Tezuka
"The Davis Cup?"
Tezuka sat on a bench in the locker room and answered a phone call.
He had just finished training, and his breathing was a little disordered when he asked the question. He hadn't had time to wipe the sweat from his forehead and neck, but even so, he still looked neat and clean, and his tone of voice showed no impatience.
The other party called at a very precise time, clearly indicating that they had some understanding of Tezuka's training schedule and came prepared.
The staff member on the other end of the phone seemed somewhat apologetic: "I'm sorry, Tezuka-kun, this concerns the honor of the next Olympic Games. Although I know your schedule is very full, I still hope you can return to Japan to participate in this competition."
The Davis Cup is the highest honor in international men's team tennis competitions and is known as the "World Cup of tennis".
The title sounds impressive, but few people seem to have heard of this tournament. After all, tennis is a highly professional and individual sport, and team competitions are not very helpful for professional athletes to accumulate experience. Moreover, this tournament does not earn ATP world ranking points, and for top players, it only adds to the burden of the competition, making it a zero-cost-effective event.
For these reasons, the Tennis Association usually arranges for new players to practice.
However, despite its very low profile, the Davis Cup, as a national team event, still has an indirect effect that cannot be ignored: by participating in the competition, participants can gain more Olympic qualification spots.
Simply put, a country initially has only two slots in the Olympic tennis event, with a maximum of four. Therefore, to secure a maximum number of slots, a country must field a national team in at least two Davis Cup tournaments within the first four years of the Olympics.
Key point: [Participation is all that's required].
If the goal is simply to secure a spot, then you only need to participate in two matches, and it doesn't matter whether you advance or not.
So here's the question: This kind of competition is supposed to be a stage for new professional tennis players to show their talents, so why did the Japan Tennis Association have to recall Tezuka, who was far away in Germany and whose world ranking had already risen to the top 5?
Tezuka's professional tennis career started at a high level. He earned enough points within a year to directly enter ATP tournaments that participate in world rankings. He had never participated in the Davis Cup, but he could guess the reason for the invitation call to some extent. The Davis Cup ranking is also related to seeding. National teams with too low rankings in the past four years will lose their Olympic seeding.
In sports competitions, the importance of seeding is self-evident.
The serious problem facing the Japan Tennis Association is that, due to poor decision-making over the past three years, if they are relegated again in this Davis Cup playoff, they will lose their seeding status. This also means that the Japanese team will face a disastrous start to next year's Olympics with a high-intensity schedule.
Since Nanjiro Echizen, Japan has gradually produced more and more players active on the world tennis stage. Especially in the last three years, the so-called "golden generation" of young players has entered the professional tennis world and achieved remarkable results. Previously, the Japan Tennis Association didn't have high hopes for the Olympic rankings; seeding didn't make a significant difference. However, now that their players have secured a place on the world stage, they feel they can give it a shot.
Since it concerned the honor of his country, Tezuka had no reason to refuse, or rather, he had already anticipated this invitation.
The Davis Cup is scheduled for the end of February, and he had previously asked his coach to remove the Mexican Open, which conflicted with it.
The staff of the Tennis Association may not fully understand Tezuka's sense of responsibility. Based on his past work experience, even star players like him are difficult to manage, and Tezuka Kunimitsu is a leading figure among the new generation. Therefore, he prepared a long speech in advance.
He tried his best to persuade Tezuka on the phone: "This playoff is our home game, so it won't put too much strain on Tezuka's body. In addition, we will invite Yukimura, who is in France, and Echizen, who is in the United States, so the pressure of the game will not be too great."
After listening politely to the other person finish their prepared remarks, Tezuka replied simply, "Okay. I will participate."
"Huh?" The staff member was taken aback. He was surprised that the other party had agreed so readily. This overworked office worker, who had often been tormented by arrogant professional tennis players, was moved to tears and excitedly added, "Th-thank you, Tezuka-kun! We will negotiate with the Kiel club regarding compensation for the delay in the ATP schedule, and the association will also provide you with high-value insurance. In addition, as is customary, there will be a week of training camp before the competition. I will send the specific schedule to your team's work email later. Of course, if it is inconvenient for you, Tezuka-kun, you can participate for only two or three days."
In short, as long as Tezuka Kunimitsu can participate in this Davis Cup and secure Japan's seed status, the Japan Tennis Association will take care of everything! They have an indomitable spirit.
Besides the player himself, they also need to deal with the club the player belongs to.
According to the regulations of the German Tennis Federation, all professional players must register with a club to qualify for competition, and only by joining a club can they receive more sophisticated training support.
Tezuka's participation in professional tennis tournaments in Germany necessitates joining a German club.
In principle, players do not need the club's consent to be recalled to their home country for competitions. However, clubs are naturally unwilling to let players waste their precious athletic careers for trivial competitions, and there have been instances where clubs have used this as a pretext to pressure players.
Although the Kiel club, which Tezuka is currently signed with, is not well-known, it still has the same binding force on players. The Japan Tennis Association's concerns are not unfounded, and this was one of their previous worries that Tezuka might refuse.
