expression. However, when he re-injures his arm during his match against Keigo Atobe, he is shown to writhe in pain. This becomes a traumatic memory that makes him unable to lift his arm over his shoulders, fearing the thought of feeling that pain again. He learns to overcome this during his medical retreat in Kyūshū. Due to his experiences, he dislikes those who use tennis to harm others. In the manga series, Tezuka smiles for the first time after his team becomes the National champions, though he instantly reverts when Fuji points out the fact. In the anime series, he also smiles when Oishi's uncle tells him his elbow was fully healed, and when he sees Momoshiro's potential during a match. His seriousness is compounded by having picked up some character traits from his similarly stern grandfather; ironically, Tezuka looks older than his actual age and is often mistaken as his teammates' teacher. In the anime, his unyielding attitude even prevents him from showing any reaction when he accidentally drinks Sadaharu Inui's vegetable juice, resulting in others believing he is immune to the dreaded concoction. However, he quickly and sternly declines an offer to drink it later on. Tennis style and techniques Portrayed as an all-rounder tennis player, otherwise known as an all-court player, Tezuka can use aspects of every tennis style depending on his needs. His dominant hand is his left hand, though in some parts of the story, he is shown to be capable of executing his techniques with his right hand as well. One of the reasons why other characters acknowledge Tezuka as a National-level tennis player is his infamous Zero-Shiki (Degree) Drop shot. This shot causes the ball to roll away from the opponent and towards the net once it drops on their side of the tennis court (usually landing a foot away from the net), preventing them from hitting the ball again since it does not bounce toward them. He later develops a variation of this technique in the form of a serve called the Zero-Shiki Serve. Another one of Tezuka's signature techniques is the , a technique which involves him putting enough spin on the ball in order to force nearly all hits to be "sucked" into his hit zone, making it unnecessary for him to move around the court. He is also able to use this technique so as to make the ball