Game, Set, Matched: Not all games start at love

by Ivy Bailey

A tennis-inspired YA romance, perfect for fans of Challengers, The Summer I Turned Pretty and Carrie Soto is Back .

Billie and her twin brother Tom have been playing tennis together since they were kids. The junior doubles final at Wimbledon. But when Tom collapses just before their local qualifier, he insists Billie find a new doubles partner and play on.

Enter Harley, her coach’s nephew and the neighbour she’s hated for as long as she can remember. Harley is everything Billie won’t stand for – a lad’s lad and friend to Billie's best friend's awful boyfriend – but right now, he’s her only option.

The more they play, the worse things get. Billie despises Harley’s lack of work ethic, and the more irate Billie gets, the more Harley digs his heels in, determined to teach her how to relax and (literally) take her eye off the ball. And all the while, the doctors can’t figure out what’s going on with Tom.

Can Billie and Harley make it all the way when seeing eye-to-eye feels impossible? And might there be something more to the tension that grows between them . . .?

Genres: Romance, Young Adult, Sports, Audiobook, Sports Romance, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary

Audible Audio

Published June 5, 2025

Reviews

[alexandra]

☆4

⋆ no spoilers ⋆

now playing:
⤷ mean - taylor swift ˎˊ˗
01:58 ━━━━●───── 03:57
      ㅤ ㅤ◁ㅤ ❚❚ ㅤ▷ ㅤㅤ↻    

𓆉⋆｡˚⋆❀ ⋆.˚.

❛❛ you, with your words like knives / and swords and weapons that you use against me ❜❜

𓇼 ⋆.˚.𖥔˚

pre-read˚.🎾⋆
cute little romance

𓆉⋆｡˚⋆❀ ⋆.˚.

❛❛ you have knocked me off my feet again / got me feelin’ like a nothing ❜❜

𓇼 ⋆.˚.𖥔˚

• ꒰ overall thoughts ꒱ •
this was my first read where the main sport is tennis and i love that! i was honestly getting tired of all the baseball and football stories… sorry!! this was such a fun read! the book was mainly based around the trope of enemies to lovers which is one of my favoriteeee tropes!! there was also a bit of forced proximity since these two rival tennis players were forced to hang out and train together! so overall the plot was pretty good! then, the characters were pretty good too! the fmc had a very detailed personality but honestly the mmc had a kinda bland personality. there was nothing really memorable about him. i wish the author would’ve explained his character a bit more. but besides that, this book was good!!

𓆉⋆｡˚⋆❀ ⋆.˚.

❛❛ you, with your voice like nails on a chalkboard / calling me out when im wounded ❜❜

𓇼 ⋆.˚.𖥔˚

• ꒰ ratings ꒱ •
plot ♡ 3/5
spice ♡ 1/5 kissing
cursing ♡ 0/5 none!

𓆉⋆｡˚⋆❀ ⋆.˚.

❛❛ well, you can take me down, with just one single blow / but you don’t know what you don’t know ❜❜

𓇼 ⋆.˚.𖥔˚

• ꒰ characters ꒱ •

—▷ billie
she was an iconnn!! her a harley’s clashing personalities was hilarious!! she stood her ground and made sure that she won the tournament. although, she was a bit of a perfectionist and uptight. i feel like sometimes she needed to learn how to relax a bit and to have fun while playing tennis!

—▷ harley
oh… well he fell first and fell harder! i could definitely tell the whole book that he was in love with her, it wasn’t really a secret! he was honestly “just a chill guy” (if you get the reference hehehehee). but he is definitely a good person! when his friend wa cheating on one of billie’s friend, he made sure that he told billie’s friend instead of lying. he has a good heart <333

—▷ tom
I LOVED HIM. he is such a sweetheart and such a great twin brother to billie! he encouraged billie to keep going and continue to play tennis even after he got sick. he is definitely one of the top five best book brothers!!!

—▷ coach
he was a good coach and made sure billie could still play no matter what!

𓆉⋆｡˚⋆❀ ⋆.˚.

❛❛ someday, i’ll be livin’ in a big ole city / and all you’re ever gonna be is mean ❜❜

𓇼 ⋆.˚.𖥔˚

• ꒰ recommendations ꒱ •
age ⋆°•☁︎⋆ 13+ years old
interests ⋆°•☁︎⋆ tennis // enemies to lovers // forced proximity // wimbledon // competition
genre ⋆°•☁︎⋆ romance

𓆉⋆｡˚⋆❀ ⋆.˚.

