Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
Audiobook7 hours
The Circuit: A Tennis Odyssey
Written by Rowan Ricardo Phillips
Narrated by Leon Nixon
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
()
About this audiobook
An energetic, lyrical, genre-defying account of the 2017 tennis season.
In The Circuit: A Tennis Odyssey, the award-winning poet-and Paris Review sports columnist-Rowan Ricardo Phillips chronicles 2017 as seen through the unique prism of its pivotal, revelatory, and historic tennis season. The annual tennis schedule is a rarity in professional sports in that it encapsulates the calendar year. And like the year, it's divided into four seasons, each marked by a final tournament: the Grand Slams.
Phillips charts the year from winter's Australian Open, where Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal renewed their rivalry in a match for the ages, to fall's U.S. Open. Along the way, Phillips paints a new, vibrant portrait of tennis, one that captures not only the emotions, nerves, and ruthless tactics of the point-by-point game but also the quicksilver movement of victory and defeat on the tour, placing that sense of upheaval within a broader cultural and social context. Tennis has long been thought of as an escapist spectacle: a bucolic, separate bauble of life.
The Circuit will convince you that you don't leave the world behind as you watch tennis-you bring it with you.
In The Circuit: A Tennis Odyssey, the award-winning poet-and Paris Review sports columnist-Rowan Ricardo Phillips chronicles 2017 as seen through the unique prism of its pivotal, revelatory, and historic tennis season. The annual tennis schedule is a rarity in professional sports in that it encapsulates the calendar year. And like the year, it's divided into four seasons, each marked by a final tournament: the Grand Slams.
Phillips charts the year from winter's Australian Open, where Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal renewed their rivalry in a match for the ages, to fall's U.S. Open. Along the way, Phillips paints a new, vibrant portrait of tennis, one that captures not only the emotions, nerves, and ruthless tactics of the point-by-point game but also the quicksilver movement of victory and defeat on the tour, placing that sense of upheaval within a broader cultural and social context. Tennis has long been thought of as an escapist spectacle: a bucolic, separate bauble of life.
The Circuit will convince you that you don't leave the world behind as you watch tennis-you bring it with you.
Editor's Note
Award winner…
The 2017 men’s tennis season is lovingly rendered in this 2019 PEN/ESPN Award winner. The judges say “the book becomes a meditation on all things gorgeous and grave about the fragile human spirit and all it seeks to — and fails — to accomplish.”
Author
Rowan Ricardo Phillips
Rowan Ricardo Phillips is the author of seven previous books of poetry, prose, and translation. The recipient of a Whiting Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, the PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing, the Nicolás Guillén Outstanding Book Award, the PEN/Joyce Osterweil Award, and the GLCA New Writers Award, Phillips has been a finalist for the Griffin International Poetry Prize, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Poetry, and an NAACP Image Award, and has been long-listed for the National Book Award for Poetry. He is a Distinguished Professor of English at Stony Brook University and the poetry editor of The New Republic. His book in progress, I Just Want Them to Remember Me: Black Baseball in America will be published by FSG in 2025. He lives in New York City and Barcelona.
Related to The Circuit
Related audiobooks
Strokes of Genius: Federer, Nadal, and the Greatest Match Ever Played Winning Ugly: Mental Warfare in Tennis---Lessons from a Master Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tennis: Tennis Strategies: The 100 Best Ways To Improve Your Tennis Game Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Late to the Ball: Age. Learn. Fight. Love. Play Tennis. Win. Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dark Side of the Game: My Life in the NFL Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5You Can't Make This Up: Miracles, Memories, and the Perfect Marriage of Sports and Television Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Watch Soccer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Club: How the English Premier League Became the Wildest, Richest, Most Disruptive Force in Sports Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Power Ball: Anatomy of a Modern Baseball Game Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Outsider: A Memoir Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Unstoppable: My Life So Far Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Roger Federer: Portrait of an Artist: A study and biography of one of tennis’ greatest players Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Homegrown: How the Red Sox Built a Champion from the Ground Up Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dueling with Kings: High Stakes, Killer Sharks, and the Get-Rich Promise of Daily Fantasy Sports Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Behind the Bench: Inside the Minds of Hockey's Greatest Coaches Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Watching Baseball Smarter: A Professional Fan's Guide for Beginners, Semi-experts, and Deeply Serious Geeks Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Drive for Five: The Remarkable Run of the 2016 Patriots Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFootsteps of Federer: A Fan's Pilgrimage Across 7 Swiss Cantons in 10 Acts Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOne Last Strike Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Messi vs. Ronaldo: One Rivalry, Two GOATs, and the Era That Remade the World's Game Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5So Many Ways to Lose: The Amazin’ True Story of the New York Mets—the Best Worst Team in Sports Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/55000-1 The Leicester City Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Memories from the Microphone: A Century of Baseball Broadcasting Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Greatest Comeback: How Team Canada Fought Back, Took the Summit Series, and Reinvented Hockey Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Take Your Eye Off the Puck: How to Watch Hockey By Knowing Where to Look Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Great Nowitzki: Basketball and the Meaning of Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Midrange Theory: Basketball's Evolution in the Age of Analytics Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Federer and Me: A Story of Obsession Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Sports & Recreation For You
