The Prince of Tennis Episode 1 Recap
> The Prince of Tennis Recap
On a bus ride to the Persimmon Tree Tennis Park for a match, Qi Ying encountered a self-important Huang Jing, a beginner tennis player, flaunting his grip, almost hitting her. Fortunately, Lu Xia intervened, expertly knocking Huang Jing's racket to the floor. Lu Xia corrected Huang Jing's grip before alighting at the next stop, with Qi Ying following. Huang Jing, engrossed in Lu Xia's words, missed his stop.
While waiting for her aunt, Coach Qi Na, Qi Ying again met Lu Xia. He directly asked for directions, and Qi Ying mistakenly pointed him left. Upon Coach Qi Na's arrival, Qi Ying realized her error and rushed to find Lu Xia, eventually discovering him asleep on the grass. Lu Xia explained that Qi Ying's wrong directions had caused him to miss his match and be disqualified.
Feeling guilty, Qi Ying offered to buy him a drink, but faced payment issues. Lu Xia stepped in, buying two drinks and giving one to Qi Ying. As Lu Xia and Qi Ying prepared to leave, they encountered Huang Jing, who blamed Lu Xia for missing his stop. Qi Ying attempted to intervene but accidentally spilled her drink on Huang Jing. Infuriated by his stained clothes, Huang Jing challenged Lu Xia to a match.
Huang Jing tried to cheat, declaring a ball out when it wasn't, but Lu Xia remained calm, continuing to play perfectly within bounds. In a desperate attempt to return Lu Xia's final shot, Huang Jing lost control of his racket, which struck Lu Xia. Qi Ying rushed to his side, but Coach Qi Na urged her to trust Lu Xia. Despite his injury, Lu Xia used his special move to win the final point, thoroughly intimidating Huang Jing.
Qi Ying, seeing Lu Xia's cool demeanor and incredible skill, developed a burgeoning admiration for him. Coach Qi Na then revealed to a captivated Qi Ying that Lu Xia was a legendary tennis prodigy who had won numerous youth tournaments. The next day at school, Qi Ying was surprised to find Lu Xia was the new transfer student in her class. The teacher, noting their acquaintance, assigned Qi Ying to show Lu Xia around the school.
Lu Xia, however, remained cold and reserved, showing little interest in anything beyond finding a place to play tennis. After school, A Mu, a member of the tennis team, tried to recruit Lu Xia, but Lu Xia walked away without a word. Qi Ying caught up to him, introduced herself, and attempted to show him around, but Lu Xia, though walking alongside her, only cared about suitable tennis locations.
Later, Lu Xia went to a tennis bookstore, briefly browsed, and then went home. In the locker room, A Mu accidentally spilled a drink, staining Huang Jing's jersey. Fearing Huang Jing's wrath, A Mu fled. Discovering his soiled jersey, Huang Jing went to the court and, seeing Lu Xia drinking a beverage, immediately accused him.
Just as Huang Jing intended to confront Lu Xia, the main players of the Yuqing Middle School tennis team arrived, their impressive presence momentarily distracting Huang Jing. Later, Huang Jing spotted Lu Xia's racket and hid it, then summoned Lu Xia to the practice room for a session. Upon Lu Xia's arrival without his racket, Huang Jing seized the opportunity to challenge him, providing Lu Xia with a damaged racket.
Despite the initial difficulty of controlling the ball with the broken racket, Lu Xia quickly adapted, demonstrating his extraordinary skill by effortlessly returning Huang Jing's shots, overwhelming him. Meanwhile, Qi Ying, eager for Lu Xia to participate in the school's internal ranking competition, presented Coach Qi Na with a hair tie as a "birthday gift" to subtly request Lu Xia's inclusion.
Coach Qi Na, already aware of the qualifier list and excited by it, directed Qi Ying to speak with the team captain, Mu Siyang. However, Mu Siyang coldly refused Qi Ying's plea. Huang Jing and Ma Xiuwen occupied the tennis training court, refusing to let A Mu practice unless he passed their "test." A Mu, falling for Huang Jing's trick, ended up owing him ten drinks.
As A Mu angrily confronted Huang Jing, Lu Xia suddenly appeared, knocking over Huang Jing's bottle, further infuriating him. Huang Jing was about to settle past grievances with Lu Xia when Qiao Chen, a senior member of the tennis team, intervened, stopping them and sending Huang Jing and Ma Xiuwen to the disciplinary office. Intrigued by Lu Xia's outer spin serve, Qiao Chen challenged him to a match, allowing Lu Xia to serve first.
After a few powerful serves, Qiao Chen discerned Lu Xia's formidable strength. At this point, Lu Xia switched to his dominant hand, prompting Qiao Chen to immediately concede. Qiao Chen realized Lu Xia had intentionally used his non-dominant hand out of consideration for Qiao Chen's leg injury, and felt relieved that they weren't grouped together in the ranking competition. Coach Qi Na officially returned to school, commanding great respect as the mentor of Yuqing's exceptional players.
She immediately reorganized the school team, personally taking charge of guiding the unruly Huang Jing. The school's ranking list was later released, with Lu Xia ranked first. Huang Jing, already reeling from being punished with a 2000-word self-reflection and cleaning duties, was further dismayed to discover that the "annoying old lady" he had previously offended was none other than Coach Qi Na herself. The ultimate blow came when he learned that Lu Xia, whom he despised, had secured the top rank in the school qualifiers, leaving him utterly dejected.