❛❛ someday, i’ll be big enough so you can’t hit me / and all you’re ever gonna be is mean ❜❜

𓂃𓂃𓂃 𓇼𓂃𓂃𓂃 𓆉𓂃𓂃𓂃𓇼 𓂃𓂃𓂃

thank you so much for taking the time to read my review! i hope it was helpful in your reading experience. if you enjoyed this review, please consider following me to receive more valuable reviews! xoxo, alexandra ୨୧
˗ˏˋ ꒰ ♡ ꒱ ˎˊ˗

[Laurensliterarylair]

This book was really cute. It was a quick simple read. The book was pretty predictable and is definitely aimed toward a younger audience. As someone who’s in their late 20s I think I wasn’t the target audience for this book but I could see a younger crowd enjoying this book as an introduction to sports romance. The sports aspect of this book was really well done!

[Amélie]

read this in one sitting during sunbathing and it for sure got me out of my reading slump

[Emily Race]

Read during my first Wimbledon season. Simple, easy, and timely.

[lauren ⋆⭒˚.⋆]

⋆⭒˚.⋆ 3.5 stars
⤿ I'm not big on romance and I'm not an expert on tennis at all, but this book was a fun, easy read that has made me, like many other readers, admire and understand the sport a little more as it focuses on Billie and Harley on their way to win the Wimbledon Juniors as an admirable duo. I found this book lacked plot really but it was a fun read if people ever need something just to read or try something new as it's quick and well paced in it's build up and development unlike some romance books. I look forward to read more by Ivy Bailey and romance as a whole.

[Roos]

Dit is echt zo’n heerlijk YA tussenboekje. 3.5 ster voor mij! Denk ik echt perfect voor als je in een (romance) slumb zit. Zaten verschillende leuke plots in, vond de groepschat heeeeel vermakelijk en sowieso las het echt mega lekker weg. Romance zelf was ook heerlijk en tennis vond ik best leuk om over te lezen🎾

[Emmy]

Thanks so much Libro.fm for this gifted audio! The narrator did a fantastic job with this one! This was such a cute and quick listen. A fun YA sports romance for sure!

[Marije]

this book is fine.
not good, not bad, but fine.

[Mary]

LOVEDDDDDD THIS BOOK. REVIEW coming soon.

[Katie (Kitkatscanread)]

Actual rating: 4.5/5 Kitkats

This was a really cute YA novel about junior doubles in Wimbledon.
There is a hate to love romance involved.

[Quinty]

Oeeeh vind dit echt een hele lastig en zit echt tussen de 3-4 sterren in. De karakters in het boek behalve Bards zijn echt heel erg leuk. Ook wat diepgaande onderwerpen. Wat het voor mij meer een 3 ster dan een 4 ster heeft gemaakt is dat ik op een gegeven moment het irritant vond hoe snel de romance ging. 2 dates en het was al helemaal gebeurd. Maar verder erg vermakelijk

[Kristen]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Billie and Harley were a great duo and I loved how they slowly built their relationship while learning to play doubles together. I really enjoyed this quick little romance and loved the characters and their spunk.

[books (samaira's version) ~on a hiatus~]

Yes I’m being very generous but it was soooo fun to read. The (kind of) enemies to lovers was really cute. The sibling dynamic was the absolute best, and I loved Billie’s best friends!

And of course (extremely swoon worthy) Harley.

[Milz]

first book of 2026

[Noa Van Zon]

Ik had echt even een simpele romance nodig😊

[Lina Cesar]

Läste på svenska. Den var lite gullig och trevlig. :)

[_Renske_]

3,5🌟

[Amanda Porter]

Such a cute book! Finished it in one sitting.

[Arwenna Mae]

loved this book!

[Kiddayy]

Very cheesy but also strangely fun to read. Extremely quick to finish too. I didn’t like an aspect of the ending though, which dampened the book for me.

[Josefin]

I still do not understand what Tom's issues were😭

[Ray]

I picked this up by chance because I’ve been looking for more ya sports romances and this one was right there like it was screaming at me from the shelf and with Wimbledon starting that exact week, I decided I couldn’t leave it behind and I’m so glad I didn’t because this was incredible. I already knew I loved Ivy Bailey’s writing but there’s something specifically about this book that I’m completely obsessed with.

Game, Set, Matched follows Billie and Harley, forced into a doubles partnership to make it to the Wimbledon Junior Championships. This book is so well paced and the descriptions of the tennis matches are so easy to follow it feels as though you’re watching rather than reading. There’s just the right amount of it that you feel invested but not overwhelmed and the rest of the plot is so fun!

I truly never wanted this book to end and I love these characters so so much I could read a thousand more pages of them. They’re just so lovely and I wish we could see more relationships in books where the characters completely get each other and communicate healthily rather than having overcomplicated misunderstandings.

