is a japanese manga series created by takeshi konomi. the manga was first published in japan in shueisha's "weekly shōnen jump" in july 1999. the publication ended on march 3, 2008. a total of 379 chapters were published into 42 volumes. as of volume 40, the manga has sold over 40 million copies in japan. the new manga series, called "new prince of tennis", began publication in the "jump square" magazine on march 4, 2009. the story in the new manga series takes place some months after the end of the original manga. viz media got the license to distribute the series in english in north america.