Down the Line Read online

  ‘Luci? Why didn’t you do the Legends last year?’

  ‘I’ll explain one day.’ She got up. ‘Hey, Mitch. Good luck!’

  ‘You too, Luci.’

  I had thought about how to play Bryce and win. It was a matter of beating him at his own game. Fisk had proved that power alone wasn’t the answer. So I threw the angles back at Bryce and made him work and run and scramble.

  Luci was right. It wasn’t easy watching Bryce struggle as he tried to run down a wide forehand, knowing that he was never quite going to get to it. Or throwing up a lob and watching him work his way back to try and get a shot at the ball.

  He was a good fighter though, no question about that. I ended up winning six games to four. He gave me a huge smile as we stood together at the net. He was still wearing the glasses with the tape around his head. There was a bit of bruising around his left eye now, which I hadn’t noticed yesterday.

  ‘The Fisk game was the one that mattered, Mitch. Don’t you worry!’ He had read my mind and sensed my discomfort. ‘Honest! I’m tired. Enough of this physical activity. Truly. It’s of no consequence to me, none at all. Except beating Travis.’

  With that game over, I was curious to watch how Luci would play against Becky. Right from the start, Luci struggled. Whenever she had an easy shot, she either over-hit it or went too soft. She seemed in two minds.

  When the match finally ended, she seemed almost relieved. They shook hands and patted each other on the back as they both walked off. But Becky had won easily in the end. Luci looked pretty happy for someone who’d just lost a game as she walked over to me, smiling. ‘Mitch, we’re gonna cheer Becky right through that final, okay?’

  ‘Hey, I’ve got my own final to worry about,’ I said.

  ‘Yeah, of course. Where’s Bryce?’

  ‘You suddenly seem happy,’ I said.

  ‘My worst sport is over, and I’ve done okay. I’m going to work my guts out to be this year’s Legend. You know what? If you lose a friend over a game or something, then maybe they weren’t really a friend anyway. I played Becky all wrong.’

  I’d never seen her look so determined. ‘So where is he?’ she asked.

  ‘Who?’

  ‘Bryce. He’ll know how Mia can be beaten. The fewer points she gets in tennis, the better my chance of being the Legend.’

  The finals were due to be played at five o’clock. It would be cooler then and parents would have plenty of time to arrive. There was another barbecue happening, and stacks of people had gathered to enjoy the afternoon.

  Jack and I were first to play. We each won our serve for the first eight games, but Jack nailed a couple of brilliant returns and got the break to go 5 – 4 up.

  It was the perfect time for him to go for it. It was almost as if he’d planned it that way. Somehow, I sensed that he had the match in his full control.

  To stay in the game, I had to unsettle him. I twisted my cap so it was on backwards, crouched at the baseline and waited for Jack to serve.

  His first serve was long but the second kicked and spat at me. I poked at it, fending it off my body. The ball just managed to get over the net. Jack was on it in a flash and whipped it down the line for a winner. Fifteen – love.

  Jack got his next two first serves in. The first one aced me. On his next serve I could only lob the ball back for Jack to belt it past my backhand for another winner. Forty – love. Three match points, and three chances, probably, to be the Legend of Tennis.

  I trudged across the court. What would Huer do now? Stay positive. Urge himself on. I whacked my thigh with my open hand, hissed ‘C’mon!’ and settled into my position near the back of the court.

  I looked up at Jack. His mouth was set in a thin line. It almost said, ‘Sorry’. He smashed the serve down the middle, totally wrong-footing me. I just stood there. ‘Fault!’ came the call from the umpire, Miss Lamb.

  ‘Thank you,’ I breathed.

  I crunched the next serve back at Jack’s feet. He seemed a bit surprised by the force of the shot, only just getting his racquet to it, but not able to hit the ball back into play.

  Forty – fifteen. Again Jack went for the ace down the centre of the court, and again, shot the ball too long. His next serve caught the top of the net, hung there a moment, and then toppled back into his side of the court. Double-fault.

