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Five great books for tennis enthusiasts

27th December 2018

Five great books for tennis enthusiasts is the latest in our ‘Five great books…’ series.

Five great books for tennis enthusiasts.

Five great books for tennis enthusiasts

With 2018 drawing to a close, the first Grand Slam tennis tournament of 2019 – the Australian Open, played out in Melbourne in the searing heat of an Aussie summer – is just a few rallies away. We take a look at a handful of books with tennis at their heart, and hope they inspire you to pick up a racket, as well as a book….

Playing the Moldovans at Tennis by Tony Hawks – set in MOLDOVA

‘All I knew about Moldova were the names of eleven men printed on the inside back pages of my newspaper. None of them sounded to me like they were any good at tennis …’

An eccentric wager finds Tony Hawks, a man who loves an unusual challenge, bound for the little-known Eastern European state of Moldova. His mission: to track down members of the country’s football team and persuade them to play him at tennis. The bizarre quest ultimately has little to do with tennis or football, but instead turns into an extraordinary journey involving the Moldovan underworld, gypsies, chronic power shortages, near kidnap, and a surprisingly tender relationship with his host family.

Follow the fortunes of Tony in this hilarious and often moving adventure as it takes him from Moldova, onwards to Northern Ireland, leading to an exciting denouement in Nazareth – and the naked truth of the bet’s final outcome …

Beautiful Country by J R Thornton – set in BEIJING, CHINA

A coming-of-age story set in modern day China centering on the friendship between an American and a Chinese boy who meet while training with Beijing’s Junior National Tennis Team.

Chase Robertson arrives in Beijing as a fourteen-year-old boy still troubled by the recent death of his older brother. He discovers a country in transition; a society in which the dual systems of Communist Era state control and an emerging entrepreneurial culture exist in paradox.

A top ranked junior tennis player in the U.S., Chase joins the practices of the Beijing National Junior Tennis Team and is immersed in the brutal, cut-throat world of Chinese sport. It is a world in which gifted children are selected at the ages of six or seven for specialized sport schools where they devote their entire youth to the pursuit of athletic excellence and are paid as professionals by the state. Athletes find themselves compelled to do anything possible to succeed—right or wrong. Those who fail to reach the pinnacle are cast aside and are left facing a desperate future without hope.

In China, Chase gains access to a culture rarely open to Westerners, and soon finds himself caught up in secrets. When his closest friend and teammate turns to him for help, Chase is faced with the dilemma of what to do when friendship, rules, and morals are in conflict.

A big-hearted debut, Beautiful Country explores a friendship against the backdrop of a quickly changing country.

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace – set in BOSTON, USA

Somewhere in the not-so-distant future the residents of Ennet House, a Boston halfway house for recovering addicts, and students at the nearby Enfield Tennis Academy are ensnared in the search for the master copy of INFINITE JEST, a movie said to be so dangerously entertaining its viewers become entranced and expire in a state of catatonic bliss . . .

Wallace’s exuberance and intellectual impishness are a delight, and he has deep things to say about the hollowness of contemporary American pleasure . . .

Breaking and Holding by Judy Fogarty – set in KIAWAH ISLAND, USA

For Patricia Curren, the summer of 1978 begins with a devastating discovery: an unfamiliar black pearl button in the bed she shares with her controlling husband, Jack. Seeking the courage to end her desolate marriage, Patricia spends a quiet summer alone on beautiful Kiawah Island. But when she meets Terry Sloan, a collegiate tennis player trying to go pro, their physical attraction sparks a slow burn toward obsession.

Once Patricia and Terry share closely guarded secrets from their pasts, they want more than a summer together. But their love soon fractures, as a potential sponsor takes an unusually keen interest in Terry—both on court and off. And when single, career-driven Lynn Hewitt arrives, other secrets must surface, including the one Patricia has kept from Terry all summer.

An intimate portrait of the folly of the human heart, Breaking and Holding explores buried truths that are startlingly unveiled. What’s left in their wake has the power not only to shatter lives…but to redeem them.

The Singles Game by Lauren Weisberger – set around the WORLD

Sweeping from Wimbledon to the Caribbean, from LA to mega yachts in the Med, The Singles Game is a brilliantly entertaining romp through a world where the stakes are high – and no-one plays by the rules.

When Charlotte ‘Charlie’ Silver makes a pact with the devil, infamously brutal tennis coach Todd Feltner, she finds herself catapulted into a world of stylists, private parties and secret dates with Hollywood royalty.

Under Todd it’s no more good-girl attitude: he wants warrior princess Charlie all the way. After all, no-one ever won by being nice.

Celebrity mags and gossip blogs go wild for Charlie, chasing scandal as she jets around the globe. But as the warrior princess’s star rises, both on and off the court, it comes at a high price. Is the real Charlie Silver still inside?

BONUS BOOKS

Imogen by Jilly Cooper – set on the RIVIERA

As a librarian, Imogen read a lot of books, but none of them covered real life on the Riviera. Her holiday with tennis ace, Nicky, and the whole glamorous coterie of journalist, playboy, photographer, was a revelation – and so was she. A prize worth winning. A wild Yorkshire rose among the thorny model girls, Cable and Yvonne, with a rare asset that they’d mislaid years ago…

But the path of a jet-set virgin in that lovely wicked world was a hard one. Imogen began to wonder if virtue really was its own reward…

Tennis Shoes by Neil Strettfeild – set in ENGLAND

Will the four Heath children continue their family tradition and become tennis champions? 

