diff --git a/PROJECT.md b/PROJECT.md
index 89d85eb..86ff629 100644
--- a/PROJECT.md
+++ b/PROJECT.md
@@ -4963,6 +4963,29 @@ download-request feedback and no console errors. The in-app browser did not expo
 completion event; the exporter branches are tested with platform stubs, real Safari export is
 the next phone check. New file is under src/, already covered by Docker's COPY.
 
+## Session log: PHONE-RECORDED AI FOOTWORK (2026-09-07, v352)
+
+Oliver exported a v351 iPhone playtest successfully: final-league cup 5–0 games / 20–3 points,
+then six Climb opponents 24–1 on points. All eight Champion winners were second bounces, not
+early awards. Seventeen of the cup's eighteen second-bounce winners had no sampled post-bounce
+frame above the AI's 24 cm contact floor. Six Champion winners had timing quality <= 0.1.
+The AI held behind the service line, then could not scoop the low bounce even when it arrived.
+On its own serve it also stood still until Oliver's return. This was footwork/contact, not stale
+difficulty settings. Oliver's constraint: **harder, still winnable**.
+
+Solo match opponents now read first-bounce depth from launch, approach as far as 1.2 m behind
+the net and can scoop a rising low ball under the same height rule as the player. They cannot
+strike across the net. During their own live flight they recover towards HOME.O at half chase
+speed, after the serve pose finishes. Lateral anticipation, wrong-footing, wounds, shot quality,
+speed, reach and mistake dials stay as before; gore and classic behavior stay as before.
+
+Validation: 142 tests, default seed plus 1, 42, 1234 and 20260907. Recorded cup points 21/22
+are returned at 30/60/120 Hz; tests also pin rising vs falling contact, net separation, serve/dead
+ball recovery guards and a passing-shot winner against the approaching Champion. Isolated final
+shot simulations from the recording (20 seeds each, not a deterministic full-match replay) now
+return all six soft Champion winners; wide winners against earlier foes and surprise misses remain.
+Phone balance still needs Oliver's next recording; no further numeric difficulty increase here.
+
 # OPEN — leftovers, in rough priority order
 
 Nothing here is broken; these are known gaps and unverified risks.
diff --git a/index.html b/index.html
index 7d26484..de9d636 100644
--- a/index.html
+++ b/index.html
@@ -1107,6 +1107,6 @@ if (location.hostname !== 'splatter-tennis.wuwi.one' && !window.Capacitor?.isNat
   </div>
 </div>
 <span id="recLamp" hidden>REC</span>
-<script type="module" src="src/main.js?v=351"></script>
+<script type="module" src="src/main.js?v=352"></script>
 </body>
 </html>
diff --git a/src/gameplay.js b/src/gameplay.js
index cca6ab4..9e94927 100644
--- a/src/gameplay.js
+++ b/src/gameplay.js
@@ -1488,10 +1488,15 @@ function racketAI(rz, dt) {
   rz.swingCool -= dt;
   const incoming = ball.active && ball.lastHit === 'P' && ball.vz < 0
     && (G.interlude || (ball.pow || 0) < TUNE.zSplatQ); // in the duel it plays EVERY ball — it's tennis now
+  // Solo tennis recovers during its own flight, at half chase speed. The serve pose finishes
+  // first; dead balls and the gore racket keep their existing hold.
+  const recovering = G.match && G.phase === 'rally' && ball.active && !ball.scored
+    && !G.match.decided && !G.match.ending && ball.lastHit === 'O' && ball.vz > 0
+    && !(rz.serveHold > 0);
   // ...and the sprint velocity dies WITH the chase. This return kept the last chase's vx/vz on
   // the body, so the speed ghosts trailed a zombie that had already stopped ("teilweise bleiben
   // die doppelten ghosts länger sichtbar") — the trail must read as motion, never as residue.
-  if (!incoming) { rz.vx = 0; rz.vz = 0; if (rz.pose === 'run') rz.pose = 'idle'; return; }
+  if (!incoming && !recovering) { rz.vx = 0; rz.vz = 0; if (rz.pose === 'run') rz.pose = 'idle'; return; }
   // ANTICIPATION. He used to run at the ball's LIVE position, and against a serve that is a
   // trap: for the first third of the flight the ball is still up by YOUR baseline, so he ran
   // deep and straight while the ball was already leaving sideways, and only started sliding
@@ -1501,7 +1506,8 @@ function racketAI(rz, dt) {
   // aiRead is how much of the read he gets: 1 would be a machine that is never wrong-footed, and
   // being wrong-footed is most of what makes the rally a rally. Serves only in spirit but applied
   // to every flight — the same lag was there in a rally, just hidden by the shorter distances.
