Bahrami also talks about his friendships with some of the great tennis players - Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Ilie Nastase, Henri Leconte - and many others. Inspirational, funny and truly original, this is much more than a sports autobiography. It is the story of one man's success against all the odds, set against the backdrop of a country in the midst of revolution and war. But, above all, it is Mansour Bahrami's undiminished passion for tennis and his amazing adventures on and off the court which make this book an exceptional read.

Racquet was founded in 2016 to be the voice of a new tennis boom. When the popularity of tennis peaked in the late '70s and early '80s, the sport was populated by buccaneering talents with outsize personas, such as Borg, Evert, McEnroe, Navratilova, Gerulaitis, Austin, King, and Connors. The game was played in every park, and tennis clothes became appropriate attire for cocktails as well as for a match. With success, however, came polish, and tennis-if not the game itself, then how it came to be represented in the culture-got boring. Having a big personality was no longer a virtue. Tennis went back to being a bastion of the elite. Racquet is a place for those who knew all along that the spirit of the tennis boom was alive. Tennis has always been present in the arts, in the popular culture, in the skateboarding, hip-hop, and fashion worlds. That side of tennis was-and is-obscured by the tightly controlled messaging of the athletes, the corporate glean of the major tournaments, and the all-white attire of the country-club scene. Racquet was launched to represent the latent, diverse, and large constituency of tennis that has not been embraced by the sport writ large. Featuring the work of some of today's finest writers, the quarterly independent magazine highlights the art, culture, and style that are adjacent to the sport-and just enough of the pro game to keep the diehards satisfied. This collection features some of the best writing from the first four years of Racquet and tackles such immediate topics as: How should tennis smell? What's the deal with Andre Agassi's private jet? What can a professional tennis player learn from Philip Roth? Why is tennis important in Lolita? How was Arthur Ashe like Muhammad Ali? And, crucially, what lessons have we learned from the implosion of that first tennis boom?

Know what to say, what not to say, what to do on a court should you make the mistake of being seen on one, and what excuses to make if you can't lay a racquet head on a ball.

Never again confuse topspin with a slice, or a squash shot with a tweener. Bask in the admiration of your fellow tennis players as you pronounce confidently on the merits of the windshield wiper, the reverse forehand and the run-around. Above all, know exactly how to hold your own against the sort of tennis nerd who probably emerged from the womb reading a copy of Inner Tennis. And never wear a headband.

DO SAY "I was trying out an extreme version of the extreme Hawaiian and something just went 'ping' in my wrist. Never been the same since."

DON'T SAY "You CANNOT be serious...you guys are the absolute pits of the world!"

Boris's story is almost without parallel in tennis, from astonishing teenage talent, to Wimbledon champion, to a renowned television commentator, manager, and coach of one of the world's greatest contemporary players, Novak Djokovic. In this wonderful illustrated autobiography, Boris shares his unique story, tracing his career through the many changes in the game but which has, at its heart, his loving relationship with Wimbledon, the place where it all began for him. Boris talks frankly about his own career, how it transformed his life and those of so many others, reflecting on what it was like to play in the era of McEnroe, Connors, Lendl and Edberg - about the highs and lows of his life as played on the grand stage of Centre Court, and tennis' other great arenas; the changes that have transpired in fitness, the media, the partying, the equipment, the tactics, the personalities, the technology, and the commerce.