[Ekaavli Daga]

if i had to explain this book in terms of a tennis score it would be 6-0 5-1 last set 15 all. aka i know exactly what is going to happen, it’s not even been that interesting and yet i still want to see what happens just in case.

[YSBR]

Game, Set, Matched is a sports romance that follows Billie, a teen tennis prodigy who is hoping to win the Junior Championships at Wimbledon at the end of the summer. Unfortunately, a wrench is thrown into her plans when her brother and partner has to drop out due to health concerns. The only player available to team up with Billie is Harley, who happens to be both her next door neighbor and her coach’s nephew.  Ever since he stood her up at a tennis doubles match a few years ago, Billie sees Harley as her nemesis and while she has no confidence in his abilities to perform at her level, she eventually agrees to let him be her partner. Although the two are initially at odds during practice, they eventually warm to and begin to trust one another. This change in their relationship improves their tennis performance, and the two find themselves rapidly rising through the ranks on their way to Wimbledon. The romance between Billie and Harley is heightened by their high-stakes tennis matches, which Ivy Bailey describes with engaging shot-by-shot writing. This rom-com YA novel is a great sports romance for teen readers, while also engaging in more serious topics like toxic relationships, imposter syndrome, and impossible parental expectations. The main characters are presented as white, and one of Billie’s friends identifies as queer. 

I read this book in one sitting, and it was so great! I am always looking for more sports romances for teen readers, and this is one that I will definitely recommend. I enjoyed the story a lot, and felt that Billie’s motivations for wanting to compete at junior Wimbledon were very relatable. Her desire to compete and win in order to honor her deceased mother gave Billie’s character a lot of depth, and sets her apart as a main character whose motivations aren’t purely about riches and glory. I found her struggles to impress her father also quite painful to read, but I did appreciate how her father changed by the end of the book. I was prepared for him to be a one-dimensional character, only interested in his children if they won at tennis, but I was pleasantly surprised to see him transform into a more empathetic parent, especially when he took the time to listen to what Billie and Tom (her twin brother) wanted to do with their lives. The romance between Billie and Harley was very cute, and I loved seeing them transform from enemies to dating one another. The tennis match scenes were written so vividly that it felt like the reader was right there watching the match, while also not overwhelming new readers with complicated descriptions of the game action. Link to complete review: https://ysbookreviews.wordpress.com/2...

[Cecilia]

This was a really fun audiobook! I really liked the narrator, and the dynamic between Billie and Harley was witty and romantic. I was also really impressed with the description of the tennis scenes. I played tennis for a long time, and I get really frustrated when it's portrayed in popular media because most of the time it's ridiculous and inaccurate, but I thought this was good! I could tell the author has played and probably watched a lot.

🚨it gets spoliery, just FYI

My main gripe with the story is that the romcom of it all ends about 80% of the way through. The enemies become slightly more, then there's a miscommunication (gross), the FMC gets distant, the MMC asks her out and they mend fences, enemies officially become lovers, and they win the important tennis match (important to their characters). The FMC even resolves things with her dad and everyone loves teacher other again. HOWEVER, the last 20% of the book is just a bunch of random side quests for the other characters that felt like the author needed a higher page count and threw them in. One of the FMC's best friends is dating one of the MMC's friends, but he turns out to be a controlling piece of work who's unfaithful and an alcoholic? That whole confrontation was so unexpected (in a bad way). The brother also has a crazy health issue at the very end that a) prompts Billie and Harley to DROP OUT OF WIMBELDON so they can be with him (girl, what?!), and b) the family has yet ANOTHER heart to heart and the brother decides he doesn't want to play tennis competitively anymore, and also wants to be a veterinarian. Like, no offense, but I don't care at all. I'm here for the romcom, and that ended 12 chapters ago.

Anyways, apologies for the rant- it was a fun time until the last little bit. Tbh, just stop after Billie and Harley make up, and then scroll to the end bc there is an epilogue (that is also kind of a weird anticlimactic ending)

*Thank you to NetGalley, Harper Children's Audio, and the author for providing me with an advance copy in exchange for my honest review*

[Elisha Jachetti]

**3.7 Stars**

GAME, SET, MATCHED by Ivy Bailey is a YA Contemporary Sports Romance that follows Billie, a talented tennis player who has just finished secondary school and is gearing up to play in the Wimbledon Junior Championships. She is ready to prove to herself, and to her dad, that she can win this time. The only problem is her doubles partner and twin brother, Tom, gets seriously ill and is unable to compete, leaving her with one option: enlist her insufferable, but talented, next-door-neighbor, Harley. To make their partnership work, she’ll have to confront all the pre-conceived notions she has about him, and he’ll have to take something seriously for once in his life.