  Forty – thirty. The momentum was shifting. Well, I hoped it was.

  Jack’s next serve was a bit slower. I was onto it like a shot and cracked a forehand at his feet again. It was a weakness and I was going to milk it for all it was worth. This time he got the shot back, but I was waiting on the net and belted the volley for a winner.

  ‘Deuce,’ called Miss Lamb.

  Jack looked up at me. For a moment I thought he was angry. But he smiled and nodded.

  ‘Shot, Mitch!’ he called. I grinned back at him.

  Suddenly winning didn’t matter so much. I was in the play-off. I was playing against my best friend. What did it matter?

  I took up my position behind the baseline again, rocking slowly from one foot to the other.

  Well, it’d be stupid not to try. I did want to win it, after all. I mean, really, who was I kidding? To be the Legend of Tennis, that was what we both wanted. And we were both flat out trying to achieve that.

  Jack’s next serve was a cracker, fast and flat. I only got the edge of the racquet to it. The ball flew off high into the back fence.

  Once again, it was match point. Was Jack just a point away from becoming the Legend of Tennis? Winning the tournament would have definitely been worth more than the other two tennis events, maybe worth more than both of them put together.

  Jack’s first serve went in. I knocked it back into play and somehow managed to get it to go towards his feet again. But Jack was ready this time, and had moved forward quickly to volley the ball softly, but with amazing angle, across the net.

  I charged in and dived forward to reach the ball just before it bounced a second time. It was a dribbly shot that barely made it over the net – it sort of crawled up my side of the net, thought about which way it might go for a moment, then toppled over, dropping almost straight downwards. I lay there and waited, blood oozing from a graze on my calf.

  Jack lunged too. He scrambled to the ball, rolling and diving at the same time. His racquet scraped the bitumen as he lifted the ball just centimetres from the ground. The ball looped over my head. For a second, the thought passed through my head that I should get up and try and chase down the ball. But it was just a thought.

  Jack was helping me to my feet.

  ‘You remember how you tried to teach me to surf? How to stand on a board?’ I nodded. ‘Well, it’s payback time. I’m gonna teach you how to dive and roll on a tennis court so you don’t rip the skin off your legs.’

  We both looked at the ugly scrape.

  ‘That could be handy, Jack. Thanks.’

  ‘Hey, great match, though,’ he said.

  ‘Yeah, you too, Jack. Congratulations.’

  After a trip to the first aid tent, I returned to the courts with my leg bandaged – just in time to see Mia finish off her match against Becky. She won six games to three. They were the first three games she’d dropped for the whole tournament.

  ‘I am very honoured to introduce to you Luke Huer, our very own outstanding Australian tennis player and winner of the Wimbledon Championship,’ announced Mrs Waite.

  The cheers thundered around the tennis courts as Luke walked out to the microphone. Even the teachers were gawking. He looked so cool, and yet sort of normal, too, like he was someone’s big brother.

  But he was a legend, all right. He said encouraging things about the players and the tournament and how good it was to see such a huge interest in tennis. He also said he wanted to know some of the answers to the tennis quiz, which caused a few laughs.

  Luke presented me with a certificate for coming third. The girls’ competition didn’t have a third place – Luci and Becky were bot
h announced as equal second.

  Then it was time to announce second placing for the boys. There was a massive roar when Bryce’s name was called out. The clapping kept going, but there was no Bryce. Everyone was looking round. And then, as calm as you like, Bryce appeared and walked out to accept his certificate. He had been there all the time, bent down as he tied up his shoelaces.

  As he walked back, Mrs Waite handed an envelope to Luke, who made a comment about the Logies. Everyone laughed. Finally, the piece of paper with the winners’ names was out of the envelope and fluttering in Luke’s hand.

  ‘Congratulations to Jack Crossly and Mia Tompkins – this year’s Legends of Tennis.’

  The two walked out to receive their handshakes and Legend of Tennis trophies. Jack and Luke had a brief conversation.

  People got out their cameras and Jack, Mia, and Luke – and even Miss Lamb and Mrs Waite – were told to move here, move there, so that photos could be taken.

