Breaking Back: How I Lost Everything and Won Back My LifeHarper Collins, 2009 M03 17 - 288 pages James Blake's life was getting better every day. A rising tennis star and People magazine's Sexiest Male Athlete of 2002, he was leading a charmed life and loving every minute of it. But all that ended in May 2004, when Blake fractured his neck in an on-court freak accident. As he recovered, his father—who had been the inspiration for his tennis career—lost his battle with stomach cancer. Shortly after his father's death, Blake was dealt a third blow when he contracted zoster, a rare virus that paralyzed half of his face and threatened to end his already jeopardized career. In Breaking Back, Blake provides a remarkable account of how he came back from this terrible heartbreak and self-doubt to become one of the top tennis players in the world. A story of strength, passion, courage, and the unbreakable bonds between a father and son, Breaking Back is a celebration of one extraordinary athlete's indomitable spirit and his inspiring ability to find hope in the bleakest of times. |
From inside the book
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... thing. With the realization that there was nobody left to fool, he couldn't contain his smile anymore, brightening like a Christmas tree as he turned over his cards—a straight flush. We all laughed. Hard. It was such a superior hand ...
... Things could have gone either way for me then: I could have gotten back to my pro-tennis career in a matter of months, or I could have hung up my racket for good. I could have pursued a totally different, much more conventional, life ...
... better part of the next eleven months. Success in professional sports is a funny thing. You might say that pro athletes live with three certainties looming over them: Death, taxes, and retirement. In the back of your The Statement.
... thing that defined them. In fact, it wasn't the ATP that Thomas dreamed of; it was Harvard University, a goal he attained and which subsequently influenced me. In 1997, when I headed to Cambridge, I had every intention of returning for ...
... thing a tennis player can possess. It's the crucial intangible of the game. It's the thing that lets you know you can really tee off on a forehand and it will land right where you want it to. It's the thing that lets you hang in during ...
Contents
1 | |
7 | |
It Could Be Worse | 35 |
Requiem for a Superman | 63 |
Five Minutes of Hitting | 115 |
Plan B | 147 |
If You Can Win One Set | 175 |
You Can Win Two 175 7 Fire It Up One Time Bam 203 8 Getting Better 241 Epilogue 257 Glossary | 265 |