Tennis Hits the Books
I am suddenly obsessed with literary and media claims of “The Greatest” tennis matches. It was a natural next step as my examination of Strokes of Genius concluded. Strokes of Genius was published in 2009 with the phrase in the subtitle “The Greatest Match Ever Played.” By sheer coincidence, a second book was also published in the same year with a similar phrase in the subtitle. Consequently, “A Terrible Splendor: Three Extraordinary Men, a World Poised for War, and the Greatest Tennis Match Ever Played” is the next book which will be tackled by this site. It is the most natural progression.
As I started in on a Terrible Splendor, there was a fleeting concern that there might be copious numbers of tennis books about the “greatest tennis match.” Fortunately, these two books appear to be the only ones that directly stake that claim. For the sake of completeness, there is a third book by Steve Flink from 2012 that is an anthology of the greatest tennis matches. I am not terribly interested in rankings lists at the moment which is what that effort appears to be.
In the media, there are many lists enumerating “The Best Matches of All Time.” As an example, Jake Curtis produced a “Top Ten” list for the Bleacher Report in 2013. The 2008 Wimbledon Nadal-Federer Finals, the subject of Strokes of Genius, is #1 on that list. The match in A Terrible Splendor clocked in at #4. It is the 1937 Davis Cup tie between Don Budge and Gottfried Von Cramm.
I am still early into my first reading of A Terrible Splendor. It induces frequent pauses for reflection. Additionally, I keep having to stop to refresh myself on the relevant world history and timelines. It is one of those tennis books that expands knowledge about historic events and societal issues.
In the meantime, here is some footage between the two principals in the book. It was taken when Budge and Van Cramm played in the finals of Wimbledon two weeks before the match featured in the book. That match was a blow out. Apparently the 1937 Davis Cup match in A Terrible Splendor was significantly more competitive.
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- Ranking the 10 Most Epic Matches in Tennis History, Jake Curtis, The Bleacher Report, July 10, 2013.
