The Prince of Tennis, Vol. 26 continues where the previous tankōbon left off and contains the next ten chapters (220–229) of the on-going manga series.
The tankōbon continues the Kantō Prefectural Tournament Finals with Seishun Academy playing against Rikkaidai Junior High School. It concluded the second single match between Shūsuke Fuji vs. Akaya Kirihara. Despite being blinded, Fuji could eventually sense where the ball was going and play as if he was sighted. However, Kirihara is undaunted and self-realized himself on the court – meaning he could easily react to anything on the court without thinking, but reacting. In the end, it wasn't enough as Fuji hard-won the match with a score of 7–5. With this victory, Seishun Academy ties with Rikaidai Junior High with 2 matches won each.
The third and final singles match begins with Ryōma Echizen and Gen'ichirō Sanada. Echizen took an early lead by winning the first set, by using his special moves in addition to his teams. However, he was quickly and totally dominated by Sanada, who is nicknamed: The Emperor, as he decisively and powerfully took the next four sets. However, at the end of the tankōbon, Echizen is smiling, which signals a plan to turn the game around.
This tankōbon is written and illustrated by Takeshi Konomi. It is finally nice to see a matchup that not only matches Echizen, but surpasses him in Gen'ichirō Sanada. For most of the series, he could easily beat his opponents and do remarkable things on the tennis court. So it is nice to see him struggling and perhaps growing in his tennis prowess.
All in all, The Prince of Tennis, Vol. 26 is a wonderful continuation to a series that seems intriguing and I cannot wait to read more.