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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... week. But when you stack it up against most other “jobs,” life out on the tour is basically a dream, in more ways than one. It's a dream come true, because most of us grew up idolizing professional athletes and can hardly believe we've ...
... weeks later, I made it to the second round of the US Open and took Australian Lleyton Hewitt, the number three player in the world at that time, to five sets, before the heat and my work-in-progress conditioning failed me and I ran out ...
... week with the conditioning guys and practicing just as often with other touring pros who live nearby, like my old college competitor Jeff Morrison and my best friend on tour, Mardy Fish. Although for all practical purposes Tampa was ...
... weeks, a chance to reconnect with the people and places that have meant the most to me since childhood. But in 2003, there was another factor that made the holidays more precious than usual. Earlier that year, in June, my brother, who ...
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 |