After winning his first match in America, Eiichirō finally gets to play Ike in a one set match. Ike gets it approved at the New Years party where many of Eiichirō's new friends first learn of Natsu.

Eiichirō throws out a couple of unexpected dropshots in set 2 and begins to alter the speed of his game. After trailing 30-love to begin match 2 of set 2 Eiichirō is able to rally with this new strategy and pull off a break.