# The Racket

Canonical: https://www.bookquiver.com/conor-niland/the-racket/9781844886425

![The Racket](https://quivercdn.com/covers/sandycove/conor-niland/the-racket_978-18-4488-642-5-5c91594e.jpg?v=2026-09-19%2005%3A02%3A06)

- Book: [The Racket](https://www.bookquiver.com/conor-niland/the-racket) ([The Racket.md](https://www.bookquiver.com/conor-niland/the-racket.md))
- Authors: [Conor Niland](https://www.bookquiver.com/conor-niland)
- Publisher: Sandycove
- Medium: ebook
- ISBN: 978-18-4488-642-5
- Published: 2024-06-06
- Language: en_GB
- Binding: E-book

## Description

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 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.