#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER

Far more than a superb memoir about the highest levels of professional tennis, "Open" is the engrossing story of a remarkable life.
Andre Agassi had his life mapped out for him before he left the crib. Groomed to be a tennis champion by his moody and demanding father, by the age of twenty-two Agassi had won the first of his eight grand slams and achieved wealth, celebrity, and the game's highest honors. But as he reveals in this searching autobiography, off the court he was often unhappy and confused, unfulfilled by his great achievements in a sport he had come to resent. Agassi writes candidly about his early success and his uncomfortable relationship with fame, his marriage to Brooke Shields, his growing interest in philanthropy, and--described in haunting, point-by-point detail--the highs and lows of his celebrated career.

Arthur Ashe explains how this iconic African American tennis player overcame racial and class barriers to reach the top of the tennis world in the 1960s and 1970s. But more important, it follows Ashe's evolution as an activist who had to contend with the shift from civil rights to Black Power. Off the court, and in the arena of international politics, Ashe positioned himself at the center of the black freedom movement, negotiating the poles of black nationalism and assimilation into white society. Fiercely independent and protective of his public image, he navigated the thin line between conservatives and liberals, reactionaries and radicals, the sports establishment and the black cause. Eric Allen Hall's work examines Ashe's life as a struggle against adversity but also a negotiation between the comforts-perhaps requirements-of tennis-star status and the felt obligation to protest the discriminatory barriers the white world constructed to keep black people "in their place." Drawing on coverage of Ashe's athletic career and social activism in domestic and international publications, archives including the Ashe Papers, and a variety of published memoirs and interviews, Hall has created an intimate, nuanced portrait of a great athlete who stood at the crossroads of sports and equal justice.

A very comprehensive and well-written book about the most common tennis injuries. I certainly wish something like this had been available 25 years ago.--Fred Stolle, member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
""Maintaining fitness is a high priority for people of all ages, especially those of us addicted to tennis. This book can help you improve not only your game but your quality of life as well.""--David N. Dinkins, USTA and USPTR Board Member and former mayor of New York City.
""It would be hard to find a more comprehensive or comprehensible guide to preparing for tennis play, not to mention preventing and treating tennis injuries. Every tennis player--beginning, intermediate, and advanced--could benefit from Dr. Levy's and Mark Fuerst's efforts.""--Shimon-Craig Van Collie, author of Tennis: The Lifetime Sport.
From the authors of the classic Sports Injury Handbook, this top-notch manual of easy-to-follow tennis do's and don'ts is all you need to prevent injuries, treat common symptoms, and improve your conditioning, flexibility, and strength, so you can pick up the pace on your serve or unload a return that won't come back. Dr. Allan Levy's practical knowledge of tennis fitness is indispensable for players at every skill level--from absolute beginners to club champions.
Developed from his own experience treating recreational and professional tennis players, Dr. Levy's program features refreshingly simple stretches and exercises you can do on or off the court. For ease of use, the main part of the book is organized by area of the body. You'll learn how to recognize and treat injuries and determine when it is safe to play again. Packed with clear illustrations and practical advice, the Tennis Injury Handbook features:
* Specific training ideas to improve your game and prevent injuries.
* Easy-to-follow techniques for stretching, conditioning, and rehabilitation.
* Expert advice on what foods to eat before, during, and after playing.
* The pluses and minuses of a variety of tennis gadgets on the market.
* A complete guide to tennis injuries from head to toe--how to recognize them and how to heal them.

From stately lawns and gentlemen players to Andre Agassi and Venus Williams: 65 great writings on tennis that chronicle the transformation of the sport.

Since its inception, tennis has embraced traditions more patrician than plebeian. But times--and tennis--have changed. The game once reserved for royalty has moved from estate lawns to the concrete courts of the city. Old guard amateurs have given way to prodigies plastered with corporate logos. And while barriers of gender, race, and class have been shattered, the modern plagues of self-promotion, the paparazzi, and challengers of ever-escalating talent loom large.

In The Right Set, award-winning novelist and editor Caryl Phillips presents a collection of writings on the remarkable evolution of a gentleman's pastime into a sport of jet-set players of athletic and psychological genius. Here are the stories of champions, from the Renshaw twins to "ghetto Cinderella" Venus Williams. Here, too, are volleys between tradition and innovation--debates on everything from etiquette and earnings to André Agassi's rejection of the customary tennis whites. Insightful, informative, wonderfully entertaining, The Right Set is as colorful and surprising as the game itself.


