Chapter 7: Corporate Stand-Off

Fong was taken off the court via a stretcher. The Toad doctors observed him and reported to the Love Tennis Club that he suffered a tiny bit of back spasms. The Toad doctors were surprised that Fong is so old, yet he can take a beating, accidental or not. Despite that tiny hint of bad news, he is cleared to continue the Flower Cup tournament. For the moment, he awaits the winner of the next match...

Speaking of the next match, that is about to begin. Sam and Luigi entered the court, going on opposite sides. Nate also appeared on the court. He climbed up and sat on the umpire's chair. He said, "My name is Nate and I will be your umpire today. Let's have a good match."

"Well, you must be Luigi." Sam cried, "Let's have a good match."

"Well-a..." Luigi began, "OK. Luigi is not afraid." He swung his green racket, bearing the green letter 'L' on the mesh.

Nate took out a coin. "If it's heads, Samantha will serve to start the match. If it's tails, Luigi will serve to start the match." He tossed up the coin. Once it dropped, he cried, "Tails."

He tossed a pair of tennis balls to Luigi. "Luigi," Nate said, "Whenever you're ready."

Luigi tossed a ball up and hit it with his racket. The ball bounced inside the left service zone. Sam returned it cleanly. Luigi hit the ball back towards Sam. She hit the ball back with another hard slice. Luigi hit the ball with a hard topspin stroke that whizzed by Sam. "Ha, ha! Nice!" Luigi cried as he ran around in a curve

"15-Love, now." Nate called

Luigi tossed a ball up and hit it with his racket. The ball bounced inside the right service zone. Sam returned it with a hard volley. Luigi hit the ball back towards Sam. She hit the ball back with another hard volley. Luigi hit the ball with a hard forehand shot that whizzed by Sam. "30-Love, now." Nate called as he gave two more tennis balls to Luigi

Luigi tossed a ball up and hit it with his racket. The ball bounced inside the left service zone. Sam returned it cleanly. Luigi hit the ball back towards Sam. She hit the ball back with another hard slice. Luigi hit the ball with a hard topspin stroke that it approached Sam. She struck the ball back with a hard volley. Both competitors engaged in a baseline rally.

"Sam is already on a roll here." Hugo commented, "I knew she had quite a bit of footwork, but she is definitely something during her play at the baseline."

Finally, Sam hit a high volley that got the ball over the net and bounced twice before Luigi could do anything. "Yes! Cha-ching!" Sam cried

"30-15, now." Nate called

Luigi tossed a ball up and hit it with his racket. The ball bounced inside the right service zone. Sam returned it with a hard volley. Luigi hit the ball back towards Sam. She hit the ball back with another hard volley. Once again, they engaged in a long baseline rally.

"I'm surprised he's able to adapt..." Sam thought, "Let's see what other weapons he has."

She tried to rush to the net and hit a volley. Luigi cried, "OK! Take-a this!"

He hit a hard topspin shot that sailed over Sam's head. "Yahoo!" Luigi cried as he ran in the shape of a crescent moon

"40-15, now." Nate called as he gave two more tennis balls to Luigi

Luigi tossed a ball up and hit it with his racket. The ball bounced inside the left service zone. Sam returned it cleanly. Luigi hit the ball back towards Sam. She hit the ball back with another hard slice. Luigi hit the ball with a hard topspin stroke that made it go by Sam. "Yahoo!" Luigi cried as he ran once more in the shape of a crescent moon

"Game... to Luigi." Nate called,


"All right, change sides." Nate called as Luigi and Sam switched sides.

Sam was given a pair of tennis balls. She tossed one up and hit it her racket. The ball bounced inside the left service zone. Luigi hit it with a hard topspin shot. Sam returned it back with a hard slice shot. Luigi hit the ball with another topspin shot. Sam struck the ball with another slice shot.

She thought, "Why isn't Luigi coming to the net? I saw him do so on that match I watched. Let's see if he can stop this..."