-  const pred = ball.y > 0.35 && ball.vy < 3 ? predictLanding() : null; // not while it is still climbing off the racket
+  const pred = incoming && ((G.match && ball.bounces === 0) || (ball.y > 0.35 && ball.vy < 3))
+    ? predictLanding() : null;
   // THE READ rides on aiRead: an EXPECTED ball (you repeated your habit) is read almost perfectly
   // — spam feeds the machine — and a SURPRISE ball collapses the read back toward the old pure
   // pursuit, which is exactly the wrong-footing aiRead exists to permit. Both scale with the rung
@@ -1513,9 +1519,11 @@ function racketAI(rz, dt) {
     : G.match ? TUNE.aiRead
     // the DUEL's read climbs with the run (never to 1 — wrong-footing stays possible)
     : TUNE.aiRead + (TUNE.duelReadMax - TUNE.aiRead) * duelSkill();
-  const aimX = pred ? ball.x + (pred.x - ball.x) * read : ball.x;
-  const aimZ = pred ? ball.z + (pred.z - ball.z) * read : ball.z;
-  const tz = Math.max(1.5, Math.min(COURT.svcFar, aimZ)); // chase laterally, hold deep on the far court
+  const aimX = recovering ? HOME.O.x : pred ? ball.x + (pred.x - ball.x) * read : ball.x;
+  // Read the landing depth immediately in a match, including rising returns. Blending with
+  // the ball's current depth would send every receiver towards the net before it arrives.
+  const aimZ = recovering ? HOME.O.z : pred ? (G.match ? pred.z : ball.z + (pred.z - ball.z) * read) : ball.z;
+  const tz = Math.max(1.5, Math.min(G.match ? COURT.netZ - 1.2 : COURT.svcFar, aimZ));
   const dx = aimX - rz.x, dz = tz - rz.z, d = Math.hypot(dx, dz);
   if (d > 0.15) {
     // THE MATCH ESCALATES HERE, not in hp: with regicide gone the pool is pure scoreboard,
@@ -1523,7 +1531,7 @@ function racketAI(rz, dt) {
     // 2.8 m/s lumber was tuned for one sudden-death point against a fresh player, and across a
     // whole game it read as "very weak and slow": opponent one already moves at matchSpeedBase.
     // (the dials themselves live in rzChaseSpeed, which the rally-ending reach tests share)
-    const step = Math.min(rzChaseSpeed(rz) * dt, d);
+    const step = Math.min(rzChaseSpeed(rz) * (recovering ? 0.5 : 1) * dt, d);
     rz.dist = (rz.dist || 0) + step; // ground covered — his walk cycle steps off this, not the clock
     rz.x += dx / d * step; rz.z += dz / d * step; rz.runT += dt;
     if (rz.pose !== 'swing') rz.pose = 'run';
@@ -1547,9 +1555,10 @@ function racketAI(rz, dt) {
   // as far, lost its head and missed exactly as often. Both dials read the same racketStage the
   // SKINS do, so what you see it lose is what it loses. Match only — see config.matchWound.
   const wnd = G.match ? matchWound(rz) : { reach: 1, flub: 1 };
-  if (rz.swingCool <= 0 && rz.swingT < 0
+  if (incoming && (!G.match || ball.z < COURT.netZ) && rz.swingCool <= 0 && rz.swingT < 0
       && Math.hypot(ball.x - rz.x, (ball.z - rz.z) * 0.8) < TUNE.aiReach * wnd.reach
-      && ball.y < CONTACT.maxY && ball.y > CONTACT.minY) {
+      && ball.y < CONTACT.maxY
+      && (G.match ? ball.y >= CONTACT.minY || ball.vy > 0 : ball.y > CONTACT.minY)) {
     // ...and the match has its OWN flub base: the duel's 0.2 hands a fifth of all returns away,
     // which across a game is an opponent that beats itself.
     const flub = (G.match ? TUNE.matchFlub * Math.pow(TUNE.matchFlubKeep, matchStep()) * (rz.foe?.flub || 1) * wnd.flub
diff --git a/test.js b/test.js
index d700e03..1931724 100644
--- a/test.js
+++ b/test.js
@@ -969,6 +969,94 @@ test('league 5 sustains strong returns and hunts the open court; league 4 stays
   endMatch();
 });
 
+test('phone winners: the Champion approaches and returns the recorded short, low balls', () => {
+  // Cup points 21/22 from Oliver's v351 phone log. Both were untouched second-bounce winners:
+  // one landed near the net, the other bounced below the AI's old 24 cm contact floor.
