The movie commits fully to its ridiculous premise without ever winking at the camera. You get tennis action that matters, comedy timing that lands on every joke, and a time-travel plot that exists purely to give the characters permission to be unhinged. Ryoma watching his father's championship match while literally trying to save his classmate from villains isn't coherent storytelling, it's permission to have fun for ninety minutes straight, and the movie knows exactly what it is.

Ryoma Echizen's tennis ambitions pull him toward America, where he hopes to push his game further, inspired by his legendary father. In the middle of a tense match to rescue his classmate Sakuno from dangerous villains, a strange phenomenon throws both of them backward through time. They arrive at a pivotal moment: the US Open final that ended his father Nanjiro's professional career. Ryoma has studied that match closely but still has gaps in what he knows, and the arrival of the mafia only deepens the mystery. Against the odds, he sets out to learn why his father retired and to keep that career from ending. Set between the original series and its sequel, the film mixes sports action, comedy and musical moments, all rendered in colorful 3D animation.