Shusuke Fuji is a third year student at Seishun Academy, and is approaching fifteen years of age at the beginning of the series. He is given the title "tensai", or genius, due to his tactical skill on the tennis court. He is in the same class as Eiji Kikumaru, and is Eiji's good friend. Fuji is a leap year baby (his birthday is on February 29), and thus he can only properly celebrate his birthday once every four years. Fuji is cheerful and easygoing, with a penchant for playfully teasing those around him.

He is the middle child of the Fuji family. His unnamed father is a foreign-based employee, and is never seen in the series. His mother, 49-year-old Yoshiko, who also has perpetually-closed eyes, is seen in the manga as a kind and dedicated Japanese housewife. Fuji's elder sister, 24-year-old Yumiko, is considered very attractive and is popular among both Fuji and Yuuta's friends.

He grew up in Chiba, where he became friends with Kojirō Saeki, the current vice-captain of the Rokkaku Chuu Tennis Club. Later on, he moved to Tokyo and entered Seigaku.

Fuji usually takes the position of S2 (Singles 2), although sometimes he is paired with Takashi Kawamura or Eiji Kikumaru in Doubles. Also, he and Ryoma Echizen temporarily take turns for the position of Singles 1 when Kunimitsu Tezuka is in rehabilitation.



Fuji is often seen with a calm and content expression on his face, with his eyes seemingly closed from lightly smiling. However, when he is excited or provoked, or when playing seriously, Fuji reveals his sharp eyes: they are blue in the anime and light brown in the manga.

Fuji generally seems very relaxed and in control, whilst his opponent is pushing himself to the limit, giving many the impression that Fuji is either a genius, who knows how to save his energy during plays, or that he does not really care about tennis itself. There are a few people that can "wake" the true player in Fuji and force him to play seriously, and these few are either nationally-ranked or extremely talented tennis players. Seigaku captain Kunimitsu Tezuka, Seigaku regular Ryoma Echizen, Shitenhouji captain Kuranosuke Shiraishi, and Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku regular Masaharu Niou have been acknowledged by Fuji to be actual challenges.

Fuji is particularly protective of his younger brother Yuuta (probably to make up for former disagreements that almost brought them apart), as displayed throughout the series; he actively tries to "destroy" and punish those who have defeated his younger brother or have made him go through something dangerous (as proved by how differently he treats Jirou Akutagawa from Hyotei and Hajime Mizuki from Saint Rudolph. Though he holds no personal grudge towards Jirou, who won fairly against Yuuta, he does resent Mizuki for a long time after seeing how he treated his brother as someone expendable to ensure his team's victory).

Yuuta is also not the only person he has been protective of in this sense; in the anime, he is very upset when Kippei Tachibana is injured in his match against Rikkai Dai regular Akaya Kirihara (in the manga, Ryoma is the one who is injured). He is also upset when Akaya Kirihara insults the two schools, Seigaku and Fudomine. When Seigaku is down 1-2 in the Kantō finals against Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku, he engages in a serious match with Akaya Kirihara, who plays a fairly violent form of tennis. Kirihara injures Fuji's knee and knocks over an already injured Tachibana, who arrives to encourage Fuji; thanks to this and the fact that Tezuka is also absent due to injury, Fuji becomes serious and goes on to win the match. According to what Fuji's sister, Yumiko, tells Hajime Mizuki and Yuuta, Fuji never gets angry about what happens to him, but when his family or friends are in danger, he does not hold back and attacks with full seriousness.



At times, Fuji tends to act like Eiji Kikumaru, wanting to win and to be number one. In one episode, there is a mixed club day at his school, where the students are not allowed to play the sport that they are in. During this day, Fuji plays curling, which no one else plays, thus his words are, "Participants: zero, the championship is mine."

Prior to the National Tournament, Fuji plays a practice match against Fudomine's Tachibana, who breaks each of Fuji's Triple Counter. Realizing that his counters are not enough for a national-level tournament, Fuji develops his Fourth Counter, Kagerō Zutsumi (Dragonfly Illusion). However, during Seigaku's National semifinal match against Shitenhouji's Kuranosuke Shiraishi, Fuji suffers his first loss in an official match, despite making a comeback from 0 games to 5 by using his evolved Triple Counter, he loses 6 games to 7 during a tiebreak. This is the first time that any of his teammates see Fuji so disappointed in the outcome of the match.

Fuji also seems to be one of few Seigaku Regulars (along with Shuichiro Oishi and Ryoma Echizen) who is genuinely close to Kunimitsu Tezuka, the captain of the tennis club. As such, he and Tezuka are often seen together.

In a chibi episode and in TeniPuri family, Fuji is portrayed as a woman, playing off on his somewhat feminine looks. In the TeniPuri family episodes, he is the sweet yet impulsive Grandmother of the family and is often paired up with Tezuka, who plays the Grandfather. In the other Tenipuri chibi episode, settled in the Far West, he plays a damsel in distress-type girl searching for a Lone Gunman who later turns out to be Tezuka.



Fuji is fairly popular amongst his peers. In episode 134, he goes on a "date" with Kurumi (he had no choice; Momoshiro and Eiji made the decision for him), a grade schooler who falls in love with him at first sight, thinking of him as a prince of sorts. Despite his penchant for jokes and pranks off-tennis, Fuji can be insightful and even sweet when his friends need it; during his so-called date with little Kurumi, when she reveals that she has low self-esteem since she feels overshadowed by her beautiful older twin sister Narumi, Fuji helps her to sort their problems out, seeing his own situation with Yuuta reflected in the sisters' quarrels.

