[Comprehensive] First Love Trainee

After going to Germany that year, Tezuka received half a year of professional training. Afterwards, he began to emerge from the NEC World Youth Cup. He became famous as a teenager and steadily accumulated records.At the age of 17, he successfully reached the semi-finals in the Australian Open youth group, and won the men's singles runner-up in the Wimbledon youth group the following year. In the same year, he defeated the Romanian player Adrian in the U.S. Open Youth Championship. Men's singles champion.Also in November of the same year, he participated in the Sunshine Cup held in Florida, USA, and transferred to the adult group at the end of the year after winning the championship.

At the age of 18, he successfully entered the semi-finals of the men's singles at the Australian Open, but lost to the Swiss ball king Monte Calkin, and failed to enter the finals, but his points have made great progress.In the Grand Slam of the same year, he stopped in the quarter-finals at the French Open, reached the finals at Wimbledon, and entered the semi-finals at the US Open. By the end of the year, his ATP year-end points had risen to No. 5 in the world.

At the age of 19, he won the first Australian Open championship in his life, but his old injury recurred in the semi-finals of the French Open that year. He had to give up continuing the competition and returned to Munich for a year-long rehabilitation training and treatment.Many believed that the rising tennis star would, like so many players, be plagued by injuries and eventually become a short-lived meteor.

But a year later, Tezuka overcame his injury and made a strong comeback at the U.S. Open that year, winning the championship in one fell swoop and maintaining this momentum into the second year.Starting from the Australian Open, he swept the field and won consecutive championships in Indian Wells, Miami and Monte Carlo.This terrible momentum did not stop until the French Open final met the Spanish player Nadick, who is known as the "King of Clay" and has won the French Open champion for 7 consecutive times.

After losing in the □□ Hands Cup, Tezuka Kunimitsu remained undiminished, winning consecutive Wimbledon and US Open championships that year, and winning the Cincinnati and Shanghai Masters championships.This means that in the same year, he personally won three Grand Slam championships, one Grand Slam runner-up, and five ATP5 Masters series championships.In the subsequent ATP year-end finals, he maintained the impact that shook the structure of the world's men's singles tennis world, and won the ATP year-end finals championship that year.

This year, his world ranking rose to second, second only to the Swiss king Monte Calkin.

At the age of 23, he won the fourth Norman Brooks Challenge Cup in Melbourne, reached the top of Wimbledon twice, won the second U.S. Open championship, and also won 1000 compulsory events in the ATP8 series except Madrid 7 other Masters titles.Except for being blocked by Nadik in the semi-finals of the French Open, Tezuka had almost no defeats in a year, like a powerful tornado, which blatantly changed the pattern of men's singles tennis in the world for a long time.

He ended Culkin's 310-week world ranking and became the ruler of the new generation of men's singles. The 23-year-old No. [-] in the world is never young. In the tennis world where European and American players dominate, this handsome Asian young man has attracted the attention of the whole world.

So far, he has been ranked No. 164 in the world for [-] weeks, and every year he silently demonstrates his absolute domination of the men's singles tennis world with far ahead points.

In recent years, Maki and Tezuka have not deliberately contacted each other. Under the pressure of schoolwork, Maki has never watched any of Tezuka's games.News about him can be seen from time to time in the news reports. After all, he is the most potential player in Japan after "Samurai" Echizen Nanjiro. Of course, the media is very concerned about him, and Maki also knows a lot of news intentionally or unintentionally.

Tezuka’s shoulder injury recurred and the French Open was withdrawn from the French Open. It was the second year Maki entered Cambridge. When she read the news, she was familiarizing herself with the anatomy knowledge of the mannequin, and accidentally twisted the neck of the mannequin. .

Later, Maki found out the address of the Tezuka Rehabilitation Institute through Atobe—fortunately or unfortunately, it was still the one from last time.She then sent Tezuka a gift of encouragement without signing her name.

That is the back view of him leaving the U-17 joint camp and walking farther and farther away from the gate of the base in the dancing small snowflakes.Maki drew a simple sketch with her memory. Behind the drawing paper, she wrote a poem by the American poet Frost.

It's called "The Road Not Taken".

"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and it's a pity that I can't travel both.

I stood at that intersection for a long time, and I looked as far as I could toward a road until it disappeared into the depths of the jungle.

But I chose another road. The wild grass is luxuriant, lonely and lonely, which is more attractive and full of beauty.

Although there are few traveler's footprints on these two trails,

Although there were fallen leaves all over the ground that morning, there were no footprints on the two roads.

But I know that the path is endless, and I am afraid it will be difficult to turn back and look back.

Maybe years from now somewhere, I'll look back and sigh,

Two paths diverged in a wood, and I-- I took the one less traveled by,

From then on, the path of my life was determined. "

Along with the letter, there was also a small handmade amulet that she made by herself, inside which was stuffed a small tennis racket specially bought from a store next to Wimbledon's Center Court.

Although there is no signature, but the familiar handwriting, the past events that only two people know, and even the tactful encouragement that fits the two people's personalities, let Tezuka know who the sender is as soon as he opens the express.

The relapse of old injuries and having to retire temporarily made him very frustrated.Traveling alone in a foreign country, facing the troubles of injuries, the turmoil of public opinion, and the pressure of rehabilitation, even if Tezuka has always been strong-willed, he does not consider himself a weak person. Bring him to the brink.

In the dead of night, he even inevitably wondered a few times, can he return to the game?Can he really, still have a chance to continue fighting?

