Jennifer Paddock - Featured Tennis Stories

Praise for Jennifer Paddock

"A Secret Word is a remarkably subtle and nuanced coming-of-age novel, which captures the dreamy rhythms of adolescence between staccato moments of crisis as three perfectly ordinary and utterly memorable young southern women find themselves transported inexorably into the cosmopolitan landscape of womanhood. While many first novelists wave their arms and stamp their feet to get our attention, Jennifer Paddock seduces the reader with the narrative equivalent of a raised eyebrow or the almost imperceptible nod of the head. At the end the reader is inclined to ask of the writer as well as her characters—what’s next?”

Jay McInerney, author of Bright Lights, Big City

"A Secret Word is whole in a way that most of the kind are not; it resonates. That's partly because the three women at the center of the story are so memorable, their lives so inexorably linked, and partly because Paddock writes like Raymond Carver with a bigger heart––simple, graceful but tough, always with an eye on the possibility of redemption."

Michael Knight, author of Goodnight, Nobody

"Jennifer Paddock’s writing is the result of the wise and sure work of a fine mind and steady hand. It is lean and clear in the way poetry lends its best to fine prose."

Brad Watson, author of Aliens in the Prime of Their Lives

"Poignant and true, Paddock’s language evokes the elegiac way lives play themselves out. Her characters are vividly alive, for she writes with her heart as well as her hands."

William Gay, author of Twilight

“In The Weight of Memory, Jennifer Paddock returns with a delicately nuanced story of friendship and identity. The setting of Alabama's Gulf Coast is rendered with quiet eloquence, as are the strained relationships among three women whose lives intersect years after their childhood friendship faded. A riveting novel about memory, the meaning of home, and what we are willing to leave behind.”

Michelle Richmond, author of The Year of Fog

“There is something about Paddock’s writing that defies conventional description. The closest word I can summon is ‘magic’."

Melinda Haynes, author of Mother of Pearl

Perfect World Doubles Dream Team

McEnroe knew what to do when. A lefty with the same grip on all shots, super soft hands, the ability to adapt, make split-second decisions. He might see someone going, and instead of hitting it into the open space, slide it wide. He might let the ball drop and play a half-volley down the line. He might play a chip-lob against a big serve, just lift it over the guy at the net, and change the whole dynamic of the game.

Three Days at the US Open

Day One (Sunday-Practice Day)

You start in the viewing gallery at the practice courts. You hear him first. He has a distinctive grunt, Andrey Rublev, when he's demolishing forehands. He's a tall, lithe, young, 20, blond Russian, wearing a green Nike shirt, green headband, and green wristband.

Andreescu Wins US Open Title

On our bus rides, her gaze was pensive as we passed the cemetery crowded with graves. Dreamy as we made the curve to where the stadiums first come into view. We were all dreamy then. And energized. We were alive.

I watched her junior matches. She lost in the semifinals.

Book Review: The Circuit: A Tennis Odyssey

Next, Phillips watched Doha, which started on the seventh day of 2017. Novak Djokovic, the world No. 2 beat Andy Murray, the world No. 1, in the final. Phillips quotes commentator Simon Reed: “This is what we wanted. The best two players on the planet really laying into each other!” Phillips repeats this quote a few times, like a poem’s refrain. It’s meant to emphasize what is going to happen in this strange year, where Murray and Djokovic both end up losing early in the Australian Open and then disappear and reappear and disappear again, leaving Nadal and Federer at the top of the rankings.

WTA Profile: Alison Riske

For 29-year-old American Alison Riske, 2019 was a breakthrough year. After being on tour for eleven years, she's now ranked a career high of world No. 18.

In July, she reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon, playing her quick grass-court specialist style beating world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty.

The King of Clay is Off and Running in Monte Carlo

Like the Masters of Augusta, with its pristine-green-and-azaleas-in-bloom golf course, the Monte Carlo Masters also has a spectacular backdrop, with its center red-clay tennis court perched between a vertical cliff on one side and the azure waters of the Mediterranean on the other.