It was wonderful to see live tennis again these past several weeks. The U.S. Open was expertly organized in NYC and saw a new champion, Dominic Thiem of Austria, and a second time champion, Naomi Osaka of Japan and the U.S. The event also featured doubles and wheelchair events. The mixed doubles event did not take place, nor did the junior and veterans events. The veterans events are for past champions to come back and play doubles in a round robin format.
The French Open in Paris was just recently completed as coronavirus cases were surging in the city, but the French organizers kept the players safe and the tournament saw Spain's Rafael Nadal win his 20th Grand Slam Title while the women's draw saw a brand new champion with Iga Swiatek from Poland. The French did hold the junior events as well as the wheelchair events, and the regular doubles events, but not the mixed.
Now that the grandeur of the Grand Slams is over for the year, even though we do have the ATP Finals in London next month, and the inevitable feeling of coming down from a spectator high sets in, you might find some comfort in these novels that feature tennis, which are all available in the library and in our catalog.
Drop Shot by Harlan Coben - This second novel in the Myron Bolitar series, is about a tennis star who is murdered at the U.S. Open. Bolitar discovers a connection between her and the new tennis star on the rise.
Sudden Death by Enrigue Alvaro - Set in the 16th century, the novel goes back and forth like a tennis ball during an actual tennis match between Italian painter Carravagio and Spanish poet Quevedo. There is a host of famous people as other characters, including Anne Boleyn, Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII, and even Galileo, as time bends and settings expand from Europe to the Americas.
Choke by Stuart Woods - A stand alone novel set in Key West. Chandler has blown a pro tennis career and all of his jobs at fancy tennis clubs usually because he can't keep away from his female tennis students. When he becomes a suspect in a murder, it's no longer just his job that is on the line.
Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace - Set in a tennis academy and an addicts' halfway house, this novel features an endearingly screwed-up family and asks questions about how our desire for entertainment affects our needs to connect with others and about how the pleasures we choose reveal a lot about us.
40 Love by Olivia Dade - Lucas, a former top-level tennis pro, is now giving lessons at a resort after the end to his injury-plagued career. But he’s finally ready to move on with his life with Tess. But this match comes with challenges: She’s forty. He's twenty-six. Worse, they only have two weeks together before Tess returns to her life in Virginia. During that brief time, they’ll have to find out whether their chemistry is a one-shot wonder…or whether they’re meant to be doubles partners for life.
The Tennis Partner by Abraham Verghese - Okay, this isn't a novel. It's a biography of Abraham Verghese, a physician whose marriage is unraveling, who relocates to El Paso, where he hopes to make a fresh start as a staff member at the county hospital. There he meets David Smith, a medical student recovering from drug addiction, and the two men begin a tennis ritual that allows them to shed their inhibitions and find security in the sport they love and with each other until a surprise about David's past comes to light.
Federer and Me by William Skidelsky - I know, I know. This isn't a novel either. But I'm a great Roger Federer fan, and this journalist's narrative reads like a novel. It is wonderful for Federer admirers. Go behind the scenes with Skidelsky to see how the media gets close to the top players.
You can find other tennis-themed novels on our library eSource, NoveList Plus.