He has always brought the omamori that Maki asked for from Sensoji Temple.In those late nights when he was almost unable to hold himself, Tezuka deeply understood the fear that Maki used to have for the first time, rubbing the little mormori in his palm.

With his self-esteem, of course he is somewhat resistant to letting the people he likes see such a desolate state.But after receiving the drawings and poems sent by Maki, knowing that she not only understands his current situation, but also tactfully gives him encouragement and support, the warmth of regaining courage in his heart once overwhelmed his boring self-esteem.

Because he was too stubborn and eager for quick success, he made more haste than he wanted. He made this mistake once, and it will never happen again in the future.Just like what is said in the poem, the road is chosen by oneself, knowing that the grass is luxuriant but lonely, he still left, why not persist to the end?

To get such proper encouragement at such a time, even if we don't meet each other, is a precious wealth in life.Tezuka opened the mouth of the handmade gomori bag, poured out the molded tennis racket inside, and smiled for the first time in many days.

He saw the only line in Mimori that Maki himself said to him-"My mentor told me, no matter what you do, never worry that it will be too late, never lose confidence, never get carried away, and finally, always Don't be afraid of being alone. This is the awareness of dedicating yourself to the medical career, and now I want to share with you. I don't want you to choose an easier path for any reason."

In the later stage of his recovery, Maki won an opportunity to exchange with his teacher at the University of Munich.

The schedule is very tight, there is a lot of learning content, and the chores to be arranged and contacted as a student are also very complicated.

But she still took two hours to see him at the rehabilitation base.

In the year since she sent the letter, they have been in contact by email intermittently. Most of them unilaterally sent each other a few words about what happened around them. They didn't expect an immediate reply, and they didn't chat frequently.

Just like the status of occasionally posting on social platforms, the content of the emails between the two is short and inconsistent. They usually go to work on their own affairs after sending them. In many cases, it takes several days before they are opened after replying to other emails. Read the reply letter from the other party.

At that time, his rehabilitation had been quite effective, he was undergoing recovery training, and was preparing to come back at the US Open in a few months, and Maki’s undergraduate credits were basically completed, and he could enter the master’s research course after completing the exchange. .The two sat on the side of the court at the rehabilitation base, watching an ongoing practice match.

That is the German tennis player Schulz and his coach who are recovering here after a torn cruciate ligament in his left knee.Schultz's rehabilitation has also reached a certain stage, and he needs to increase the duration of sparring to restore his hand feeling.

Seeing Tezuka sitting on the sidelines, he even greeted him to leave the field together, but Tezuka refused with a smile.

Schultz was not reluctant, seeing Maki sitting with Tezuka, he showed him a somewhat understanding and joking smile.Tezuka saw what he meant, smiled and said nothing.

Their relationship is difficult to explain to others.He's never been a talkative guy either.

Maki's time was limited, and he didn't stay in the rehabilitation base for long, and the two of them hardly spoke.However, they don't feel awkward or difficult to each other. Although the relationship between the two cannot be defined accurately, what is certain is that they have tacitly maintained the distance at a critical point.

If you have to say it, it seems that you can face your feelings more truthfully than when you are in a relationship, and accept the support and help from the other party calmly.

Boring self-esteem retreated a shot.

From the beginning to the end of this short meeting, they only said to Tezuka "waiting for your return" when Maki left the base and wanted to get into a taxi.

At that time, he didn't speak, just nodded.

Four months later, he used his performance at the US Open to announce to the world that Tezuka Kunimitsu will never be knocked down.

On the night when he rose to No. [-] in the world ranking and won the year-end finals, he left early from the celebration banquet and came to Chelsea in the wet and cold rain of London's winter.Just as he was about to make a phone call to Maki, the medical helicopter broke through the rain and landed on the tarmac in Brompton. The strong wind from the propellers made it almost impossible to stand still.Tezuka saw Maki jumping out of the helicopter, wearing only a thin emergency suit, braving the freezing rain and pushing out the stretcher bed in the cabin with a white doctor.

They didn't open umbrellas, and while pushing the stretcher bed, they ran quickly across the runway in front of the apron, and explained their condition loudly in English to the doctor who came out from inside.

Tezuka was far away and couldn't hear clearly. He could only vaguely hear tourists who seemed to be hiking in the mountains. They were hit by falling stones due to the weather. The medical terms in the middle were too difficult to grasp. In short, they needed immediate surgery.

They hurried past him, the lights of the hospital hall shone on their faces, so they couldn't make out their faces because of the night.

But everyone was so focused on the life that needed to be saved right now that no one looked aside.

Tezuka watched as Maki ran into the hall, his back disappeared at the corner of the corridor, he slowly retracted his gaze, turned and left.

It took him more than an hour to find a supermarket that was still open at this time, bought hot food and returned to the hospital, asked the night shift information desk where Maki was on the floor, and left the bought food and new clothes at the nurse's station.

The operation is not over yet, and his plane will take off in 6 hours.

In the end, Maki did not see the person who skipped the banquet to buy food and clothes for herself. She was exhausted and sleepy, and she found the clean new clothes amidst the mocking smile of the nurse on duty, and hid the note in the shopping bag. bag.

On it is Tezuka Kunimitsu's sharp and strong handwriting - the rain in winter is very cold, but I see your eyes are hot.

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The author has something to say:

The years of separation are actually a process for two people to get to know each other better from other angles.

As a lover, you want to show the best side to each other, so you may hide your true personality invisibly, but if you are just friends, it will be much more real

Personally, I like this kind of thing very much. Although people are not together, they always care about each other and understand each other's plots very well.