4.5 stars. Many had raved about this, so I figured I'd give it a try. I'd read a few others by this author, and liked them fine, but not as much as others seem to. I wasn't sure about this one ... the title, the cover, just seemed a little strange (I hadn't really read the blurb yet). I really liked it.

I'm not crazy about present tense - yet here, it actually made sense (the present tense was used for the "present" NOW part of the story, while the past was in the past tense). Logical. Helpful even (even though the chapters were clearly marked with the dates). This starts in 9/1994, then goes back to 1955-1989 (her career), and then back to 1994 and on. It stays chronological (other than right at the start).

I've played a little tennis recreationally - but I like sports stories, they always seem to have so much motivation and energy.

It was interesting how much Spanish there was (that wasn't translated).

At the start, numerous narrators were listed ... which was a bit confusing, because for the longest time, it was just Carrie's POV (single narrator). Then finally, in the last 3rd or so, the other narrators popped in. Many were character presentations (sports newscast, Julia Whelan reads articles, others are some interviews and such). That part had more of an "audio play" feel.

I got very involved with the characters, and wasn't sure how things were going to pan out. Did get a gut-punch emotionally, shed a few tears.