The Prince of Tennis, Volume 1 by Takeshi Konomi

The artwork is nice, though I had trouble following the plot. The pecking order just might be changing around here, but can Ryoma overcome the obstacles that sabotaged his father's rise to stardom? There are many more volumes of the series to explore that question. Even when they play dirty, Ryoma is so much better that he defeats them with ease. The best players in the school can hardly touch Ryoma's forceful twist serve, and his heavy baseline shots prevent them from approaching the net to leverage their height advantage. His rivals have no fear that the boy wonder can beat them on the court, but they've foolishly underestimated him he toys with them until he loses interest, then quickly puts them away. Ryoma's reputation precedes him at his new middle school, where he challenges the presumed supremacy of the eighth- and ninth-grade players despite only being in seventh grade. 'The master painter makes art with any brush.' Ryoma is small in stature but his self-assurance makes him seem larger on and off the court, and his immediate future in tennis promises to be intriguing. This spectacularly talented and psychologically disciplined phenom inherited his gift for tennis from his father, who some say could have been the greatest ever if injuries hadn't derailed his career. The story starts with twelve-year-old Ryoma Echizen traveling to a tennis tournament where he's entered in the sixteen-and-under division, unheard of for a boy his age.

As far as sports manga goes, The Prince of Tennis is one of the most popular, long-running series ever developed, and I see why Takeshi Konomi's dramatic artwork would inspire a loyal following.

The Prince of Tennis, Volume 1 by Takeshi Konomi