tennis,” leading to increased reader attention for the book—

Achieving a dream collaboration!

And with this fourth-wall-breaking dream collaboration, the sales of “Prince of Tennis” surged once again!