Gerald Marzorati

A riveting, revealing portrait of tennis champion and global icon Serena Williams that combines biography, cultural criticism, and sports writing to offer a deep, satisfying meditation (The New York Times) on the most consequential athlete of her time.There has never been an athlete like Serena Williams. She has dominated womens tennis for two decades, changed the way the game is played, andby inspiring Naomi Osaka, Coco Gauff, and otherschanged, too, the racial makeup of the pro game. But Williamss influence has not been confined to the tennis court. As a powerful Black woman who struggled to achieve and sustain success, she has emerged as a cultural icon, figuring in conversations about body image, working mothers, and more.Seeing Serena chronicles Williamss return to tennis after giving birth to her daughterfrom her controversial 2018 US Open final against Naomi Osaka through a 2020 season that unfolded against a backdrop of a pandemic and protests over the killing of Black men and women by the police. Gerald Marzorati, who writes about tennis for TheNew Yorker, travels to Wimbledon and to Compton, California, where Serena and her sister Venus learned to play. He talks with former womens tennis greats, sports and cultural commentatorsand Serena herself. He observes Williams from courtside, on the red carpet, in fashion magazines, on social media. He sees her and writes about her prismaticallyreflecting on her many, many facets.The result is an enlighteningkeen analysis (The Washington Post) and energetic narrative that illuminates Serenas singular status as the greatest womens tennis player of all time and a Black woman with a global presence like no other.

An award-winning author attempts to become a nationally competitive tennis playerat the age of sixtyin this soulful meditation on aging, companionship, and the power of self-improvement (The Wall Street Journal).Being a man or a woman in your early sixties is different than it was a generation or two ago, at least for the more fortunate of us. We arent oldyet. But we sense it coming: Careers are winding down, kids are gone, parents are dying (friends, too), and our bodies are no longer youthful or even middle-aged. Learning to play tennis in your fifties is no small feat, but becoming a serious, competitive tennis player at the age of sixty is a whole other matter. It requires training the body to defy age, and to methodically build ones gamethe strokework, footwork, strategy, and mental toughness.Gerry Mazorati had the strong desire to lead an examined physical life, to push his body into the encore of middle age. In Late to the Ball Mazorati writes vividly about his difficulties, frustrations, and triumphs of becoming a seriously good tennis player. He takes on his quest with complete vigor and absolute determination to see it through, providing a rich, vicarious experience, involving the science of aging, his existential battle with time, and the beautiful, mysterious game of tennis. Enjoyablecrisp and clean (Publishers Weekly), Late to the Ball is also captivating evidence that the rest of the Baby Boomer generation, now between middle age and old age, can find their own quest and do the same.

Este libro es la crónica de primera mano del intento de Serena Williams de regresar a la primera línea del tenis tras dar a luz a su hija, y también un análisis cultural de la atleta femenina más importante de su tiempo. Su biografia examina quien es ella tanto dentro como fuera de la cancha, y para ello el autor se convierte en su sombra a lo largo de toda la temporada 2019, desde Melbourne y el Open de Australia hasta Roland-Garros, Wimbledon y US Open. Esta exploracion de donde viene y hacia donde parece dirigirse combina el reportaje deportivo, la reflexion ensayistica, las entrevistas y la escritura de viaje para arrojar luz sobre la singular posicion de Williams como la mejor jugadora de tenis y como icono irrebatible en estos momentos en que todo lo relacionado con la discriminacion racista y de genero tiene un gran peso.Este es un libro para lectores que quieren saber mas y conocer mejor a Serena, y que quieran acercarse al primer analisis serio acerca de la mujer que ha cambiado el tenis y que ha ejercido su influencia mucho mas alla del terreno del juego.

El fascinante retrato de Serena Williams, un icono cultural y la mejor tenista de todos los tiemposEste libro es lacrónica de primera mano del intento de Serena Williams de regresar a la primera línea del tenis tras dar a luz a su hija, y tambien un analisis cultural de laatleta femenina mas importante de su tiempo. Su biografia examina quien es ella tanto dentro como fuera de la cancha, y para ello el autor se convierte en su sombra a lo largo de toda la temporada 2019, desdeMelbourne y elOpen de Australia hastaRoland-Garros, Wimbledon yUS Open. Esta exploracion de donde viene y hacia donde parece dirigirse combina elreportaje deportivo, lareflexion ensayistica, lasentrevistas y la escritura de viaje para arrojar luz sobre la singular posicion de Williams como lamejor jugadora de tenis y comoicono irrebatible en estos momentos en que todo lo relacionado con ladiscriminacion racista y de genero tiene un gran peso.Este es un libro para lectores que quierensaber mas y conocer mejor a Serena, y que quieran acercarse al primer analisis serio acerca de la mujer que ha cambiado el tenis y que ha ejercido su influencia mucho mas alla del terreno del juego.