As someone who is a major fan of the WIMBLEDON (2004) movie starring Kirsten Dunst and Paul Bettany, I was so excited for this book. What I especially appreciate is how Bailey weaves the tennis and training into the narrative structure, using what’s happening within the game to advance Billie and Harley’s relationship. She also does a great job at explaining the court maneuvers. I really felt the suspense as if I was there watching the match.

Harley is probably my favorite character in the entire book. I adore his humor, which made me laugh out loud multiple times (not always an easy feat!). His banter with Billie is A+, and it’s great to see how her opening up to him begins to shift both of their lives. Because of all these elements, the pacing of the book is so quick! I read it in one afternoon. That said, I almost wish it was a little longer, so we got just a bit more connective tissue between some of the bigger moments, allowing for more space as the relationship developed.

That said, GAME, SET, MATCHED was a lovely, light read that I really enjoyed. Anyone looking for another sports romance a la OFF CAMPUS will have fun with this one!

Review originally published on YA Books Central: https://yabookscentral.com/game-set-m...

[Shawna Jensen]

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of Game, Set, Matched by Ivy Bailey.
Before I dive into my review, I want to note that while this book is marketed as YA, it felt more like New Adult to me. Although the characters are 18, there is a significant amount of alcohol consumption throughout the story, which may make it a better fit for older teens and adult readers rather than a typical U.S. high school library collection.
That being said, I really enjoyed this book.
I initially picked it up expecting a tennis-centered story, but it turned out to be so much more. While tennis provides the backdrop, the heart of the novel is found in its exploration of love, family, and personal growth. The characters were easy to connect with, and I especially loved the protagonist and watching her navigate both her relationships and her future.
What stood out most to me was the emphasis on communication within families. The story highlights how important honest, heartfelt conversations are between parents and children, and how much can be lost when those conversations don't happen. Those themes gave the book an emotional depth that went beyond the romance and sports elements.
Whether you're a tennis fan or not, there's plenty to love here. Game, Set, Matched is a sweet, heartfelt story about relationships, family, and finding your place in the world.
I think many readers ages 16 and up will enjoy this one as much as I did.

[Zara S]

⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5 Stars

*Game, Set, Matched* is a fun and charming YA sports romance that perfectly blends tennis, rivalry, and romance. I really enjoyed the enemies-to-lovers dynamic between Billie and Harley. Their banter was entertaining, and their chemistry developed naturally as they learned to work together both on and off the court.

The tennis setting added excitement and kept the story moving at a great pace. I also appreciated the themes of family, personal growth, and learning to let go of expectations. Billie’s journey toward finding confidence in herself, separate from her twin brother, gave the story extra emotional depth.

While some plot points were predictable and followed familiar romance tropes, the likable characters and engaging relationships made it an enjoyable read. The supporting cast, especially Billie’s brother and friends, added warmth and balance to the story.

Overall, this was a cute, feel-good romance that sports romance fans will love. If you enjoy tennis, rivals-to-lovers stories, and characters who grow together while chasing their dreams, *Game, Set, Matched* is definitely worth picking up.

[simone ☆]

after finishing carrie soto i decided it would be a great time to read every tennis related book i could find, and i picked up this one. this experience has definitely been a good lesson in the fact that once you find a five star book, nothing even remotely similar will probably compare.

beyond that, this book just read very wattpad-y to me in the sense that it felt very unedited and there wasn't much motivation behind any of the events that occurred. we as the readers are supposed to believe that the two mcs have known each other for over a decade but they act like they just met.

next, the brother's illness was never fully explained. first he had a cold, then fainted, then ruptured an organ? i'm not a doctor but it doesn't exactly seem like those events are connected.

finally, i could see the third act conflict coming from over a mile away, it was so predictable. and once the romance actually started it just felt very meh as well.

overall, i was disappointed by this and i doubt i'll ever read any of this author's work again; it felt very juvenile. on the bright side, i think i (kind of) understand how tennis scored now!! so that's one goal achieved!

[Sarah Beth G. (a.neverending.tbr)]

Some sports romances focus too little on the sport and too much on the romance. I thought this one did a great job of balancing that out. Enemies to lovers is always a little hard to believe in contemporary fiction because it is usually really one sided (looking at you Harley) but again, I think this worked well here. Billie was so focused and Harley wanted to support her but also get her to loosen up. I was really not liking Billie’s dad but I’m not sure how reliable Billie is in her inner monologues. I was afraid of where the content was going but it fades out quickly and the characters are both 18. I would still say this should be upper YA/New Adult. The comparison to The Summer I Turned Pretty meets Carrie Soto Is Back is spot on.

The narrator did a great job and I enjoyed her performance.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the gifted audiobook. The thoughts and opinions in this review are my own.

Content Notes: Closed door/fade to black romance; some strong language