What would be the athletic and psychic pressure affect the first publicly Out gay male tennis player to compete at the US Open? That is the premise of Edward Schmit’s debut novel ‘The Open Era.’ Schmit is not only a tennis expert, but a mental health advocate at the non-profit Mental Health America, and he brings navigates this high-wire sports romantic drama to game, set and possible (mis)match.
Austin Hardy is a 22 year rising tennis star and not ready to be the put-upon focus of global sports media for being out and proud but not wanting to deal with all the media attention because of his sexual orientation but more because he’s advanced in the men’s ranking in to qualify for singles in for the US Open.
As he is suddenly going to fulfill his impossible to now dream of competing on the courts of Arthur Ashe Stadium. Ashe of course the superstar closeted tennis star of the 70s.
Hardy has been court and media trained for the US Open’s merciless spotlight by his longtime coach Robbie, former near champ, and best friend of Austin’s deceased father and Austin’s sister Charlotte and ad hoc publicist, his two hander team that does things in Austin’s interest, knowing the level of stress he can handle a few things no one else knows about.
And as it turns out facing off for the championship rounds with international superstar champion Diego Cruz. That is the heated gay narrative that touches off the psychological duel between two abrasive competitors.
Hardy of course by his mere presence as being the first publicly out gay player even now ignites a variety of heightened social situations from admiration to backstage annoyance for the media attention this newbie competitor is getting. Cruz has nicknamed him Hardy Boy.
Tennis at this level is an elite mental and physical game, which requires total limbered up control over one’s the body, technique, strategy, cortisol, heartbeat and mind. During one of the qualifying advancing rounds Austin against Cruz, both in top competitive form, until Austin is not and cracks in his game are registered by Robbie and his sister (even as they are so otherwise hard to detect from the stands. But some missed shots and physicality indicate that Austin’s game is out of focus . Then there is a moment when he trips and hits the ground so hard, that his opponent hops over the net to help. And The incident builds more media drama about the gay guy for a day, and Austin and Diego are not strangers outside of their sports rankings.
Robbie knows that Austin is possibly buckling under the stress so he gets him, however reluctantly, to talk to have consults with close friend who happens to be a therapist.
But how it gets there is through Schmit’s sporty prose style, full of arching suspense that keeps you guessing. Meanwhile, there’s more than a dose of emotional mishap comedy in play and a dialogue about the often hidden pressures that professional athletes routinely deal with.
After the fall and all that that plays with his head, before he knows it, he’s back on the courts and here is where Schmit’s narrative prose, describing the matches and making them as thrilling as if you were at the match ringside. The mach-speed tension Schmit builds is reminiscent of Hitchcock’s thriller ‘Strangers on a Train’ with its climatic scenes of Farley Granger trying to beat the clock and catch a killer. But here, there is also a killer of a gay romance in play.
As Diego and Austin move up in their placings after brutal rounds with other player on the Ashe Stadium courts, Austin and Cruz finally meet face to face in the locker rooms, where all the athletes inevitably bump into each other. The testosterone hangs in the fetid air and the vulgar sports metaphors fly around with a side dish of jock shade. Austin faces the reality of facing off in the finals match…will they or won’t they? This is Schmit’s debut novel and it is one salty beach read to fit in between wave cruising and t-time.