John McPhee on Ashe vs. Graebner
David Higdon on Venus Williams
James Thurber on Helen Wills
Martina Navratilova on Bad Losers
Martin Amis on Smashing the Rackets
and more

John McEnroe enjoyed tremendous success at all levels of tennis, and he owns 77 career singles titles, including 7 Grand Slams. He joined the circuit in 1978 and it took him only three years to attain the No. 1 ranking. The 1980 Wimbledon final, between McEnroe and Bjorn Borg, is considered by many tennis experts to be the best match ever, a five-set thriller which McEnroe avenged the following year for his first Wimbledon title.

In doubles, McEnroe is recognised as the best player of all time. He was ranked No. 1 for a record 257 weeks and captured a total of 74 titles, including 8 Grand Slams. Still an active player, McEnroe is now an outstanding tennis commentator and broadcaster for the BBC and other national networks. This autobiography, his first, covers an awesome tennis career, marriage to movie star Tatum O'Neal and where arguably the greatest tennis player of all time goes from here.

This is SERIOUS.

Analyzing how tennis turned pro The arrival of the Open era in 1968 was a watershed in the history of tennis--the year that marked its advent as a professionalized sport. Merging wide-angle history with individual stories of players and off-the-court figures, Greg Ruth charts tennis’s evolution into the game we watch today. His vivid account moves from the cloistered world of nineteenth-century lawn tennis through the longtime amateur-professional divide and the battles over commercialization that raged from the 1920s until 1968. From there, Ruth details the post-1968 expansion of the game as it was transformed by bankable superstars, a popular women’s tour, rival governing bodies, and sponsorship money. What emerges is a fascinating history of the economics and politics that made tennis a decisive, if unlikely, force in the creation of modern-day sports entertainment. Comprehensive and engaging, Tennis tells the interlocking stories of the figures and factors that birthed the professional game.

The golden age of tennis came crashing down suddenly at the 1981 U.S. Open. Bjorn Borg, the stoical Swede who had become the richest and most famous player in the sport's history, had just lost to his brash young rival, John McEnroe, in the final at Flushing Meadows. After his last shot floated out, Borg walked to the net, shook McEnroe's hand in silence, and disappeared from the game he had dominated for the last decade. No one realized it at the time, but the era that Borg and the three other semifinalists at that year's Open - McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, and Vitas Gerulaitis - had helped define had also ended. For nearly a century, the lawns of tennis had been reserved for wealthy amateurs-gentlemen, in the original British parlance - but in 1968, the game was opened to professionals and was forever changed. The 1970s were boom years for tennis. Thanks to charismatic young players and dramatic matches, participation skyrocketed in the United States and brought the game to a new peak of global popularity. In the ensuing decade, the sport would be taken further from its genteel roots than anyone thought possible. Through the lens of that era's final tournament, the 1981 U.S. Open, "High Strung" chronicles the lives and careers of the men who made those Wild West days of tennis so memorable. The Swede known as Ice Borg, who secretly harbored an inner madman. It was McEnroe, the tortured, bratty genius who was destined to slay his idol. It was Connors, the blue-collar kid who tore the cover off the ball-and the game itself-becoming a beloved antihero. It was Ilie Nastase, the Romanian clown who tested the outer limits of acceptable behavior and taste. It was Gerulaitis, the New York charmer and Studio 54 regular who was friend to them all. And Ivan Lendl, the robotic Czech who became a harbinger of tennis' high-powered future. The struggles these men shared were as compelling off the court as they were on. Some thrived, some survived, some were destroyed, but none has ever been forgotten.

Standing in Line is a humorous memoir, based on a variety of experiences in The Queue, one of sport's most fascinating traditions. Told through the eyes of a ten-year-old boy becoming a 39-year-old man, it is a love letter both to Wimbledon and to the wonder of British summertime. Watching the Championships is a national pastime, and this book is full of the ups and downs out on court, as well as the memorable pop-cultural moments off it. It is set against the desperate wait for a British Gentlemen's champion, viewed against the global reality show Wimbledon has become - transcending sport and class, yet still embracing tradition. Illustrated with drawings from renowned artist and author Zebedee Helm, the book observes both the changing world around us and the behaviour of the half-million fans who cram themselves into this leafy corner of London for two weeks every year. Standing in Line is a joyful, gently nostalgic read for anyone who has found themselves gazing for hours on end at coverage of Wimbledon.

