The Racket

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

'Niland writes about the loneliness and absurdity of life on tour with an elegance and immediacy that makes readers feel as if they are alongside the battered pro trying so hard to reach a better life for himself.' Donald McRae, The Guardian

‘Outstanding … brutally honest, brilliantly crafted’ Irish Independent