12 Tennis Romance Books You Need This Grand Slam Season

A few years ago, looking for tennis romance books felt weirdly impossible. I wanted all the rivalries, the Grand Slam tension, the jokes, and the athletes glaring at each other across the net maybe while pretending they were not one bad call away from making out. But compared to hockey, football, or baseball romance, tennis romance felt like a tiny little corner of sports romance you had to really dig for.

And now? Suddenly, we are being fed.

Tennis romances have exploded, and honestly, the timing could not be better. We’ve got Wimbledon rom-coms, sapphic rivals, MM tennis romances, single dad tennis stars, vacation flings with former pros, and enough on-court/off-court tension to keep my TBR fully booked. Whether you want forced proximity at the All England Club or a second chance romance with enough unfinished business to fill a racket bag, this list has you covered.

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Where Should You Start?

• A Wimbledon romance (and my current favorites): Match Point by Katherine Reilly or In Your Court by Kit Haley
• A vacation tennis romance: 40-Love by Olivia Dade
• A queer MM romance: In Your Court by Kit Haley or Thirty Love by Tom Vellner
• A sapphic tennis romance: Set Point by Meg Jones or Backhanded Compliments by Katie Chandler
• A single dad / nanny setup: Double Fault by Micaela Smeltzer
• A second chance romance: Game, Set, Match by Jennifer Iacopelli or Break Point by Yahrah St. John

Wimbledon Tennis Romance Books

There is something special about the Wimbledon setting. The grass courts, the strawberries and cream, the very British politeness cracking under the pressure of a fifth set. It is the perfect backdrop for romance.

Match Point by Katherine Reilly

Kieran is the tennis player renting Flora’s flat during Wimbledon, except her own plans fall through and now they’re stuck sharing the space.

I liked that both of them are in a similar place mentally. He’s trying to figure out his tennis career, while she’s trying to finally take her art seriously after a breakup that really messed with her confidence.

I do wish there had been a little more tennis, but I enjoyed the glimpses we got of the matches and the tournament setting. What worked best for me was seeing Kieran and Flora push each other to go after what they wanted. This ended up being a bit of a hidden gem.

Grab Match Point on Amazon

In Your Court by Kit Haley

A sweet, steamy MM tennis romance so addictive and sweet with witty banter and enough tennis details to feel authentic. Matteo Russo is the first openly gay tennis pro, a former brilliant junior player whose career was derailed by injury. He’s struggling to qualify for tournaments and barely keeping things together. Miles Callahan is rich, American, arrogant, wildly successful, and Mat’s old rival. After Mat calls him out on his privilege, Miles accepts a challenge to experience Wimbledon without his support team, his fancy hotel, or the bubble of money that usually insulates him from reality. Which turns into an off-court fling with real feelings. I would say this is the sweeter version of Heated Rivalry but with tennis.

Grab In Your Court on Amazon

Sapphic Tennis Romance Books

The sapphic tennis romance books are seriously delivering right now. Rivals, soulmates, career stakes, and the tension that works.

Set Point by Meg Jones

A sapphic enemies to lovers tennis romance set during the US Open. We have Inés Costa who is a former tennis prodigy and whose career is dangerously close to fading out, losing sponsors and trying to stay in the game. Chloe Murphy is the sport’s fiery new favorite, with talent, temper and a reputation that is starting to wobble. When the two rivals are forced onto the same side of the court, Chloe makes Inés an offer: she’ll help fund Inés’s path to the US Open if Inés becomes her hitting partner and helps her keep her cool.

This one if on my TBR because I always love a good enemies to lovers with spice but also because both main characters are struggling with something in their careers.

Grab Set Point on Amazon

Backhanded Compliments by Katie Chandler

This one had me at sapphic tennis rivals but they’re soulmates. Juliette Ricci is preparing for the Australian Open, where she’ll face Lucky Luca Kacic, a popular, aloof player whose unconventional style drives Juliette slightly insane. They’ve already been trading barbs in press conferences, so their match is loaded before it begins. Then Luca shakes Juliette’s hand after an intense match and sees Juliette’s name appear on her wrist.

Surprise: soulmates.

Tennis rivalry plus late-night massages and limoncello? That is exactly why this is going on my TBR immediately.

Grab Backhanded Compliments on Amazon

Slammed by Lola Keeley

World No. 1 Elin Larsson is chasing Grand Slam titles while managing injuries and anxiety. Her rival, Toni Cortes Ruiz, is gorgeous, fierce, and a serious problem for Elin’s focus. Things start out as a competition but it spirals into something more in the midst of media pressure, public scrutiny and the mess of falling for the person on the other side of the net.

This is a friends to lovers between two women who are at the top of their sport, with real stakes and emotional complexity. If you’ve been looking for a sapphic sports romance that actually takes both the sport and the romance seriously, this is where you need to start.