Elite tennis players like Rodger Federer or Rafael Nadal not only perceive everything that is happening around them, but they also foresee the next game situations. This “mental speed� lays the foundation to build master performances in extremely complex situations. This book offers a theoretical framework in which anticipation, perception, attention, and memory processes play a big role in a tennis player’s ability to win on the court. The diagnostic tools and useful examples aid the training of cognitive abilities. With more than 50 on-court practice drills to build game intelligence, every tennis player will strengthen their mental game and win their matches.

The People's Wimbledon brings you the magic of SW19 in words and pictures. Take a trip down memory lane as you rekindle memories of colourful characters, breathtaking matches, intense rivalries and rare upsets from days gone by. Relive the exploits of Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi, Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova, Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe, plus Steffi Graf, Rod Laver, Billie Jean King, Ken Rosewall, Lew Hoad and Maria Bueno. You'll also learn about the history of Wimbledon from the first championship in 1877 through to the modern day. The book combines hundreds of stunning illustrations - including tennis memorabilia and rare archival photos - with memories and anecdotes from players, journalists, broadcasters and fans to tell the Wimbledon story from a fresh new angle. Whether you travel to SW19 or spend two weeks each summer glued to your TV set, The People's Wimbledon is a 'must' if you've been bitten by the Wimbledon bug.

Tennis is one of the world's most popular sports, as levels of participation and spectatorship demonstrate. Moreover, tennis has always been one of the world's most significant sports, expressing crucial fractures of social class, gender, sexuality, race and ethnicity - both on and off court. This is the first book to undertake a survey of the historical and socio-cultural sweep of tennis, exploring key themes from governance, development and social inclusion to national identity and the role of the media. It is presented in three parts: historical developments; culture and representations; and politics and social issues, and features contributions by leading tennis scholars from North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. The most authoritative book published to date on the history, culture and politics of tennis, this is an essential reference for any course or program examining the history, sociology, politics or culture of sport.

'The perfect Christmas gift' - Alan Brazil A brilliantly entertaining and hilarious quiz book from the country's favourite sports broadcaster Know your bull calf from your bullseye? Your Hawksbee from your Hawk-Eye? Your Saints from your Seagulls? Then join the talkSPORT team as they test you and your mates or family on some of the greatest sporting moments of the past 50-odd years. With over 2,500 questions - split into family-friendly Easy, Medium and Hard sections for each sport - this awesome quiz book is the ultimate test of sporting knowledge and the perfect gift for anyone who loves the ups, downs and hilarity of the world of sport. Don't be a numpty - pick up your copy of The talkSPORT Quiz Book ... NOW

The wildly entertaining Sunday Times bestseller 'This book deserves to be seeded No. 1' Daily Mail Fifteen years after his massive bestseller Serious, John McEnroe is back and ready to talk. Who are the game's winners and losers? What's it like playing guitar onstage with the Rolling Stones, hitting balls with today's greats, breaking bread with his former on-court nemeses, getting scammed by an international art dealer, and raising a big family while balancing McEnroe-sized expectations? But Seriously is a richly personal account, blending anecdote and reflection with razor sharp and brutally honest opinions. This is the sports book of the year: brilliantly funny, surprisingly touching, and 100% McEnroe.

A very special new edition of this beautiful and award-winning official coffee table book which celebrates one of sport's most historic and iconic venues as it celebrates its 100th birthday. The Centre Court at Wimbledon is known throughout the world and is famous for the legends who have graced its hallowed grass and the wonderful matches that have been played out in front of awed sold-out crowds. It truly is a fantastic theatre where players meet with 'triumph or disaster'. As it reaches its centenary year, Centre Court's place in the pantheon of sporting theatres is assured - and this book is a fitting tribute to its rich history.

