There was a boy named Richard from a poor family living near the mountains and far from the city, his mother was a housewife and his father worked as a rice farmer who always worked on his land alone if Richard went to school and his mother took care of the house and cleaning. Richard feels sorry for his father and mother who always worked hard to take care of him and pay for his school fees and other need Richard is a hard worker and studies hard to raise his family and make his father and mother proud of his achievements and efforts in the future. Richard is a 15-year-old junior high school student and one year later he will enter high school and as usual, Richard does his activities from morning to evening studying at school when he goes home he sees a tennis match on a TV and he is stunned by a few seconds, after Richard sees it he says that he wants to play tennis.
The next day he told his classmate James and said "James I want to play tennis" James who heard it was shocked and said "Huhhh, you seriously want to play tennis? In here it's so difficult to find a field even our school is not adequate for tennis" but with confidence and determination, Richard was still firm in his belief to play tennis "It's okay, later I will find a school that provides a place for various sports. For now, at least I will study hard and learn the rules and techniques first so that later when I play directly I already know it all." James who heard Richard's confidence also believed that he could do it "well now I'm sure you can do it Richard don't despair and I will always support you as your best friend" after talking at length between Richard and James a teacher entered the classroom and studied as usual. After finishing the lesson Richard and James separated because of the different directions to the house then Richard tried to look at the TV and see the match but it was not showing a tennis match like yesterday when Richard first saw it. Richard arrived at his house and met his mother who was resting because she was tired of cleaning as well his age Richard immediately rushed to study again in his room to achieve his dream. Until night time arrived and had dinner together Richard said "dad, mom I want to be a professional tennis player" suddenly his parents were shocked and Richard's father said to Richard "good son you have a dream, remember that if your dream is achieved stay humble and always remember your goals don't get carried away by temptations that you have never felt" the mother continued "yes son, dad and mom will always support you and don't forbid anything you want but remember not to be complacent and make mom and dad happy too son" after hearing words like that Richard felt happy because he had parents who always supported Richard, Richard also replied " right dad, mom I will keep that in mind. I love you guys" after hearing something like that Richard's parents smiled and then his mother told him to continue his food.
One year later Richard managed to get into a school that had tennis facilities even though the place was further away than before but he didn't care and was very happy to be able to play tennis with people who were very strong and more talented. At the training ground there are a lot of people as well as Richard's seniors who have already played tennis there such as Billy, a second grader who has a talent for playing tennis and has the potential to become a professional player and Damon, a third grader who is very hardworking and diligent in practicing who has represented competitions to represent the school, and the coach who has trained the students at this school, Eric, who has served this school for 7 years, there Richard feels excited and amazed by such people whose lives have been dedicated only to tennis. In Richard's first year the people who participated in tennis were only a few, namely 7 people and if you count the total members, there were only 15 people at the time of the first training, the old children were told to guide and teach the basic techniques first and the coach also watched and told one by one to the new children, coincidentally Richard was assisted by Billy, one of the talented children there and told the technique of how to hit the ball when serving properly and well, "Hi Richard, right? so when serving hold the ball and racket correctly and after that throw the ball up as comfortable as you are and swing the racket back and hit the ball in the center of the racket in order to maintain speed and good control and what is often overlooked is not to cross the line of the field first before you hit the ball" while explaining Billy also practiced it to Richard and Richard also looked at it carefully and listened to all the words from Billy, Billy also served well and perfectly and then Billy told Richard to do it "you, try to serve like that first" Richard replied "good" with the image in his brain and hearing and seeing what Billy did Richard tried to do it but failed because it did not pass through the net and Billy tried to encourage him "it's okay for one try it's already good, try again, come on" Richard nodded and tried it again but failed again and again until finally for the fifth time Richard succeeded in serving. "ahhh, finally it worked too, I didn't expect it to be that hard to serve, I thought it was easy if you just watched other people play hihi" Billy replied with a little laugh "haha well that's the case if you just see it is easy but if you do it, it will be difficult except for me who only two tries can immediately do it" Billy laughed a little with the joke he made himself followed by Richard and Richard did not deny that it was a fact because Billy was born with talent. After finishing the first practice, all the students were told to disperse and go home by the coach because tennis training was held every Saturday morning from seven to ten o'clock.