Sam hit a volley that sailed slowly in the air. Luigi saw the ball coming and rushed to it. He then did an overhead smash which sped the ball past Sam. "Love-15, now." Nate called

Sam tossed a ball up and hit it her racket. The ball bounced inside the right service zone. Luigi hit it with a hard topspin shot. Sam returned it back with a hard slice shot. Luigi hit the ball with another topspin shot. Sam struck the ball with another slice shot. They both engaged in another baseline rally.

"Looks like Sam is pressuring Luigi in getting close to the net." Emily commented, "But he clearly is not giving an inch closer to the net."

Finally, Luigi did a rising shot that went past Sam. Nate saw it and cried, "No, that's Out."

"Oh no!" Luigi cried and whacked his racket twice

"15-All." Nate called as he gave Sam two more tennis balls

Sam tossed one up and hit it her racket. The ball bounced inside the left service zone. Luigi hit it with a hard topspin shot. Sam returned it back with a hard slice shot. Luigi hit the ball with another topspin shot. This time, Sam could not return it. "15-30, now." Nate called

Sam tossed a ball up and hit it her racket. The ball bounced inside the right service zone. Luigi hit it with a hard topspin shot. Sam returned it back with a hard slice shot. Luigi hit the ball with another topspin shot. Sam struck the ball with a volley. Luigi saw the ball sail in the air and he rushed to it. He did another overhead smash that made the ball zoom by Sam. "15-40, now." Nate called as he gave Sam two more tennis balls

A sign was raised from the crowd. It read, "You can do it, Luigi!"

Sam tossed one up and hit it her racket. The ball bounced inside the left service zone. Luigi hit it with a hard topspin shot. Sam returned it back with a hard slice shot. Luigi hit the ball with another topspin shot. Once again, Sam could not return the ball. The crowd clapped. "That is Game, Set & Match to Luigi." Nate called

"Wah, ha!" Luigi cried as he jumped twice and waved his racket in the sky

"Wha... This can't possibly be right!" Sam cried as she dropped to her knees.

She thought, "I don't understand... Luigi is normally a net player. Why didn't he exploit his weakness? He was much too resilient from the baseline..."

She began to cry. She thought, "This is just like the Central Phoenix tournament where I lost to Rolf! I've given up tennis after that day. I don't want to give it up so soon... Not while I'm back in the game..."

Luigi walked over to where Sam was and said, "That's-a pretty good. You-a definitely gave me a good match."

Sam looked up, with tears streaming in her eyes. She said, "I... I did?"

"Oh yes." Luigi replied, "I feel-a lot better now. I was-a sad before, just like you... When I lost my-a doubles match a wee bit a-while ago, I-a too felt sad. But-a somehow, I-a simply did not let it a-bother me. The point is, Miss-a Miller, don't-a take this loss to-a heart. Move-a on and be happy where you-a are."

Sam thought, "He's right. I wasn't happy when I was defeated by Rolf at the Central Phoenix tournament. It was the reason I stopped playing tennis and focused on my business career. But, it was thanks to the Love Tennis Club and just now... This man in blue overalls and green shirt and hat, Luigi... They're the reason I am still playing tennis today... I shouldn't stop now! I'm having too much fun."

Sam smiled and grabbed Luigi's outstretched hand. She got up and shook hands with him. The crowd clapped once more for that act of sportsmanship. "Thanks for that." Sam said, "It's been a pleasure... Not just for doing business with you, but also for playing against you. It is a real honour to be playing against a Mario Brother."

Luigi chuckled bashfully. He then took off his green hat and gave it to Sam. "Don't-a worry." He said, "I have a-more around."

The crowd continued to cheer for both competitors. "Father," Sam thought, "I hope you do not feel disappointed for my loss and early exit. But I see now that I am able to pick myself up after such a loss. I hope I made you proud for doing so... Not just for the sake of the Dubno Company, but for the sake of the Miller name."