Sudden Death

Rita Mae Brown takes readers behind the scenes of the women's professional tennis circuit, where the thrill of competition is matched by the pain of close personal ties. Carmen Semanan, twenty-four, is at the height of her powers as one of the top-ranked players in the world and has her sights set on a Grand Slam title. Her life is organized around three passions: the sport, the money it brings, and Harriet Rawls, a professor who is her partner. An greedy agent and Harriet's steady, fearless support shield Carmen from almost everything outside the brutal training and travel schedule.

Her luck begins to fray. Her brother Miguel, whose temperament is very much of his Latin background, turns her winnings into a shaky financial empire built on smuggling, forgery and fraud. Meanwhile, Susan Reilly, Carmen's fierce rival and former lover, passes word of Carmen's relationship with Harriet to the press, and a secret the sport has guarded carefully becomes headline news.

With everything she values now at risk, Carmen has to face how deeply she feels for the people in her life and for the game, both on the court and away from it.