In Your Court
Australian Matteo Russo is the first and only openly gay tennis pro. Once a brilliant junior, he was slated for a bright future – until a freak accident derailed his career. Now, he’s fed up, he’s struggling to qualify for tournaments, and he’s not sure he can afford dinner tonight.
After losing to his old rival—the rich, arrogant, American superstar Miles Callahan—Mat throws the man’s privilege in his face and sets him a challenge – one he’s sure Miles would never accept. But he does. Determined to prove he’s earned his success, Miles travels to Wimbledon on a tight budget – no support team, no coach, no fancy hotel. And now the American needs a hitting partner, and someone to explain laundromats, and what started as a dare soon becomes a searing off-court fling.
Mat should be focussing on his career, not falling for a glamorous star. But Miles believes in his game in a way Mat hasn’t for a long time, and is fast becoming everything he’s ever wanted. Only... love and tennis just don’t mix, because one day soon they’ll have to face each other on the court.
And in tennis, someone always has to lose.
- Pages
- 472
- First published
- May 21, 2026
Shelved by 3 Litcadians
Reviews
Started May 22, 2026 · Finished May 23, 2026
In Your Court follows Matteo and Miles, two former junior rivals who spent their teenage years circling each other somewhere between competitiveness, resentment, attraction, and “I absolutely refuse to admit I want to kiss this man.” Years later, they reunite during Roland Garros, but everything has changed. This is not a high-drama sports romance. Tennis is very much the framework rather than the driving force. You always know where they are, what tournament matters, and what is at stake professionally, but the real focus is the quiet intimacy of hotel rooms, shared routines, emotional safety, and two exhausted men slowly lowering their guards. I also really liked both characters individually. That said, I do think the book had a balance issue for me. This is very smut-heavy, but more specifically, sex becomes their primary language for almost everything. Celebration, frustration, affection, comfort, conflict resolution, vulnerability … it all circles back to physical intimacy. And while I understood what the author was doing with that dynamic, at some point I started craving conversations that weren’t filtered through attraction or sex. Not even necessarily relationship conversations. I just wanted more moments where they talked deeply about tennis, identity, fear, family, ambition, grief, literally anything outside the bedroom dynamic. Because of that, parts of the middle started losing me. It only really felt like the emotional conversations deepened properly toward the final stretch. What I did appreciate is that the heavier topics never become emotionally exploitative. The issues exist, but mostly in the background. The book acknowledges them without constantly dragging the characters through misery, so despite the difficult themes, the overall atmosphere stays surprisingly laid-back.
Started August 7, 2026 · Finished August 8, 2026