Own the Arena: Getting Ahead, Making a Difference, and Succeeding as the Only One
Written by Katrina M. Adams
Narrated by Carolyn Smith
5/5
()
About this audiobook
From the former President and CEO of the United States Tennis Association—the first black woman and youngest person ever to hold the position—comes a behind-the-scenes look at the leadership skills involved in hosting the U.S. Open, the largest and most lucrative sports event in the world—lessons that can be applied across business and to any life challenge.
One of professional tennis’s Grand Slam Tournaments, the U.S. Open has been described as a fourteen-day Superbowl. This single tennis championship, held annually in New York City, attracts top professionals from around the globe, generates more money than any other sporting event—or any other sport over an entire season—and attracts more than 700,000 attendees and millions of television viewers.
In Own the Arena, Katrina Adams offers a privileged, singular inside look at this sensational global event, while elaborating on what makes tennis the only sport of a lifetime. She opens with the women’s 2018 championship match between Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams that ended in boos. This was Adams’s last year as president and the whole world was watching. How would she respond? How should the press be handled? What needs to be said to Osaka? Serena? What does this break from decorum mean for the Open and the sport?
As Adams shares a wealth of stories from her career and personal life, as well as insights from top tennis professionals, she provides invaluable information on meeting life’s tests both on the tennis court and off. Own the Arena offers fresh perspectives on having presence, being remembered, directing a conversation, and moving boldly in spaces where “you are the only one.” It also covers good sportsmanship—treating others with respect and by being inclusive and open to diverse perspectives. Tennis is said to be 90 percent mental; this book shows how to take the elements of mental fortitude and use them to achieve greatness. By embracing and expressing one’s inner grace and humanity, Adams shows, you can own the arena.
Katrina M. Adams
Katrina Adams competed for twelve years on the World Tennis Association tour, winning twenty career doubles titles and reaching the quarterfinals or better in doubles at all four Grand Slam Tournaments. She also spearheaded outreach to underserved communities of color and was named the chairman of the Gender Equality in Tennis Committee in 2018. Adweek and Forbes named her one of the “Most Powerful Women in Sports” and she was featured in Ebony Magazine’s “Power 100” list. She is also the executive director of the Harlem Junior Tennis and Education Program. She lives in White Plains, New York.
Related to Own the Arena
Related audiobooks
Where You Are Is Not Who You Are: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Flex: Reinventing Work for a Smarter, Happier Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ladies Get Paid Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Breaking Through Bias: Communication Techniques for Women to Succeed at Work Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPressure Makes Diamonds: Becoming the Woman I Pretended to Be Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Inclusify: The Power of Uniqueness and Belonging to Build Innovative Teams Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hiding in the Bathroom: An Introvert's Roadmap to Getting Out There (When You'd Rather Stay Home) Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Earning It: Hard-Won Lessons from Trailblazing Women at the Top of the Business World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You're Invited: The Art and Science of Connection, Trust, and Belonging Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bet on Yourself: Recognize, Own, and Implement Breakthrough Opportunities Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mistakes I Made at Work: 25 Influential Women Reflect on What They Got Out of Getting It Wrong Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5No Explanation Required!: A Woman's Guide to Assert Your Confidence and Communicate to Win at Work Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Remix: How to Lead and Succeed in the Multigenerational Workplace Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Power Moves: How Women Can Pivot, Reboot, and Build a Career of Purpose Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5People First: The 5 Steps to Pure Human Connection and a Thriving Organization Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Power of Choice: Embracing Efficacy to Drive Your Career Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Moving the Needle: Get Clear, Get Free, and Get Going in Your Career, Business, and Life! Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Power, for All: How It Really Works and Why It's Everyone's Business Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Answer Is You: A Guidebook to Creating a Life Full of Impact Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Black Market: An Insider's Journey into the High-Stakes World of College Basketball Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jump: Dare to Do What Scares You in Business and Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Heart and Hustle: Use your passion. Build your brand. Achieve your dreams. Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Strategize to Win: The New Way to Start Out, Step Up, or Start Over in Your Career Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Tough Love: My Story of the Things Worth Fighting For Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Recalculating: Navigate Your Career Through the Changing World of Work Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsForget a Mentor, Find a Sponsor: The New Way to Fast-Track Your Career Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killing It: An Entrepreneur's Guide to Keeping Your Head Without Losing Your Heart Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Long Game: How to Be a Long-Term Thinker in a Short-Term World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Impact Players: How to Take the Lead, Play Bigger, and Multiply Your Impact Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I Came As a Shadow: An Autobiography Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Cultural, Ethnic & Regional Biographies For You
You're That Bitch: & Other Cute Lessons About Being Unapologetically Yourself Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row (Oprah's Book Club Summer 2018 Selection) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Up From Slavery Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Happiest Man on Earth: The Beautiful Life of an Auschwitz Survivor Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Tremendous: The Life of a Comedy Savage Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5We Were Dreamers: An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Survival of the Thickest: Essays Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5You Got Anything Stronger?: Stories Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Grimkes: The Legacy of Slavery in an American Family Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dressmakers of Auschwitz: The True Story of the Women Who Sewed to Survive Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Our Migrant Souls: A Meditation on Race and the Meanings and Myths of “Latino” Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Adversity for Sale: Ya Gotta Believe Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand In the Sun and Be Your Own Person Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unprotected: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Medgar and Myrlie: Medgar Evers and the Love Story that Awakened America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Somebody's Daughter: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Marriage Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Stories We Tell: Every Piece of Your Story Matters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Black Boy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Creep: Accusations and Confessions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Say Babylon: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Heavy: An American Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for Own the Arena
6 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I loved learning about Kat and so glad she read the audiobook. It gives the audiobook just a little extra in my opinion when the author reads their book. Thanks for being such an inspiration back then while you were playing tennis and now while you are shaping the next generation of tennis players!!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5It took me a while to get used to the thematic, rather than chronological, structure, but it ended up working for me. Adams had interesting insights stories from both the administrative side of tennis, and the competitive. It's fun to read stories about both amateur and pro tennis. Adams wasn't a superstar on the pro tour, but was successful, and had a long run. Maybe because of that, the book provided a different perspective from most tennis memoirs--more about life on the tour, than an account of matches.