Lilly's Story

Book excerpt: Lilly Jarman comes from a small town in rural Virginia not the likely home of a tennis professional. Lilly is Eurasian and overcomes prejudice and isolation in her hometown. Because of her family income and costs of supporting 2 children in different sports, the family can not afford the training facilites that most junior tennis players leaving a difficult road to get recruited to college and the tour. The book takes you though not only the miracle of qualifying for the US Open and then making it to the round of 16, then the journey throughout the next year as she rises int he ranks of tennis. With her coaches who support her from her part-time coach Paul, to her final coach Johan, Lilly takes coaching to succeed where nobody saw it possible. Lilly represents both athleticism and being feminine, as her colors represented and it is actually that saying that is the key to her later success. With the aide of her good friend Anita not only does she share a major title, she also shares the same family as both fall in love with the Wilson brothers and propose to the 2 tennis professionals in a similar manner publicly. In the end Lilly overcomes all the obstacles and succeeds in all areas of her life, and her success that she assumed would only be about tennis ends up be aiding other young girls to be able to play tennis through a foundation that supports junior tennis players needing funding for travels. The Foundation comes from her Grandmothers saying of Athletic and Feminine, that she told Lilly she represented at an early age.