+  const cases = [
+    { opponent: [1.626, 5.485], player: [-1.035, 14.522], hp: 3,
+      pos: [-0.535, 1.194, 14.222], velocity: [1.467, 1.063, -7.611], g: 9.614 },
+    { opponent: [2.676, 5.485], player: [-2.749, 19.533], hp: 2,
+      pos: [-2.249, 0.404, 19.233], velocity: [0.597, 3.678, -14.681], g: 9.698 },
+  ];
+  const flub = TUNE.matchFlub;
+  TUNE.matchFlub = 0; // isolate movement/contact; reliability and surprise rates have their own tests
+  try {
+    for (const hz of [30, 60, 120]) for (const c of cases) {
+      freshSplatter(); prof.prof.lg = 5; prof.prof.xp = prof.xpFor(29);
+      startMatch(); G.interlude.introT = 0; G.match.opp = 18;
+      const rz = oppOf();
+      Object.assign(rz, { x: c.opponent[0], z: c.opponent[1], hp: c.hp, hpMax: 8,
+        foe: cfg.matchFoe(18), swingT: -1, swingCool: 0 });
+      Object.assign(P, { x: c.player[0], z: c.player[1], swingT: -1 });
+      G.phase = 'rally'; G.wasServe = false;
+      Object.assign(ball, { active: true, scored: false, lastHit: 'P', bounces: 0, pow: 0.05,
+        x: c.pos[0], y: c.pos[1], z: c.pos[2], vx: c.velocity[0], vy: c.velocity[1], vz: c.velocity[2], g: c.g });
+      for (let i = 0; i < hz * 3 && ball.active && ball.lastHit === 'P' && G.phase === 'rally'; i++) {
+        update(1 / hz);
+        assert.ok(rz.z <= COURT.netZ - 1.2, 'the approach stays on its own side');
+      }
+      assert.equal(ball.lastHit, 'O', `${hz}Hz: the reachable phone winner is returned`);
+      assert.deepEqual(score.pts, [0, 0], 'the rally continues instead of gifting a point');
+    }
+  } finally { TUNE.matchFlub = flub; }
+});
+
+test('match low contact: scoop rising balls, reject falling balls and contact across the net', () => {
+  const flub = TUNE.matchFlub;
+  TUNE.matchFlub = 0;
+  try {
+    for (const [z, y, vy, returns] of [[5, 0.12, 1.5, true], [5, 0.12, -1, false],
+      [COURT.netZ + 0.1, 1, 0, false]]) {
+      freshSplatter(); startMatch(); G.interlude.introT = 0;
+      const rz = oppOf();
+      Object.assign(rz, { x: 0, z: Math.min(z, COURT.netZ - 1.2), swingT: -1, swingCool: 0 });
+      G.phase = 'rally'; G.wasServe = false;
+      Object.assign(ball, { active: true, lastHit: 'P', bounces: 1,
+        x: 0, y, z, vx: 0, vy, vz: -1, g: TUNE.gravity });
+      update(DT);
+      assert.equal(ball.lastHit === 'O', returns, `contact at z=${z}, y=${y}, vy=${vy}`);
+    }
+  } finally { TUNE.matchFlub = flub; }
+});
+
+test('match recovery: finish the serve, recover during the outbound rally, hold on dead balls', () => {
+  startMatch(); G.interlude.introT = 0;
+  const rz = oppOf();
+  Object.assign(rz, { x: 3, z: -0.5, serveHold: 0.4 });
+  G.phase = 'rally';
+  Object.assign(ball, { active: true, lastHit: 'O', bounces: 0,
+    x: 0, y: 2, z: 14, vx: 0, vy: 0, vz: 1 });
+  update(DT);
+  assert.deepEqual([rz.x, rz.z], [3, -0.5], 'serve follow-through holds its mark');
+  rz.serveHold = 0;
+  update(DT);
+  assert.ok(rz.x < 3 && rz.z > -0.5, 'recovers towards centre and into court before the return');
+  const recoverySpeed = Math.hypot(rz.vx, rz.vz);
+  ball.lastHit = 'P'; ball.vz = -1;
+  update(DT);
+  assert.ok(Math.abs(Math.hypot(rz.vx, rz.vz) - recoverySpeed * 2) < 1e-9,
+    'recovery uses half chase speed, leaving room for wrong-footing');
+  for (const dead of ['inactive', 'scored', 'pretoss']) {
+    ball.lastHit = 'O'; ball.vz = 1; ball.active = dead !== 'inactive'; ball.scored = dead === 'scored';
+    G.phase = dead === 'pretoss' ? 'pretoss' : 'rally';
+    const pos = [rz.x, rz.z];
+    update(DT);
+    assert.deepEqual([rz.x, rz.z], pos, `${dead}: no recovery outside a live flight`);
+    assert.deepEqual([rz.vx, rz.vz], [0, 0], 'no stale sprint trail');
+  }
+});
+
+test('the approaching Champion can still be passed into the open back corner', () => {
+  startMatch(); G.interlude.introT = 0; G.match.opp = 18;
+  const rz = oppOf();
+  Object.assign(rz, { x: 3, z: 10, foe: cfg.matchFoe(18), swingT: -1, swingCool: 0 });
+  G.phase = 'rally'; G.wasServe = false;
+  Object.assign(ball, { active: true, lastHit: 'P', bounces: 0, pow: 0.8,
+    x: -3.5, y: 0.3, z: 1.5, vx: 0, vy: -2, vz: -4, g: TUNE.gravity });
+  for (let i = 0; i < 60 && score.pts[0] === 0; i++) update(DT);
+  assert.deepEqual(score.pts, [1, 0], 'a legal passing shot beats a Champion stranded at the net');
+});
+
 test('The Climb opens briskly, converges at opponent eight, and leaves cup and training intact', () => {
   startMatch(); G.interlude.introT = 0;
   const zb = oppOf();