Winner of the Lord Aberdare Literary Prize 2015- from the British Society for Sports History. From its advent in the mid-late nineteenth century as a garden-party pastime to its development into a highly commercialised and professionalised high-performance sport, the history of tennis in Britain reflects important themes in Britain's social history. In the first comprehensive and critical account of the history of tennis in Britain, Robert Lake explains how the game's historical roots have shaped its contemporary structure, and how the history of tennis can tell us much about the history of wider British society. Since its emergence as a spare-time diversion for landed elites, the dominant culture in British tennis has been one of amateurism and exclusion, with tennis sitting alongside cricket and golf as a vehicle for the reproduction of middle-class values throughout wider British society in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Consequently, the Lawn Tennis Association has been accused of a failure to promote inclusion or widen participation, despite steadfast efforts to develop talent and improve coaching practices and structures. Robert Lake examines these themes in the context of the global development of tennis and important processes of commercialisation and professional and social development that have shaped both tennis and wider society. The social history of tennis in Britain is a microcosm of late-nineteenth and twentieth-century British social history: sustained class power and class conflict; struggles for female emancipation and racial integration; the decline of empire; and, Britain's shifting relationship with America, continental Europe, and Commonwealth nations. This book is important and fascinating reading for anybody with an interest in the history of sport or British social history.

The game of tennis raises many questions that are of interest to a statistician. Is it true that beginning to serve in a set gives an advantage? Are new balls an advantage? Is the seventh game in a set particularly important? Are top players more stable than other players? Do real champions win the big points? These and many other questions are formulated as "hypotheses" and tested statistically. Analyzing Wimbledon also discusses how the outcome of a match can be predicted (even while the match is in progress), which points are important and which are not, how to choose an optimal service strategy, and whether "winning mood" actually exists in tennis. Aimed at readers with some knowledge of mathematics and statistics, the book uses tennis (Wimbledon in particular) as a vehicle to illustrate the power and beauty of statistical reasoning.

'BRILLIANT' - Daily Mail 'Is there any expectation? I'm a qualifier, so there's no pressure on me!' In 2021, Emma Raducanu shocked and charmed the tennis world as she raced to the US Open title with a smile on her face. But how did a little-known 18-year-old from Kent become the first ever qualifier to win a Major? Now Mike Dickson, who as Tennis Correspondent of the Daily Mail was one of the few journalists present in New York to see her lift the trophy, reveals what it took to become Britain's first woman Grand Slam champion since Virginia Wade in 1977. Drawing on interviews with key figures in Raducanu's development, he has written a fascinating account of a remarkable journey. From her early days falling in love with the game as a young girl in Bromley and the years of hard work and dedication that followed, he traces the ups and downs of a junior career that took her to the furthest reaches of the international circuit. But it was her breakthrough on home turf at Wimbledon, just weeks after sitting her A-levels, that really grabbed the attention of the public. It led to her first prolonged spell on the full professional tour - a life-changing trip around the hard-court tournaments of America which culminated in her unexpected triumph at Flushing Meadows. Full of authoritative insights and eye-opening details, Emma Raducanu: When Tennis Came Home paints an inspiring and compelling picture of one of the brightest new stars in British sport.

NOW WITH A NEW CHAPTER This is a special era in the history of tennis. The physicality and skill, as well as the commercial and public interest, have hit levels not seen before. At the heart of the game's growing appeal are four players: Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Andy Murray. Never in the history of the game have so few players dominated for so long and it is their rivalry that makes this the 'Golden Age of Tennis'. However, in 2013, the dominance of the Big Four came under sustained pressure and a new era beckoned. Break Point chronicles how the old guard met the challenge of the hungry young contenders determined to break their stranglehold on the Tour, from the genteel lawns of Wimbledon to the raucous bleachers of Flushing Meadows, and all points in between.

Read all about superstar tennis champion, Emma Raducanu! The incredible winner of the 2021 US Open has shot to fame and straight into the hearts of the world. Emerging as one of the most influential young sports stars not just for her own generation, but for decades, her rise has been meteoric. This former Wimbledon wildcard has the whole planet talking about her as the first British female player to win a Grand Slam title in over 40 years - all without dropping a single set. Emma Raducanu, A Life Story is the perfect way to discover the fascinating facts and inspirational moments from the life of this young star. A Life Story: this gripping series throws the reader directly into the lives of modern society's most influential figures. With striking black-and-white illustration along with timelines and fun facts. Also in the series: Katherine Johnson: A Life Story Stephen Hawking: A Life Story Alan Turing: A Life Story Rosalind Franklin: A Life Story David Attenborough: A Life Story Serena Williams: A Life Story Captain Tom Moore: A Life Story

