CHRISTOPHER DE PAOLA

The power play: First day on the practice court, Justine throws a racket at Tommy, tells him to “fuck off” and spits at him.  Tommy has a vision of Roost on the court.  Second part of the day, Tommy brutalizes Justine, physically exhausting her, breaking her down. Tommy stresses one thing: step in on the return of serve against Jupiter.  He demonstrates, and in the process pelts Justine with serves.  She storms off.

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Real Justine watches the practice session from her wheelchair…
 

Ernesto is sent to pick up Justine’s rackets from the stringer, they give him a hard time because he’s not a white kid.  Justine puts the stringer on blast via Twitter.  A rich white girl comes to the rescue of a working-class brown man.
 

Gloria walks in on Tommy showering to find out how the practice sessions are going.  She lingers a bit too long.

 

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Trace and the Board of Directors have Tommy sign papers to begin work on the school. Trace calls for an immediate vote to have him oversee the design and building process. The Board votes in favor.  This catches Tommy off guard and he fears he’s already losing control of his legacy project. 
 

Tommy, alone on the practice court, hitting serves… FLASHBACK to the moment when Tommy told Trace he was going to college before turning pro- going against Trace’s wishes.
 

Olivia recites some pop lyrics before her interview with Tommy’s old doubles partner; she’s looking for clues about Tommy’s possible cheating.  Olivia’s mother admits she cannot afford to pay Olivia’s student loan