Along with Tezuka, Fuji is possibly the only person on the entire Seigaku team who is immune to Sadaharu Inui's various concoctions. However, while Tezuka only appears unaffected and does not state what he thought of the concoctions, it has been a running gag in the story that Fuji actually "likes" those drinks and will recommend it to others too. While he may intentionally fault during practice occasionally in order to try the penal concoctions, he has also mentioned that he enjoys seeing others suffer from drinking the concoctions even more. He is, however, not immune to "Aozu", a horrific blue vinegar and cod liver oil concoction; this drink causes his only blackout, and since then, Inui has believed that Fuji has a grudge against him. His odd tastes in food do not stop at Inui's gruesome health drinks, and he takes delight in wasabi rolls, honey-mustard, and horse radishes. However, later on, fuji seems to work harder to not end up drinking the oddly colored liquids




Ryoma is a first year student at Seishun Academy ('Seigaku' for short), which he attends immediately after his arrival in Japan after formerly residing in the United States. Although only a first year in middle school, Ryoma had already earned notoriety through winning four consecutive titles in the American Junior Tennis tournaments – all in a little over a year. Due to his nearly invincible tennis play, Ryoma has earned the label 'prodigy' by the age of twelve. His looks and confidence make him highly popular with ladies, although he seems not to notice, having his focus exclusively on tennis.

He is an all-court tennis player with many special shots and abilities. One of Ryoma's greatest talents is his ability to learn new techniques after only seeing them performed a few times. He also has an amazing amount of stamina and does not sweat as much as the other players. Along with fellow Seigaku regular Eiji Kikumaru, Ryoma is known to have an exceptional talent for seeing moving objects. He does not go easy on himself and pushes himself more, rather than letting himself rest.



Although he is left-handed, his famous Twist Serve is only effective when delivered from the dominant hand of his opponents (i.e. he uses his right hand when serving against right-handed players). He occasionally plays tennis with his right hand as either a handicap for weaker opponents or a way to test his opponent's abilities. When the need for returning at a difficult angle or distance arises, Ryoma also incorporates the use of "nitōryū", or ambidexterity.



Ryoma also demonstrates prowess in other sports, such as bowling, table tennis, and billiards. His abilities in beach volleyball, however, may be questioned.; when the Seigaku students go to the beach during the anime series, Ryoma plays well when paired with Kaidoh. However, he plays quite poorly in the OVA when paired with Tezuka, so much as to be taunted by the other Seigaku students and Rokkaku Chuu students alike by having his "Mada mada dane" returned with "Omae danna!", which translates roughly into "You do!" In the same event in the manga, Ryoma, paired with Rokkaku's Kentaro Aoi, plays decently only after activating Muga no Kyōchi.

His favorite subject is Science, though he is better at English because he was in America for three years, which his classmates admire him for.

His catchphrase in the Japanese anime is "mada mada dane," literally meaning "no, not yet" or "not good enough." In the Prince of Tennis English dub, this is translated as "You still have a ways to go." Having been brought up in the United States, Ryoma is fluent in English, and in the manga and the match with Sanada in the anime, he says "You still have lots more to work on" in English.



In the Prince of Tennis movie Futari no Samurai, Ryoma supposedly has an older brother named Ryoga Echizen, but the latter is later revealed to simply be a child that Nanjiro took in a few years ago.

Ryoma can be quite cocky and arrogant at times, but is always able to back up his statements with his tennis skills. He is usually distrustful of other tennis players, and Ryoma often provokes his opponent before a match. In the beginning of the series, Ryoma is not taken seriously by the other students at his school, especially at the Seigaku tennis club. It is only after he beats two of Seigaku's regulars (Kaoru Kaido and Sadaharu Inui) that he gains respect from fellow club members.

Ryoma is quiet by nature, but always stands up for himself and others, even if it involves confronting an upperclassman. He is unafraid almost to the point of recklessness, but rarely gets angry or out of control. Most of the time, he is serious, quiet, and not talkative. In the TeniPuri Family chibi episodes, Ryoma is the oldest son of the family and always gets into all sorts of mischief.



At the beginning of the series, all of Ryoma's tennis skills are a copy of his father's. With the help of his team captain, Kunimitsu Tezuka, Ryoma realizes his need to develop his own style of tennis if he intends to reach his goal and defeat his father. The kanji that make up Ryoma's family name, Echizen, fits well, as "越" means "to surpass" and "前" means "the above".

With each match, it becomes apparent that Ryoma not only brings his potential to the front, but that he is constantly reaching a new point in the state of self-actualization – especially so during crucial points in a match. Although he views each opponent as a stepping stone of advancement, Tezuka soon becomes the wall that Ryoma has set up for himself in order to achieve actual greatness.



Although Ryoma has a rather tunneled vision as to whom he considers a rival (Tezuka and his father), there are many that view the first year as just that. One of the more notable examples of this in the anime is Kevin Smith, the son of the tennis coach George Smith, who was defeated by Nanjiro Echizen in defense of George's pupil Rinko Takeuchi, who becomes Ryoma's mother, fifteen years ago. Kevin appears later in the series in the "friendly" match between the U.S. and Japan. Kevin became obsessed with wanting to play Ryoma because of their pasts, whereas in the beginning Ryoma regarded Kevin's threats with a rather unconcerned attitude until he saw him play against Yamabuki's Jin Akutsu in the streets. Tezuka was unimpressed with Ryoma's attitude toward the matches, and as a result, Ryoma was forced to earn his place as a reserve player.