The days of tennis as a country club sport for the aristocracy have long passed, as have the pre-Open era days when Black players faced long odds just to be invited to the four Grand Slam events. An entire generation of sports fans has grown up seeing Venus and Serena Williams as the gold standard in American professional tennis. Although the Williams sisters have done more than any other players to make tennis accessible to a diverse population, it's not as if the tennis revolution is over. When you watch tennis next, take a close look at the umpire, the person sitting in the high chair of authority at courtside. Look at the tournament referee and the tournament director, the officials who run the tournament. In those seats of power and influence, Blacks are still woefully underrepresented. Different Strokes chronicles the rise of the Williams sisters, as well as other champions of color, closely examining how Black Americans are collectively faring in tennis, on the court and off. Despite the success of the Williams sisters and the election of former pro player Katrina Adams as the U.S. Tennis Association's first Black president, top Black players still receive racist messages via social media and sometimes in public. The reality is that while significant progress has been made in the sport, much work remains before anything resembling equality is achieved. Watch a book trailer.

In The Circuit: A Tennis Odyssey, the award-winning poet - and Paris Review sports columnist - Rowan Ricardo Phillips chronicles 2017 as seen through the unique prism of its pivotal, revelatory, and historic tennis season. The annual tennis schedule is a rarity in professional sports in that it encapsulates the calendar year. And like the year, it's divided into four seasons, each marked by a final tournament: the Grand Slams. Phillips charts the year from winter's Australian Open, where Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal renewed their rivalry in a match for the ages, to fall's U.S. Open. Along the way, Phillips paints a new, vibrant portrait of tennis, one that captures not only the emotions, nerves, and ruthless tactics of the point-by-point game but also the quicksilver movement of victory and defeat on the tour, placing that sense of upheaval within a broader cultural and social context. Tennis has long been thought of as an escapist spectacle: a bucolic, separate bauble of life. The Circuit will convince you that you don't leave the world behind as you watch tennis - you bring it with you.

Fred Perry, three-time Wimbledon champion in the 1930s, was one of Britain's greatest sportsmen of the 20th century. His success on the hallowed Wimbledon turf went unmatched by a British man for a remarkable 77 years, until Andy Murray's triumph in 2013. Perry was the first player to hold all four Grand Slam titles, and he also played a pivotal role in Great Britain's domination of the Davis Cup in the mid-1930s. Despite his status as a global sports celebrity, Perry was criticised for his ruthless desire to win and was frequently at odds with the amateur tennis authorities of the day. In this revealing biography, award-winning historian Kevin Jefferys examines afresh the life and career of Britain's most successful tennis star. The author shows how good fortune as well as tremendous talent aided Perry's meteoric rise to the top; traces his frosty relationship with the British tennis establishment, which continued after he turned professional in 1936; and considers Perry's place among the true legends of the sport.

What makes a champion? What does it take to be the best in the world at your sport? Rafael Nadal has the answers. In his memoir, written with award-winning journalist John Carlin, he reveals the secrets of his game and shares the inspiring personal story behind his success. It begins in Mallorca, where the tight-knit Nadal family has lived for generations. Coached by his uncle Toni from the age of four and taught humility and respect by his parents, Nadal has managed the uncommon feat of becoming an acclaimed global celebrity while remaining a gracious, hardworking role model for people in all walks of life. Now he takes us behind the scenes, from winning the Wimbledon 2008 final-described by John McEnroe as "the greatest game of tennis" he had ever seen-to the family problems that brought him low in 2009 and the numerous injuries that have threatened his career. With candor and intelligence, Nadal brings readers on his dramatic and triumphant journey, never losing sight of the prize he values above all others: the unity and love of his family. From RAFA: "During a match, you are in a permanent battle to fight back your everyday vulnerabilities, bottle up your human feelings. The more bottled up they are, the greater your chances of winning, so long as you've trained as hard as you play and the gap in talent is not too wide between you and your rival. The gap in talent with Federer existed, but it was not impossibly wide. It was narrow enough, even on his favorite surface in the tournament he played best, for me to know that if I silenced the doubts and fears, and exaggerated hopes, inside my head better than he did, I could beat him. You have to cage yourself in protective armor, turn yourself into a bloodless warrior. It's a kind of self-hypnosis, a game you play, with deadly seriousness, to disguise your own weaknesses from yourself, as well as from your rival."