Carrie Soto Is Back

Because the novel is told from Carrie’s first-person point of view narration, all the other major characters exist specifically in relation to Carrie, with much smaller development arcs (if any) of their own. Javier is Carrie’s father and, for much of the novel, her coach. He was a professional tennis player himself before immigrating to the United States from Argentina. In the US, he met Carrie’s mother Alicia, who passes away when Carrie is little. He never remarries. Instead, he throws himself into Carrie’s development as a player, teaching her that she is destined to be the greatest player of all time.

Javier often has good intentions that do not translate over to Carrie. His encouragement becomes extreme pressure that has lasting effects on Carrie. She takes on his goals as her own, thinking that it would be “an unbearable betrayal of [their] mission” if she were to doubt her destiny (26). Carrie becomes so obsessed with being the best that she takes it badly when Javier admits he doesn’t know if Carrie can beat her first rival. Javier tries to convince Carrie that he was wrong for making her believe there could be one single “best” tennis player, and for implying that it must be her. Javier wants Carrie to succeed, but more than that, he wants her to find joy in tennis. Instead, this shatters Carrie’s trust in him, and she opts to play with a different coach until her retirement.

From then on, Javier focuses more on his daughter and her happiness rather than her success. They slowly rebuild their relationship, and when Carrie decides to come out of retirement, she asks Javier to return as her coach. He similarly throws himself back into this task. When Carrie loses to Antonovich in the French Open, the past repeats itself. Carrie is terrified of failure, and she covers it with fury, lashing out at her father. She asks for his honest opinion, and Javier tells her that he wishes she could overcome her fear of loss, saying, “You have accomplished so much, but you are instead so focused on keeping it, rather than going out and finding something else in the world” (230).

This time, however, Carrie does not let the fight drive a wedge between them. She recognizes that Javier’s belief in her does not waver just because he is unsure of whether or not she will be victorious. Rather, he fears what losing will do to her and wishes she could see herself the way that he sees her. Carrie acknowledges this and remains close to him. Javier, however, pushes himself hard to help her, even keeping his health condition a secret until he faints while exiting a plane.

Javier is crucial in helping Carrie focus on joy over victory. He pushes her to accept Bowe’s love, knowing that Bowe is aware Carrie is the better player between them. This, he explains, is crucial “[b]ecause the only person who could ever understand [her] would be another player” (313), but most men would be unhappy being in second place. Just before Javier dies, Carrie listens to him and lets Bowe into her heart.

Javier is also instrumental in getting her to her final match with Nicki. Although he does not live to see it, Javier leaves her a notebook detailing all kinds of information about other players. In this way, Carrie holds onto a piece of her father even after his death. When she puts the notebook aside and faces Nicki on her own, it is her way of symbolically letting go of Javier’s hand. Finally, she can do as he always wanted for her, and find joy in loss as well as victory.

Bowen “Bowe” Huntley is Carrie’s love interest and a secondary character in the book. Like Carrie, he is trying to prove that he can still play tennis well. Unlike Carrie, he never retired, and is 40 at the start of the novel. He is also trying to rehabilitate his reputation, since he’d become known for getting angry at the umpires on the court when things didn’t go his way. He has also stopped drinking. His partnership with Carrie begins because he is truly trying to improve.

Bowe’s relationship with Carrie dates back to her initial career. She remembers that he didn’t call her the morning after they slept together, while he says that, since she said he didn’t have to, it seemed like she wanted to cut ties. They reconnect through Gwen Davis, Carrie’s agent. Bowe quickly becomes romantically interested in Carrie again, and they become close. Carrie, fearing rejection and loss, keeps him at arm’s length for much of the novel. This upsets him to some extent, but he is patient with her. At Javier’s urging, she allows their relationship to grow. Carrie is shocked when Bowe doesn’t leave after Javier’s death, and by the end of the novel, she admits that she loves him.

Though Carrie mostly focuses on her own journey through the season, she also pays attention to Bowe’s matches, and there are clear differences between them. Bowe wants to leave his mark on tennis, but he is not obsessed with victory the way that Carrie is. His interest in Carrie is not affected by her successes, either, although her talent does aid his own performance. Bowe is also actively trying to change, while Carrie, for the first part of the novel, holds tightly onto her past self. Ultimately, Bowe is a good influence on her; by the end of the book, they are still together.

As the star who claims Carrie’s beloved record, Nicki is, in some ways, the novel’s antagonist. However, she and Carrie also become friends. Together they discuss the effect of becoming a professional athlete: they “g[ot] into this because [they] like to hit a ball around a court […] and then, suddenly, [they] don’t belong to [themselves] anymore” (259). They commiserate over the double standards for women, and Nicki notes that she’s had to contend with particular challenges because she is often the first Asian woman to achieve what she has. She is also a lesbian; Carrie is apathetic about this revelation, but she recognizes that Nicki trusts her enough to confide in her.

Nicki is quite different from Carrie’s first rival. Nicki says that she is grateful for Carrie because she “can’t fight unless [she has] something to fight against. And [she likes] fighting […] even more than winning” (262). Carrie’s talent gives Nicki something to strive for, and she is glad for Carrie’s return to tennis, eager to face off against her. Carrie believes that Nicki needs her because Nicki hasn’t yet “had to go up against anyone great” (260). At the same time, she admits that she needs Nicki, too; she was never truly satisfied with her retirement, and Nicki gave her an excuse to return.

Despite her bitterness over the Grand Slam record and her fear of losing, Carrie comes to like Nicki. They develop a professional respect for one another, and Nicki even calls Carrie after Javier passes away, offering to pull out of the US Open so that she and Carrie can have a fair fight over the record.

In the end, Carrie comes to enjoy the beauty of them playing one another. She respects Nicki’s talent and acknowledges that Nicki might just be the better player between them. She becomes Nicki’s coach by the time they return to the US Open a year after Nicki defeats her.