However, they clearly underestimated Tezuka's influence at the Kiel Club. Tezuka's team had already negotiated with the club on the very day he refused to play in the Mexican Open.
To be practical, whether the club agrees or not is simply a matter of vested interests. Tezuka's current ranking is already a symbol of Kiel's success, and the club's management would never actually suppress Tezuka and harm their own interests over a single match.
However, there was no need to tell the other party any of this. Tezuka simply nodded politely and said, "Thank you for your trouble. I will attend the training camp on time, and the club doesn't need to worry about me."
"Really?! That's great!" The staff member pressed on, "Would it be convenient for you to accept my LINE request? I've created a group chat to facilitate future communication."
"good."
Less than a minute after hanging up the phone, the staff saw in the LINE notification bar that he had added Tezuka Kunimitsu, which gave him confidence for the next two calls!
When he had previously inquired with his senior colleague Inoue, who had switched careers to become a reporter, Inoue had remarked with admiration that the other person was a very gentle person. He had initially thought it was sarcasm, but he was surprised to find that this seemingly cold and aloof basketball king was actually quite easy to get along with. He spoke calmly and decisively, and was very polite. Moreover, the other person was only twenty years old, much younger than him, which made him feel ashamed.
I heard that Tezuka is still studying in Germany. Aren't German university courses supposed to be very rigorous? Will the competition affect his studies?
Before he knew it, he had started to worry about Tezuka like his online fans.
Tezuka's coach, Kerber, was also concerned about his studies.
Seeing that Tezuka had hung up the phone, Kerber, who was leaning against the locker room door replying to messages, said without looking up, "The medical project that your school asked you to be the core observation target can be launched now. With such an authoritative medical team, the club can be completely at ease."
That's good news.
At the end of the semester, Professor Antberg from the Neuroscience Laboratory at Heidelberg University approached Tezuka, hoping that as a professional athlete, he could assist the lab with a motor neuron-related experiment, providing them with monitoring data during training and real-time matches. In return, the lab's data results would be shared with him as supporting data for his dissertation.
For Takazuka, this partnership not only solved his academic problems but also provided him with top-notch medical care, which was one of the conditions that allowed the club to release him.
“That’s great news, but,” Tezuka put away his phone, resisting the urge to facepalm, and stood up to say to his coach, “Kerber, this is the locker room.”
Kobel didn't move, her fingers flying across her phone screen: "There's no one else in your private locker room. You change, I'm not interested in a little kid like you."
Tezuka: "..."
Not hearing any response from him, Kobel urged him impatiently again, "Hurry up, my darling Yodl is waiting for me to come back for dinner."
Over the past three years, Tezuka had grown accustomed to his coach's carefree and absent-minded nature. He pushed up his glasses, shook his head helplessly, walked to the wardrobe, took out a clean set of clothes, and went into the shower room attached to the locker room.
Angelique Kerber, 36, is Tezuka's current head coach.
In terms of professional experience, she is a former German Grand Slam champion with over 15 years of top-level tour experience, making her a very experienced professional tennis veteran. In terms of playing style, Kerber is a well-known "counterattack master" and "defense expert" in women's tennis. Also left-handed, she has incredibly precise control over the placement of her shots and tenacious defensive ability. These characteristics almost perfectly match Tezuka's own playing style.
The only thing that needs to be worked out is the contrasting personalities of the master and apprentice—one introverted, the other extroverted.
Before meeting Kerber in person, Tezuka had only watched her matches. Normally, someone who is good at defense and has a steady playing style should also have a calm personality. It's just that he doesn't know if he can completely let loose after retiring. The former world champion's current personality is completely the opposite of her former playing style.
For example, while waiting for Tezuka, Kerber checked the time several times.
Today is Saturday, and she only needs to train for half a day. She could have gone home immediately after training, but she promised Yodel that she would bring her "Guoguang brother" home for lunch. Now she has to patiently wait for her student to join her. The thought of going to Tokyo on a business trip next week and not seeing her daughter for more than half a month makes her extremely depressed.
Just then, Tezuka, dressed in a black tracksuit and carrying a tennis bag over one shoulder, walked over. He was also holding a wristwatch in his hand and asked with a slight frown, "Kerber, do you know where there's a well-established watch repair shop?"
Kerber looked at the clearly women's watch on his wrist and asked in surprise, "Where did you get this watch?"
"Found it earlier."
Kerber knew his apprentice's personality and knew he was telling the truth, so he didn't press him further.
"It's broken?" She glanced at the watch face—the silver metal strap was well-preserved and still had a luster, but the scratches on it showed that it had been around for quite some time. She reminded her, "These kinds of old-fashioned parts are hard to find. Isn't this a Japanese brand? You can take it back to Japan to get it repaired this time."
Tezuka looked at the stopped hands of his wristwatch and thought of those smiling eyes, and for no reason felt a little uneasy.
When he discovered the hands weren't moving, he went to several repair shops, but they all said they didn't have the matching parts, so he could only try his luck when he returned to China.
With that thought in mind, he put his watch inside his tennis bag and walked outside with Kerber.
After the two had walked for a while, Kerber suddenly thought of something:
"Something you found earlier? He carries around things he finds all the time?"
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