The second training is still like the previous training accompanied by seniors and still taught other basic techniques and rules in tennis, when at training times Eric looks at Richard and is amazed because Richard is fast to learn and understand the game of tennis very well and Billy also agrees because the most prominent of all the students who have just entered is Richard, Likewise, Damon agreed that Damon was a perfectionist and really wanted his successors to win more matches because there was no doubt that Damon was already in the third grade of senior high school and was busy with his various graduation exams. One month after training Eric ordered the new students to decide for the future because in tennis it can be a two-person team or alone and of the seven new students three chose to play singles and four chose to play in a team and of all the seniors also turned out to be very few who chose to play alone, namely only Damon and Billy, the rest played the team, Damon was very grateful because this year there were two people who dared to play in singles which soon Damon would also decide to stop at his graduation time.
One year later, Richard is now a senior for new students who want to enter the tennis court as well as Billy who is approaching his graduation and has successfully won various competitions representing the school's name during the second grade of high school until now the third grade which began to be replaced by Richard as a spear in the tennis competition. Two months after consecutive training there is a fairly prestigious competition where the competition is the national level and those who win can be recommended to take part in training as representatives of the country at the prestigious event in the world tennis competition. Each school can only send one each of team and singles. Each school can only send one each of both teams and singles, and the school decided for its representative to be Richard and his two classmates. The competition will begin in two months for preparation and training. Richard continues to practice every week and sometimes even on holidays he tries to practice and practice because Richard wants to make his parents proud.
When he wanted to say goodbye to his father and mother in the room Richard looked at his mother who looked weak and looked pale, Richard also approached him and asked how he was doing "mom, why are you so pale, are you sick?" With such a situation his mother said to Richard "mom is fine, why don't you go, you now have a competition, you can't be late, son, don't think about mom, mom is fine, I think it's just because I'm tired" but Richard's concern for his mother remained firm which made him hesitate to leave her "but mom" Richard's father replied "it's okay, son, there is father here too, dad will accompany mom at the same time to take care of the house too. So just go, son, you won't be able to join the tennis competition that you really dreamed of" with an uncomfortable feeling, Richard said goodbye to his parents.
After arriving at the school where the gathering and Eric was there as the person in charge and tennis coach for Richard's school, there it turned out that Billy had also participated but he would not be able to watch all the matches because he had a rehearsal schedule for graduation. Richard was happy to hear that Billy was willing to see his match at a prestigious event like this even though he would not always watch all the matches. After a five-hour trip from the school to the destination, Richard and his friend were invited to the lodging place that had been provided for the participants who participated in the competition. The next day was the opening for the race and then the game began, because many who participated in this race Richard for now only one match in the afternoon at four o'clock. Richard did not waste that time just relaxing but invited Billy to see the match of his opponents later who would win the match Richard was amazed by the players who played on the field and said that "all the players here are great" Billy who heard that felt happy "yep that's right and you're also great Richard can take part in a very important race and believe in yourself that you are stronger and feel dissatisfied if you haven't beaten the strongest here" with a face full of confidence Richard also replied to Billy "of course".
It was time for Richard's match against Johan who was the representative of another school when serving in the first set Richard was still a little nervous because he was not used to the atmosphere of the match but Eric tried to give him a little encouragement and get used to the match so that he could relax, and Richard responded in the second set because he felt a little calmer and less nervous in the match and was able to win the first match in this tournament which made Richard more confident and after the completion of the match Johan was quite sad in his first match he immediately lost in the distance Richard saw and approached Johan and encouraged him "it's okay buddy this defeat will make you stronger in the next match" Johan then shook hands with Richard and hugged him while saying "yes I will be stronger and will beat you if I meet you again". With his first match, Richard felt confident and confident in himself for the next match. then the next day Richard won his match well enough to get to the top eight and it had been five days since the tournament was held and then Eric told Richard that the representative for our school team had fallen and the only hope was Richard alone and Eric said "Richard for now your performance is quite maximum but I have seen various matches as well that there is a person who is quite favored here, namely Brian, a representative of an elite school that has succeeded in producing young athletes in this country but take it easy because at least you won't meet him until the final. prove that you can beat the strongest Richard" with a smile and confidence Richard replied "well coach I will fight with all my might" the next day has arrived now Richard has to do two games at once and this is a little troublesome because he is tired in the last eight and then has to continue tomorrow with the final things like that make Eric as a coach have to keep Richard's stamina and mentality awake so that he can do his best on the field. Richard who was on the court with the enemy in front of him was ready and serving in the first set was quite difficult because the enemy was also very good at reaching here and Richard also lost the first set but in the second set Richard tried to reply but again Richard was carried away by the enemy's game flow which made the second set still in defeat, Richard as a coach gave input to play more aggressively and to a faster tempo and Richard also said yes to that and in the third set finally Richard could win the third set and finally went smoother but the stamina of Richard was very drained and quickly rested by Eric.
