Book Review: Ashton Politanoff, ‘Dad Had a Bad Day’

My parents were both professional tennis players—it’s how they met—but my mother started young, and committed more rigorously. She would tell me of her days pounding the pavement, working hard to eventually make the ATP tour, but the one story that stuck out in my mind is when she was 13, up against a girl she eventually beat for the championship title. When the girl walked over to her mother, she didn’t comfort her after a loss, or congratulate her on trying her best—but slapped her.