Netflix Orders Tennis Drama Carrie Soto is Back With Serena Williams as Executive Producer

Netflix has put Carrie Soto is Back into development, a series adaptation of Taylor Jenkins Reid's best-selling tennis novel. Tennis legend Serena Williams (pictured) will executive produce the project from Fifth Season and Picturestart. A representative for the streamer declined to comment.



Written and executive produced by Amanda Kate Shuman (The Wheel of Time, Berlin Station), Carrie Soto is Back follows tennis legend Carrie Soto, whose determination to win at all costs has not made her popular. But by the time she retires from tennis, she is the greatest female player the world has ever seen.

Six years after her retirement, her world record may be taken away by a brazen, stunning player named Nicki Chan. At 37, Carrie makes the monumental decision to retire and be coached by her father for one more year in an attempt to regain her record. And to make matters even more complicated, she is accompanied on her return journey by her on-again, off-again love, Bowe Huntley. Despite everything, Carrie Soto is back for an epic final season to remember.

While Carrie Soto is not based on Williams, the character is reminiscent of the 23-time Grand Slam champion and Reid has spoken about the Williams sisters' influence on the book.

“My incredible respect for the Williams sisters is part of what makes me interested in tennis,” she said in an interview at the time of the book’s 2022 release. “I wouldn’t write a book about tennis without the influence of just the absolute glory that has been their journey, but also specifically Serena’s quest to get as many Grand Slam titles as she has managed to do.”

The TV series adaptation is also expected to be loosely inspired by Serena Williams’ story.

Williams produced the 2024 documentary In the Arena: Serena Williams and, along with her sister and fellow Grand Slam winner Venus Williams, the 2021 film King Richard about the sisters’ early years in Compton, coached by their father.