The Heath kids—Nicky, David, and twins Jim and Susan—come from a long line of ace tennis players. Now their dad has decided it’s time to teach them everything he knows about the game.

The twins are the odds-on favourites to become the next champs. Susan shows a lot of promise, winning in tournaments and getting recognition, but she secretly hates the spotlight. Jim’s a good player, but prefers swimming. David, the youngest, loves to sing. Nicky could be a natural, but she’s too busy rebelling to take the sport seriously.

Who will become champion? And will it change their family forever?

BONUS BOOKS

Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Carrie Soto is fierce, and her determination to win at any cost has not made her popular.

By the time Carrie retires from tennis, she is the best player the world has ever seen. She has shattered every record and claimed twenty Slam titles. And if you ask her, she is entitled to every one. She sacrificed nearly everything to become the best, with her father as her coach.

But six years after her retirement, Carrie finds herself sitting in the stands of the 1994 US Open, watching her record be taken from her by a brutal, stunning, British player named Nicki Chan.

At thirty-seven years old, Carrie makes the monumental decision to come out of retirement and be coached by her father for one last year in an attempt to reclaim her record. Even if the sports media says that they never liked the ‘Battle-Axe’ anyway. Even if her body doesn’t move as fast as it did. And even if it means swallowing her pride to train with a man she once almost opened her heart to: Bowe Huntley. Like her, he has something to prove before he gives up the game forever.

In spite of it all: Carrie Soto is back, for one epic final season. In this riveting and unforgettable novel, Taylor Jenkins Reid tells a story about the cost of greatness and a legendary athlete attempting a comeback.

Apples Never Fall by Lianne Moriarty

The Delaney family love one another dearly – it’s just that sometimes they want to murder each other . . .

Joy Delaney and husband Stan have done well. Four wonderful grown-up children. A family business to envy. The golden years of retirement ahead of them.

So when Joy Delaney vanishes – no note, no calls, her bike missing – it’s natural that tongues will wag.

How did Stan scratch his face? And who was the stranger who entered and suddenly left their lives? What are they all hiding?

Wild Card by Judy Murray

It’s never too late to follow your dreams…

Twenty years ago, Abigail Patterson put her promising tennis career on hold to have her baby son, Robbie. But after a wild card entry to Wimbledon, she suddenly finds herself swept up in a world she thought she’d left behind – and against all odds, she’s winning!

Yet as those long-buried dreams of lifting the sparkling silver trophy on centre court inch closer, Abi knows that it’s only a matter of time before the press start digging into her past and uncover the secret she’s kept hidden for so long.

The stakes are raised, but this time nothing – and no one – is going to stand in her way. But could the greatest comeback of all time destroy everything she’s sacrificed to protect?

Singles, Set and Match by Elaine Spires

The fifth and final book in the Singles’ Series takes us to the Ibiza, the sparkling jewel of the Mediterranean then back to the vibrant, sultry Caribbean island of Antigua, where it all began.
After making a hard decision two years earlier Eve Mitchell has moved on with the hand that life has dealt her and she finds herself on the White Island working a tennis holiday. While it isn’t a job she would have chosen, in her typical pragmatic way Eve gets on with it, working hard to ensure that her diverse group of singles, with their hopes, expectations character flaws and baggage, have the best time possible. And as she binds together tennis sessions, social gatherings, meals and trips Eve hears some tragic personal news that brings her to another crossroads in her life. Will she and her soulmate Melv finally make a life together and have their happily ever after?


Do you know any other books with a strong tennis theme to add to our database? Please leave your thoughts in the Comments box below, and remember that you can buy any of these books through TripFiction by clicking on the bookseller links on any book page.

Game, Set, Match by Heidi Stephens (Spain)

Hannah has been married to Graham since they were eighteen – a union of desperation to escape their strict families. He’s the only man she’s ever kissed and honestly, she’s not sure he’s any good at it. But fourteen years of washing his underwear is more than enough to kill the romance.

Well, that and the fact that he’s got a work colleague pregnant.

Hannah’s new-found freedom is an opportunity to finally put herself first, and a trip to Spain sounds like the perfect start. Yes, it might be with three near strangers, but it’s also a chance to play tennis every day under the Spanish sun, before heading off on a solo road trip and starting the next phase of her life.

Then Hannah meets Rob, who has kissed ALL the women and is 100% not her type. And besides, she’s really not looking for love right now. But if there’s one thing Hannah knows about tennis, it’s that sometimes taking a risk can pay off – and when you fault on your first serve, you get a second chance.

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  1. User: barbara baer

    Posted on: 27/12/2018 at 4:42 pm

    Great choice for theme. As a public courts player and huge fan: watching on TV with all the close ups and interviews with players, a fan gets to see more intimately what sort of person the player may be off court. A great book, not a novel but with such a strong narrative line that it reads like one, “The Tennis Partner” by Abraham Verghese.

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    • User: andrewmorris51

      Posted on: 27/12/2018 at 6:57 pm

      Thanks for the positive comment, and also for suggesting ‘The Tennis Partner’ for the theme. It so nearly made the cut! Set in Texas and on the TripFiction database already: https://www.tripfiction.com/books/the-tennis-partner/

      Enjoy the Aussie Open, the first tennis ‘Slam’ event of the year.

      TF’s Andrew

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