Carrie Soto Is Back

The crowd does not stop cheering when Carrie enters the court: for Javier, too, not just for Carrie. She beats Dvořáková soundly.

A transcript from SportsRadio reveals that Bowe makes it to the quarterfinals. The Mark Hadley Show transcript discusses both Bowe and Carrie; the commentators wonder if the two are dating. They also note that Carrie and Bowe are testaments to Javier’s work as they both embody “[t]he beautiful fundamentals” (339).

It is the semifinals of the men’s match, and Carrie is watching Bowe take on Matsuda. That morning, Carrie saw a picture of herself and Bowe kissing in a magazine. She saw how happy they looked and was surprised that she didn’t feel horrified that they were caught.

It is close, but Matsuda takes the match. Bowe, however, is smiling. The crowd gives him a standing ovation. He comes to Carrie and says that he loves her. Carrie nonchalantly responds that she already knew because Javier had told her. She asks if he needs her to say it back and he says that he doesn’t, especially since she’s late to warmup. As she leaves, she says, “Okay, I’m going. But I do too, you know. What you said” (343). He replies that he knows.

Javier’s notebook says to anger Cortez. She too is a perfectionist, and Carrie knows that to irk her, she should shut her out as soon as she can. Carrie plays like she is unafraid, serving aces. She wins.

Nicki plays Antonovich, and Gwen, Bowe, and Carrie watch from Carrie’s hotel suite as Nicki wins.

The next morning, it is a beautiful day. Bowe shows her the newspaper, which has printed an article on the many records her match with Nicki will break. No matter what, one of them will be the oldest to win the US Open. Carrie is already the oldest player to make the women’s singles final of the US Open. She will likely set a record for most aces in a tournament, and the viewership will also set a record. Additionally, AmEx has offered her the largest endorsement fee for any tennis player in history. Carrie plans to donate it all. Gwen announces that she plans to retire.

Carrie thinks about how Javier pointed out that people fixate on particular statistics of their choosing. However, no statistic means more than another.

She sees Nicki in the tunnel. Nicki recounts that she saw an interview once where Carrie said that Javier always called her “Achilles.” Nicki recites what Achilles told Hector in The Iliad after Hector killed Patroclus: “There can be no pacts between men and lions. I will make you pay in full for the grief you have caused me” (351).

The chapter is interspersed with Javier’s notes on Nicki. He wrote that Carrie should come out of the gate with a surprise. Because Nicki has a strong forehand return, people often make her use her backhand on the serve, but Carrie opts for the opposite. She takes the first game.

In the next game, Javier’s notes say that Carrie has to trick Nicki into playing her kind of tennis. Carrie takes the first point, even though Nicki wins the second game. They’re neck and neck, but ultimately, Nicki wins the set.

Javier’s notes are even prepared if Carrie loses the first set, since it means that Nicki’s confidence could work against her. The next set is perfect, and neither player makes a mistake. Carrie wins the second set, and, at the same time, she thinks about how fun it is.

Nicki’s ankle is definitely hurting, and eventually, Carrie’s knees start to hurt too. During the third set, rain starts falling, and a delay is called. In the locker room, everyone rushes to compliment Carrie. When Gwen’s assistant says that the storm should pass quickly, Carrie asks everyone to leave. Bowe is the last to go, and he tells her that she is playing “an absolutely beautiful match” (358).

Carrie tries to think of what Javier would say. She thinks of all the strategies. She is overwhelmed by the grief of not knowing. She puts his notebook away, and thinks that if she wins, it will be because she can figure out how to beat Nicki on her own. If not, Nicki is the better player.

Nicki comes in, revealing that the delay will be at least another 10 minutes. She says that Carrie is the best player she has ever played, past and present. It frustrates her; she feels she should have already won. Carrie tells Nicki not to waste her time hating her. Nicki still thinks she will win. Carrie replies that she will not.

When someone comes in to tell them that play will resume soon, Nicki says, “Playing you this year… beating these records—with Carrie Soto, against Carrie Soto—it’s been a dream come true” (359). Carrie is unsure how to respond, but she feels similarly. When Nicki adds that she will now defeat her “so [she] can say [she] was the one who finally took down Achilles” (360), Carrie responds instantly: Carrie would like to see her try.

They play a tiebreaker and go back and forth. Nicki catches a point Carrie doesn’t expect, and Carrie wonders if she understands the ball better than Carrie herself. She understands that, even if she beats Nicki today, Nicki is going to beat her record one day. Carrie can’t come back repeatedly. She feels herself winning, but the ball goes out. Nicki wins the US Open. Carrie is surprised when grief does not overtake her. She still feels the hum in her bones.

One year later, at the 1996 US Open, Carrie sits with Bowe and Nicki’s new girlfriend in the players’ box. Carrie has started coaching her, and the first thing she taught Nicki was her own signature slice, which Nicki uses in the current game. She also got Nicki to go easier on her ankle. Carrie doesn’t know how her father did this, sitting with no control over what will happen. It was his gift “to be able to guide someone to a point and then let them finish it themselves. To give someone all the knowledge you have and then pray they use it right” (364). Carrie is still learning, and she’s determined to improve.

Nicki is one point away from winning, setting a new Slams record. The book ends as Nicki swings.