WINNER OF THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD 2024
A darkly funny memoir about the strange and fascinating world of professional tennis.
'As elegant and powerful as a Federer backhand ... It’s Kitchen Confidential for tennis.' Ed Caesar
'Well worth a read if you want the inside track on life on the lower rungs of the tennis circuit. Warts and all.' Judy Murray
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Conor Niland knows what it's like when Roger Federer walks into the dressing room ('Ciao, bonjour, hello!'), and he has had the exquisitely terrible experience of facing Novak Djokovic in the world's biggest tennis stadium - while suffering from food poisoning. But he never reached the very top.
The Racket is the story of pro tennis's 99%: the players who roam the globe in hope of climbing the rankings and squeaking into the Grand Slam tournaments. It brings us into a world where a few dozen super-rich players - travelling with coaches and physios - share a stage with lonely touring pros whose earnings barely cover their expenses.
Painting a vivid picture of the social dynamics on tour, the economics of the game, and the shadows cast by gambling and doping, The Racket is a witty and revealing underdog's memoir and a unique look inside a fascinating hidden world.
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‘An entertaining behind-the-scenes glimpse at life on the global tour’ Telegraph Best 50 Books of the Year
‘Fascinating’ The New York Times
'Conor Niland may only have managed a career-high ranking of 129 – only? that is some achievement in itself! – but The Racket, his account of how he managed this, is up there with the best half-dozen books on tennis ever written.' Geoff Dyer
'Blending a passion for his chosen sport with a realistic study of the traumas of the tour, The Racket offers a brilliant insight from Ireland’s greatest ever tennis player.’ John Boyne
'A brilliant, unvarnished look at a brutal sporting life.' Michael Foley, Sunday Times
‘One of the best Irish sports books of the last decade’ Kieran Shannon, Irish Examiner
‘A stone-cold classic’ Malachy Clerkin, The Irish Times
‘Outstanding’ Paul Kimmage, Sunday Independent
‘A thoughtfully constructed memoir … plenty of self-deprecating humour, poignancy and insight to make this a page-turner’ The Times
Write a Review
The Racket 9781844886401 Hardback
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An Eye Opener
The book was a revelation from start to finish. Tennis is one of my favourite sports and always thought it would be one I would have liked to have taken up as on a professional basis. Very difficult to avoid doing if you have been pushed by one's parents from an early age. After having read…
The book was a revelation from start to finish. Tennis is one of my favourite sports and always thought it would be one I would have liked to have taken up as on a professional basis. Very difficult to avoid doing if you have been pushed by one's parents from an early age. After having read the book it puts a completely different complexion on the sport. It was an agonizing and extremely compulsive read experiencing the ups but mainly downs the author had to struggle through during his tennis life. Definitely an eye opener of a book and one I would highly recommend to be read
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Searingly honest and highly entertaining
A searingly honest account of the life of an Irish tennis pro trying to make it big. Niland's humility and self-deprecatory humour are to the fore in this delightful memoir. I loved the anecdotes, especially those about his father, which were touching. The little references to literature scatt…
A searingly honest account of the life of an Irish tennis pro trying to make it big. Niland's humility and self-deprecatory humour are to the fore in this delightful memoir. I loved the anecdotes, especially those about his father, which were touching. The little references to literature scattered throughout are a pleasant surprise. Beautifully written, admittedly ghost-written, but I hear from those that know him that the former tennis pro's voice rings loudly true throughout.
- Authors:
- Niland, Conor
- Format:
- Hardback
- ISBN:
- 9781844886401
- Publication Date:
- 06/06/2024
- Publisher:
- Penguin Books Ltd
- Year Published:
- 2024
- Country of Publication:
- Ireland
- Number of Pages:
- 320
- Language:
- English
- SKU:
- 9781844886401