The Racket: On Tour with Tennis's Golden Generation - and the other 99%

Books

'As elegant and powerful as a Federer backhand ... It's Kitchen Confidential for tennis.' Ed Caesar 'A really wonderful read ... Conor Niland has delivered an all-timer for tennis and sports journalism' Ashlee Vance '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 'I ate this book up ... reveals the sacrifices, commitment and decidedly unglamorous side of life on the tennis circuit' Sinead Moriarty When Conor Niland was 16, he got the chance to hit with Serena Williams at Nick Bollettieri's famed tennis academy. Conor, the Irish junior number one, was feeling a bit homesick. Serena, also 16, already owned her own house beside the academy. 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 ...