{"product_id":"the-racket-winner-of-the-william-hill-sports-book-of-the-year-award","title":"The Racket: Winner of the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award","description":"\u003cp\u003eTHE NO. 1 BESTSELLER\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWINNER OF THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'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\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e' A s elegant and powerful as a Federer backhand ... It’s Kitchen Confidential for tennis.' Ed Caesar\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'Devoured it in a day ... I've read many tennis autobiographies: this is one of the very best' Charles Arthur\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e----\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhen Conor Niland was 16, he was chosen 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eConor 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003ePainting 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e----\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'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\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'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\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'A brilliant, unvarnished look at a brutal sporting life.' Michael Foley, Sunday Times\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e‘One of the best Irish sports books of the last decade’ Kieran Shannon, Irish Examiner\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'This will rightly join the list of The Best Irish Sports Books Ever Written. A superb insight into professional tennis from the ground up' Paul Howard\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'I ate this book up ... reveals the sacrifices, commitment and decidedly unglamorous side of life on the tennis circuit' Sinéad Moriarty\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'A really wonderful read ... Conor Niland has delivered an all-timer for tennis and sports journalism' Ashlee Vance\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e‘Genuinely such a brilliant book, a brilliant read’ Ciarán Murphy, Second Captains\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e‘Unsparing in his depiction of the drudgery of tennis’ Mike Jakeman, Spectator\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e‘Compelling’ Tennis365.com\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'Brilliant book, I inhaled it' Jonathan Drennan, Sydney Morning Herald\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'If it's not a contender for Sports Book of the Year, the world has gone mad.' Fionn Davenport, Off The Ball\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'Sure to become a must read of the tennis literature canon' Paul Perry\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e‘Witty and insightful … an homage to the game he clearly still loves’ Anna Carey, Irish Times\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e‘Honest and droll’ Laura Slattery, Irish Times\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e' His funny, sometimes painful, memoir, is a brilliant insider's look at the brutally competitive world of tennis as well as a meditation on moments missed by inches.' Sunday Independent\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e' A crushing reminder of the grist from which sporting greatness emerges' The Economist\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e‘A visceral, melancholy and often self-lacerating book … History is usually written by the winners, but this intelligent, unvarnished, emotionally draining memoir shows why an also-ran’s perspective can be just as valuable’ Andrew Lynch, The Business Post\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e'A brutally honest assessment of his career and the effort it took to take him to the margins of the world’s elite.' Tom Lyons, The Currency\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e‘An excellent book’ Denis Hurley, Irish Farmers Journal\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e' A searingly honest account of the real world of tennis’ Irish Country Living\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e‘One of the great sports memoirs. Funny, moving, informative - it’s got the lot.’ Tony Parsons\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"ANT-BOOK","offers":[{"title":"Ebook","offer_id":54016467075440,"sku":"978-0241998076","price":5.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1009\/8543\/8576\/files\/ebook_7932_3ac2c38496.jpg?v=1783671273","url":"https:\/\/antbook.store\/de\/products\/the-racket-winner-of-the-william-hill-sports-book-of-the-year-award","provider":"ANTBOOK","version":"1.0","type":"link"}