Straight Shooter: A Memoir of Second Chances and First Takes Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Confident Mind: A Battle-Tested Guide to Unshakable Performance Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5It Takes What It Takes: How to Think Neutrally and Gain Control of Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ringmaster: Vince McMahon and the Unmaking of America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Getting to Neutral: How to Conquer Negativity and Thrive in a Chaotic World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Right Call: What Sports Teach Us About Leadership, Excellence, and Decision-Making Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Read Nature: An Expert's Guide to Discovering the Outdoors You've Never Noticed Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How Am I Doing?: 40 Conversations to Have with Yourself Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cactus Jack: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Mindful Athlete: Secrets to Pure Performance Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mind Gym: An Athlete's Guide to Inner Excellence Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Just Tyrus: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/580/20 Running: Run Stronger and Race Faster by Training Slower Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Advanced Bushcraft: An Expert Field Guide to the Art of Wilderness Survival Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A River Runs Through It Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Longest Race: Inside the Secret World of Abuse, Doping, and Deception on Nike's Elite Running Team Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Rise of Superman: Decoding the Science of Ultimate Human Performance Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Path Lit By Lightning Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Stay Alive in the Woods: A Complete Guide to Food, Shelter and Self-Preservation Anywhere Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Grandma Gatewood's Walk: The Inspiring Story of the Woman Who Saved the Appalachian Trail Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mental Toughness Training For Young Athletes - Parent's Guide Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Religion of Sports: Navigating the Trials of Life through the Games we Love Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sixty-One: Life Lessons from Papa, On and Off the Court Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Peak: The New Science of Athletic Performance That is Revolutionizing Sports Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Becky Lynch: The Man: Not Your Average Average Girl Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hagakure: The Secret Wisdom of the Samurai Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pivots, Blockers, and Jammers: The History of Roller Derby Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related podcast episodes
Lauren Fleshman: my life running in a man's world: The US distance legend discusses her new book, Good for a Girl 100% found this document usefulFran Lebowitz: Cultural satirist Fran Lebowitz shares her views on everything from Toni Morrison to psychedelics 0% found this document usefulHenry Ford and the Model T 0% found this document usefulEpisode 1279 - George Clooney 0% found this document usefulTwo bagels and a bread stick: Rafa Nadal and Iga Swiatek reign on the Rome clay 0% found this document usefulFirst and Second Round Indian Wells Betting Picks!! 0% found this document usefulEp 25 - What Can We Expect From Grand Slams In The 2020 Tennis Comeback? 0% found this document usefulRafael Nadal reflections as the end nears; Rome - stories galore 0% found this document usefulEpisode 43: Abominable Abdominals 0% found this document usefulRoland Garros Day 6 - Sabalenka swerves media, sets up Stephens blockbuster 0% found this document useful
Related articles
Man On A Mission SlamArticle
Man On A Mission
Nov 30, 2021
8 min readAtlanta Braves Top 10 Prospects Baseball AmericaArticle
Atlanta Braves Top 10 Prospects
Nov 3, 2021
AGE: 21. B-T: L-L. HT: 6-0. WT: 195. DRAFTED: HS—Stockbridge, Ga., 2019 (3rd rd). SIGNED BY: Kirk Fredriksson. TRACK RECORD: Most of the amateur scouting industry seemed to prefer Harris as a lefthanded pitcher out of high school in 2019. He touched
9 min readThe Average Guy Who Spent 6,003 Hours Trying to Be a Professional Golfer The AtlanticArticle
The Average Guy Who Spent 6,003 Hours Trying to Be a Professional Golfer
Aug 11, 2017
6 min readThree-for-all! Baseball AmericaArticle
Three-for-all!
Mar 8, 2022
27 min readThe Daniela Diaries MaximArticle
The Daniela Diaries
Oct 20, 2020
4 min read'But Seriously,' Tennis Great John McEnroe Says He's Seeking 'Inner Peace' NPRArticle
'But Seriously,' Tennis Great John McEnroe Says He's Seeking 'Inner Peace'
Jun 25, 2017
5 min readThe Cobra Sports Collectors DigestArticle
The Cobra
Jan 21, 2022
4 min read“… Selection Quandries Are As Simple Or As Complicated As You Want To Make Them.” Golf AustraliaArticle
“… Selection Quandries Are As Simple Or As Complicated As You Want To Make Them.”