Grab Slammed on Amazon

MM Tennis Romance Books

Thirty Love by Tom Vellner

A steamy gay tennis rom-com with rivals on tour. Leo Chambers is an American tennis star determined to win the US Open before turning thirty. He’s closeted, clashing with his strict coach father, and constantly dealing with Gabe Montoya. Gabe is his longtime rival and the one player he cannot seem to beat or stop thinking about. There’s also Sascha Volkov, a powerful Russian tennis legend who could destroy Leo’s career if he discovered Leo was gay, which adds the tension which isn’t just personal and romantic, but professional, and very public.

Grab Thirty Love on Amazon

Love Match by Keira Andrews

Luke is a top tennis player focused entirely on winning and keeping his real self hidden. Jesse is a rookie with that optimism of youth and a sweet smile, but he’s totally messing with Luke’s concentration. Their secret romance heats up while you also have career pressure and everything they stand to lose if they are found out.

Age gap, grumpy sunshine, closeted athlete, forbidden romance, this one stacks all the tropes and delivers on all of them. If MM sports romance is your lane, Love Match is a good entry point for tennis. And you really can’t go wrong with Keira Andrews MM sports romances in general.

Grab Love Match on Amazon

Second Chance Tennis Romance Books

I think tennis being such a public sport with such an individual spotlight makes it a perfect setting for second chance romance. You cannot hide at a tournament.

Game, Set, Match by Jennifer Iacopelli

Penny Harrison is twenty one, on the edge of stardom and preparing for the Grand Slam in Paris. She has the sponsorships and ambition, but also pressure and zero room for distractions. And that’s when she ends up back at the Outer Banks Tennis Club to train and runs straight into Alex Russell, the bad boy tennis star who broke her heart.

Another fun thing is that it also follows other rising tennis players who have their own dramas so it’s like a juicy tennis rom com. Plus you may recognize the authors’ name from her figure skating romance, Finding Her Edge, that was adapted into a Netflix series.

Grab Game, Set, Match on Amazon

Break Point by Yahrah St. John

Teagan Williams lost both her heart and her pro tennis career after things fell apart with Dominic Fletcher. She’s rebuilt her life and moved on. Mostly. But then she is asked to compete in her country club’s tournament and of course Dominic shows up. Naturally, the chemistry is still there.

I had to add this one to my TBR because I like that it isn’t the big pressure of a Grand Slam, which I think leaves more room for a second chance romance where you have to deal with the emotional baggage of reconnecting.

Grab Break Point on Amazon

Game, Set, Match by Nana Malone

We’ve got the tennis golden boy that is down on his luck and decides it’s the time to win back the woman he once loved. This is a second chance romance that bring the hero back to the heroine when he’s taken a beating and is more grounded and ready to take on the challenge of making their relationship work.

Grab Game, Set, Match on Amazon

Contemporary Tennis Romance Books

Double Fault by Micaela Smeltzer

I added this one to my TBR last year when it released under a different pen name (Ella Wren). Imagine my shock to see this was Micaela Smeltzer. This one is about a traveling nanny who takes a job for a professional tennis player. Sounds like a dream when you’re twenty two, drowning in student loans, and very close to being homeless. For Sabrina, the job seems almost too good to be true because hello, she gets to travel the world, the pay is better than anything she could imagine, and the only downside is her potential boss.

Noah Baker is a widowed tennis star trying to keep his career alive while raising his daughter and grieving. He needs help. Eleven months, seventy one tournaments, five continents, and one nanny he absolutely should not want but his daughter already loves.

Listen, that setup is total catnip for me.

Grab Double Fault on Amazon

40-Love by Olivia Dade

This book begins with a rogue wave stealing Tess Dunn’s bikini top. The worst! Lucas Karlsson, a former top-level tennis pro turned resort tennis instructor, comes to her rescue before the situation gets worse and sparks fly immediately.

What follows is a vacation romance that delivers humor, spice and a well done age gap. Tess is forty and returning to her real life soon. Lucas is twenty six, charming, and just figuring out what comes after the injury ended his tennis career. They only have two weeks together. Sounds like the perfect fling.

This one is playful, steamy, body positive.

Grab 40-Love on Amazon

Frequently Asked Questions About Tennis Romance Books

Final Thoughts

I think tennis romance books deserve far more shelf space than it gets and it’s actually so exciting to see that just in the past few years we’ve been getting more and more. Every element that makes sports romance work, the ambition, rivalry, public pressure, injuries, comebacks, exists in tennis. But there’s something about that added intensity of one-on-one competition that makes everything even more personal.

If you’ve been sleeping on it, this is a good moment to pick up a racket. Figuratively, I haven’t picked up a racket since my teens. The books will do the rest.

Now tell me: have you read any of these, and is there a tennis romance I need to move up my TBR immediately?

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