i’s Reviews > Carrie Soto Is Back > Status Update

idk how reid does it but the subtle shift and build up to carrie’s mindset change is amazing

You could not pay me enough money to go back to being 17. When I was 17, my talent was all potential and no proof. The world was a giant set of unknowns, barely any past to pull from.
I am so grateful… for every match and every win and every loss and every lesson that I have behind me. It feels so good, right now, to be 37 years old. To have figured at least some things out.
To know the ground underneath my feet.

I LOVE JAV AND B LMAO

I do not look at my father. I do not want to see the worry in his eyes. I tell myself: ‘Do not let her win this set. You are either a champion or a fuckup. There is no in-between.’



i love where this is going for her character development

“Are you serious? What should I have done instead? Hung around and become a joke? Let everyone see me limping to the finish line?”
…”You act like you’ve dedicated your life to tennis. But you came back to win, not to play. That’s why they’re all pissed at you for returning. You’ve got no heart.”

“You hurt your knee, you lost a couple matches, and you gave up… I stuck around. I had the guts to try. I have the guts to lose. You, you just run. Well, guess what, Carrie? People who are actually playing the game LOSE. We all lose. We lose ALL THE TIME. That is life. So we are not the same, Soto. I have courage. You’re just good at tennis.”
…”You’re mad at me because I retired?” I ask.

“Let’s do this. Let’s train and let’s win the French Open together.”
Bowe laughs. “It’s oddly sweet that you think I can win the French Open. But okay, yeah.”
“I guess if we’re being honest, I did mean me more than you.”
Bowe laughs again, this time wild and delighted. And I can’t help but smile.
“There you go. That’s the Carrie Soto we all know and love.”

I want to win the goddamn French Open with my whole gut. I want to shock every commentator out there who thinks I can’t do it. I want to make Elite Gold vomit regret. And then I want them all to sit at my feet and sob, begging for forgiveness.

And yet, no matter what type of woman you are, we all still have one thing in common: Once we are deemed too old, it doesn’t matter who we used to be.

“How confident do you feel?”
I smile wide, and it grows into a laugh. “I’m gonna crush Carla Perez and anyone else I play on my way to the final. I am going to hold their beating hearts in my hand.”
For a fraction of a second, none of the reporters in the room know quite what to say.
God, I’ve missed this.