Carrie Soto is Back: In Time for the US Open

 

CARRIE SOTO IS BACK (2022)

By Taylor Jenkins Reid

Ballantine Books/Random House, 384 pages.

★★★★

 

 

 

1994: Thirty-six-year-old Carolina “Carrie” Soto and her father Javier are in the stands of the U.S. Open and Nicki Chan is about to tie Carrie’s lifetime record of 20 Grand Slam titles. (That’s the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and U.S. Open for non-tennis fans.)  Carrie is not happy.  

 

Taylor Jenkins Reid then rewinds the clock in Carrie Soto is Back. Javier, nicknamed el Jaguar, was a tennis hero in his native Argentina but a bad knee forced him to retire in 1953. He soon immigrated to Miami, where he was a hitter—a training partner akin to a boxer’s sparring opponent­—before moving to Los Angeles to become a club pro and coach. He met Alicia, a dancer, and Carrie came along a few years later. Carrie was a toddler when a car struck and killed her mother. Carrie and Javier developed such a close bond that they finish each other’s thoughts– in Spanish and in English. That’s easier when all either thinks about is tennis.

 

Reid’s 1955-65 part of the book is its weakest. If you’ve seen King Richard and change a few details—no mother, no siblings, and coffee-skinned Argentines instead of African Americans—it’s similar enough to be called derivative: a child star by age 9, a father promising his daughter she’ll be the greatest ever, jealousy from older players she defeats, and so on. By the time Carrie turns pro at 16, everyone knows not to underestimate the short, dark, stocky girl. All she needs is refinement, which comes when another temporarily supplants Javier as her coach. Soon Carrie is collecting Grand Slams as if they are playground matches against beginners.

 

Reid’s latest novel probes what it takes to become a champion and it’s more than just hitting a lot—and I mean a lot –of tennis balls. There is diet, running ten miles on sand, drills, quitting school and working with a tutor, and mental preparation. Carrie excels at all of it, but especially the latter. The press dubs Carrie “Battle Axe” and few would disagree. Carrie would rather rip the heart out of an opponent than befriend her or agree to an injury timeout. She’s # 1 and intends to stay there.

 

It doesn’t work that way. As anyone who watches sports knows, the pros are a young person’s game. Knee surgery forces Carrie to put down her racket at the wizened age of 31. Her African-American agent Gwen worked angles that left Carrie set financially for life, but “Achilles”—Javy’s nickname for his daughter—finds it impossible to sit on the sidelines and cheer for others.

 

The heart of the book is Carrie’s comeback in 1995. Her only nod to age is that she’s only interested in Grand Slam events and automatically qualifies for them. Few commentators believe she’s a threat at age 37. Consider that as great as Serena Williams is, she won her last Grand Slam at age 36.

 

Carrie’s training requires a hitter and she’s flabbergasted when her father suggests tennis vet Bowe(n) Huntley, a brief fling from her past with a reputation for a John McEnroe-like temper. If that name sounds familiar, in Reid’s Malibu Rising he was married to Nina Rivera; sleeping with Carrie led Nina to divorce Bowe. Carrie doesn’t want any part of him now, but what papa thinks is what happens.

 

Carrie’s obsession with clawing her way back is so relentless that one male broadcaster is caught calling her a “bitch” on a hot mic, an offense that would today get him canned. Nothing is as easy at 37 as it was at 27. Carrie must compete against players stronger, faster, and with different skills than she. Nicki really annoys her because she’s so bloody nice, even when telling Carrie she intends to destroy her. Each Grand Slam match is like a Hoosiers playlet. Will Carrie win? Learn anything about herself? Discover things she’s missed? Lose things she takes for granted? Take a seat at center court and find out.

 

Carrie Soto is Back is thrilling despite being predictable and self-reverential. (At another juncture a character is reading Reid’s Daisy and the Six.) This book will be on the shelves in time for the 2022 U.S. Open. It’s a perfect choice to read in between matches. My head tells me not to bet on 40-year-old Serena Williams.

 

Rob Weir