Continued in the afternoon to play the second and decisive game to enter the final and Richard was walking casually and the enthusiasm that was still lingering in him to be able to enter the final in a prestigious event like this that changed his future and unexpectedly his opponent in the third set injured his hinge leg which made him give up on this game and Richard also encouraged him and shook hands with him. Finally, Richard shouted with great enthusiasm and pleasure to reach the finals. Unexpectedly, it turned out that Eric predicted that Brian lost his match against another school representative, Leon. In the evening Richard wanted to rest and walked alone to a cafe there to calm himself in the final match later. While sitting relaxed there Richard was approached by someone he didn't recognize and asked to sit alone with him. "Hello good evening my name is Toni" Richard who heard that replied "ouh yes good evening my name is Richard, what is it?" Toni also replied "so straight away, are you willing to give up the match in the final, the prize I will give you three times the prize for the tournament and if you want I will give you another bonus" hearing that made Richard pretentious and couldn't think for a few seconds "what does this mean you are giving me money?" it was never thought of during the match. It was never thought of as long as he lived because he came from a village boy on the edge of the mountain far from the city, Toni also replied "yep that's right I will give you three times the prize of this competition and you will get another bonus, on the condition that you pretend to lose in the final match later against Leon easy right?" Richard was silent because he did not expect to hear the name Leon and asked "so who are you from Leon? then did you previously do something like this before to other people too especially Brian who was Leon's opponent before?" Toni who heard that tried to cover it up from Richard because he also did not want to demonize the name of Leon "no, just now Leon is actually quite great and he really won the championship in this race so he really won the championship in this race so he also did not want to demonize the name of Leon "Toni who heard something like that tried to cover it up from Richard because he also didn't want to demonize the name of Leon "no, just now Leon is actually quite good and he truly won the championship in this race so I helped him with something like this" Richard who felt strange then said "then why are you doing like this if Leon is a great player? if you believe Leon is great then believe in him and believe in his abilities. I reject this kind of thing, thank you." Then Richard stood up and went back to his lodging and he thought not to tell others because he didn't want to spoil the happiness and happy atmosphere in his place. The next day arrived the last day and the final competition of the day, Richard and Leon walked to the field together and before the match began their respective coaches gave advice and strategies, when the game started the first set was fierce and won by Richard and in the second set it was won by Leon and when in the third set Richard and Leon were chasing points which were finally won by Leon, Eric tried to give him strategies and attack innovations and encourage him even stronger as a coach. Richard finally got back up and remembered the rottenness that last night from Leon's side trying to influence him to lose and Richard also proved his worth and came out as champion, Richard and Eric cried happily for his victory and came out as the first champion in the prestigious competition.
Richard stood on the grand stage as the winner and was given a gold medal, trophy, and a large sum of money. After all the awards were completed, Eric took the initiative to pay for dinner, while enjoying dinner, Damon came to Richard and said that he watched Richard's final match against Leon and it was satisfying for him. Richard, who saw Damon coming, was touched and managed to prove that he brought the name of the school even higher. After finishing dinner Damon wanted to talk to Richard "Hey Richard I know the truth about last night's incident" Richard who heard it was suddenly surprised and asked "Why do you know about last night's incident?" Damon replied "Actually I know the truth about last night's incident". "Damon replied "Actually I wanted to surprise you from yesterday but I saw you alone in a cafe and when I wanted to approach you there was someone I never saw at school and I stopped first and saw it all and as evidence I recorded a little and took photos from afar to be followed up in court about the cheating" with confusion Richard asked "But what does that mean? I don't understand I don't know anything like that I was born and raised in the countryside" Damon who heard that was shocked and said "oh like that, so it's a bribery thing where someone gives something in return and on the condition that one of them is like what you experienced last night and that's a bad thing" Hearing something like that, Richard was a little surprised and relieved that he didn't accept such an offer and was not tempted by the crazy offer, Damon who knew about it was responsible and would report this to the department in charge and take care of everything so that Richard would not be too confused and let him enjoy his victory.
Richard finally went home and wanted to tell his parents but he was confused why so many people visited his house. When he entered why there were so many people crying, especially his father who also cried and said "son, mom died because of illness and her old age which is constantly moving and rarely resting makes mom die son. I'm sorry my son, actually before you left your mother was already sickly but she didn't want to disturb your mind when you joined the competition, I’m sorry my son" knowing that Richard was initially happy because he won the competition but he now disappeared because his mother had died Richard felt sorry for leaving his parents before he left Richard really couldn't believe it and Richard hugged his mother's body for the last time and cried as hard as he could until Richard fainted in the arms with his mother's body.