  Finally Jack returned.

  ‘What did Luke say to you?’ I asked.

  ‘He said, “Don’t aim to get near the line, aim to hit the line”.’

  ‘Cool,’ I said, patting Jack on the back.

  I couldn’t wait for the next noticeboard update to find out how many points had been scored in tennis and to see who was in the overall lead for the Legend of Sport.

  ‘So where’s Bryce?’ asked Jack, as we headed off to grab our stuff.

  ‘Hey, Luci, have you seen Bryce?’ I asked.

  ‘I thought I heard him talking about the library, but that was ages ago.’

  We looked at each other.

  ‘Becky!’ called Luci. ‘Over here. Quick!’

  ‘What’s up?’ Becky asked.

  ‘We’re looking for Bryce. Any ideas?’ I asked.

  ‘Righto, don’t worry everyone, I’m onto it. I’ve got a friend to find!’ shouted Bubba. We watched him race off around the corner.

  A few moments later he reappeared. No one had moved.

  ‘Um, guys? Where should I be looking?’

  ‘The library!’ we all shouted.

  The library was silent. Creepy.

  No one was around. There was one computer switched on. Its colourful screen displayed an Internet site about contact lenses.

  ‘Bryce?’ called Bubba.

  ‘Bryce!’ I yelled.

  Our voices echoed in the silence.

  THE SANDHURST LEGEND OF TENNIS –

  RESULTS

  BOYS

  1st

  Jack Crossly

  5

  2nd

  Bryce Flavel

  4

  3rd

  Mitchell Grady

  3

  4th

  Travis Fisk

  2

  5th

  Shane Corelli

  1

  THE SANDHURST LEGEND OF TENNIS –

  RESULTS

  GIRLS

  1st

  Mia Tompkins

  5

  2nd

  Luci Rankin

  3.5

  3rd

  Rebecca Tan

  3.5

  4th

  Helena Mulova

  2

  5th

  Alana Mulova

  1

  TENNIS QUIZ

  1.

  One of the four Grand Slam tournaments is played in a suburb called Wimbledon. Where is this suburb?

  A

  Paris

  B

  London

  C

  Melbourne

  D

  Sydney

  2.

  One of the most famous of the men’s international team events is called the . . .

  A

  Davis Cup

  B

  Champions Cup

  C

  Federation Cup

  D

  Grand Slam Cup

  3.

  Players play tennis with a tennis . . .

  A

  racquit

  B

  racquet

  C

  rackett

  D

  rackitt

  4.

  The four Grand Slam events take place in what order?

  A

  Australian / US / French / Wimbledon

  B

  Australian / French / US / Wimbledon

  C

  Australian / French / Wimbledon / US

  D

  Australian / Wimbledon / French / US

  5.

  Up to the end of the 2016 calendar year, how many Grand Slam singles titles has Serena Williams won?

  A

  20

  B

  21

  C

  22

  D

  23

  6.

  What is it called if a player steps over the baseline while serving, but before hitting the ball?

  A

  A foot fault

  B

  A foot foul

  C

  A code violation

  D

  Nothing – it is legal to do this

  7.

  What shot would force a player to race towards the net to try and hit the ball?

  A

  A lob

  B

  A backhand cross court shot

  C

  A drop shot

  D

  A smash

  8.

  The Australian Open used to be played at Kooyong. Which State is Kooyong in?

  A

  New South Wales

  B

  South Australia

  C

  Victoria

  D

  Western Australia

  9.

  What is the tiebreak score if a player has three match points and there have been nine points played in the tiebreak?

  A

  5 – 4

  B

  6 – 3

  C

  7 – 2

  D

  You can’t know this

  10.

  How many points have been played if a player is leading three games to zero and has not lost a point?

  A

  3

  B

  4

  C

  12

  D

  16

  TENNIS QUIZ ANSWERS

  1. B

  2. A

  3. B

  4. C

  5. C

  6. A

  7. C

  8. C

  9. B

  10. C