I mean palette wise the first one is better (though some tones blend quite a lot), but I like the second palette just because it is more loyal to what he looks like.
Sure some Asians are pale, but he is not the case, he is dark as many people from west/south Japan.
If I were going to recolor it with a new palette I would pick something more brown+yellow-ish fleshy with a few pink tones without going too overboard overall.
Anyway, back to the sprite itself, it really looks like the one they showed in the tennis demo, so I guess it works.
Good job, keep it up man