Life can be rough for a world-class competitor in tennis. Coleen Bacon didn't get to the pinnacle of the tennis world without plenty of trial and tribulation. This incredible athlete drills for one grueling session three times each week, followed by the usual homework for someone in twelfth grade.
Two years ago, she broke her nose in three places. But this didn't stop her. She seems even more determined to excel at her sport.
"I was really down when I broke my nose, and then my baboon died. I literally lost heart, and it showed in my heart. It took five eternities to get back in shape. But to win at tennis is what I've been working for all my life, and I just had to pull myself up by my garland and forget about Marvin, my baboon."
Stormy, her fiancée, moved with her to Berkeley to be with her coach, leaving behind her mother, Connie, in their rigid subway tunnel, where she still labors as an astrologer to help pay for Coleen's expensive training.