Feb 15, 2023
Greetings from Abu Dhabi. I’m here in the United Arab Emirates for two weeks, to cover the Abu Dhabi Championship and the Dubai Desert Classic. But before those, the DP World Tour (henceforth known as the European Tour in this column) held something
3 min readState Of Play India TodayArticle
State Of Play
Sep 19, 2020
3 min readA Labour of Love Tatler Hong KongArticle
A Labour of Love
Dec 3, 2019
In one of the most spectacular scenes you’ll ever witness from a grandstand, an expanse of blue sea and sky contrasts with the rich terracotta-red of the courts at the Monte-Carlo Masters. This interplay is punctuated by generous splashes of green—du
3 min readThe Australian Open Turned Back the Clock The AtlanticArticle
The Australian Open Turned Back the Clock
Jan 30, 2017
6 min readThe End of the Tour: Tennis Stars in Twilight The Paris ReviewArticle
The End of the Tour: Tennis Stars in Twilight
Oct 30, 2017
3 min readA Book That Honors an Underrated Sport The AtlanticArticle
A Book That Honors an Underrated Sport
Dec 10, 2018
5 min readMan Out of Time TIMEArticle
Man Out of Time
Feb 4, 2017
6 min readNovak Djokovic Is the Greatest Player of the ‘Big Three’ The AtlanticArticle
Novak Djokovic Is the Greatest Player of the ‘Big Three’
Jul 14, 2019
3 min readA Loss Like a Knife: The 2019 Australian Open The Paris ReviewArticle
A Loss Like a Knife: The 2019 Australian Open
Jan 25, 2019
5 min readHuggan’s Alley Golf AustraliaArticle
Huggan’s Alley
Sep 13, 2023
By a distance, it is the most nuanced, the most interesting, the most illuminating and the most educational form of the game we all love. We’re talking match play, something September 2023 will provide in abundance, featuring as it does the Walker Cu
3 min readA Lifetime Of Memorie Golf MonthlyArticle
A Lifetime Of Memorie
Mar 9, 2023
7 min read“… For The Best Tournament Value, You Want To See Players Do Impressive Stuff You Can’t Do” Golf AustraliaArticle
“… For The Best Tournament Value, You Want To See Players Do Impressive Stuff You Can’t Do”
Dec 15, 2021
Back in mid-October I spent some time watching two events on television. It was quite a contrast. The Andalucian Masters at Valderrama was won by Englishman Matt Fitzpatrick with a six-under-par score. And across the Atlantic, Rory McIlroy won the CJ
5 min readA Master Ful Career Golf MonthlyArticle
A Master Ful Career
Mar 3, 2022
6 min readReflections On 'The Long Run And Beautiful Game' Of Roger Federer NPRArticle
Reflections On 'The Long Run And Beautiful Game' Of Roger Federer
Aug 18, 2021
10 min readTop 10 Countdown! FHM USArticle
Top 10 Countdown!
Apr 1, 2020
8 min readTop 10 Countdown! FHM AustraliaArticle
Top 10 Countdown!
Apr 1, 2020
8 min readNick Timothy The Critic MagazineArticle
Nick Timothy
Oct 27, 2022
3 min readA Titanic Tussle Golf MonthlyArticle
A Titanic Tussle
Aug 24, 2023
6 min readGrim Outlook For US Men’s Tennis At Grand Slams Post South AfricaArticle
Grim Outlook For US Men’s Tennis At Grand Slams
Jul 5, 2023
5 min readSee You On The Court You South AfricaArticle
See You On The Court
May 26, 2023
3 min readWould The PGA Championship Be Better If It Was Matchplay? Golf AustraliaArticle
Would The PGA Championship Be Better If It Was Matchplay?
Apr 13, 2022
3 min readThe Laver Cup Is Your Last Chance To See Tennis' 'Big Three' Together On The Court NPRArticle
The Laver Cup Is Your Last Chance To See Tennis' 'Big Three' Together On The Court
Sep 22, 2022
2 min readWayne Riley Golf MonthlyArticle
Wayne Riley
Mar 14, 2024
Well folks, we’re nearing that time of year again when the world’s best golfers head to the promised land of Augusta National. Soon, you’ll all be stocking the fridge, disconnecting the telephone and making sure the takeaway menus are close by as you
2 min read
Reviews for The Circuit
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
3 ratings0 reviews