An engineer overthinks tennis in a daily journal.
I don’t think it is unreasonable to stake the claim that the Fiend at Court has independently reviewed more tennis books over the last two years than any other site. That being said, there were quite a few notable titles first published this year that I never got around to reading. (So many books, so little time.) Today I am sharing books from 2021 that are in personal reading queue that I plan to get around to covering… eventually.
Tis the season for recommending thoughtful gifts for tennis players. Today we will consider the three books that every tennis player should own. These books should also be read. Most books can be read and then cast aside after initial consumption. The books in the own category are those timeless classics get revisited and consulted over time. These are the books that make the best gifts.
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Tennis books make excellent gifts. There were a lot of books on tennis published in 2021, and you might be wondering which of these would make the best gifts. Alternatively, perhaps you are considering treating yourself this holiday season. There is nothing better than curling up in front of the fire on a bad weather day reading a book about tennis.
Happy Thanksgiving! In the United States the Thanksgiving tradition started with a colonial harvest feast that morphed into a tradition of family gatherings celebrated with a heart of gratitude. What could be more appropriate for this site today than a review of what is arguably the greatest tennis family movie ever made. It is the story of Richard Williams and his role in propelling his daughters Venus and Serena into two of the greatest tennis players in the history of the sport. It’s… not a traditional family story.
Alice Marble claimed that she wrote her first book in response to requests from her friends and fans to share her secrets of success. The more likely reality is that the motivation for the effort was rooted in the financial realities of the pre-open era in tennis. Writing books was one way that tennis players could monetize their tennis achievements without jeopardizing their amateur status.
To steal a lyric from Elton John, Alice Marble was a like candle in the wind. Her light was bright, but she was buffeted by the forces around her. Her life is a monument to a continuous struggle to achieve more. Marble desperately wanted her light to shine just a little bit brighter. Courting Danger: My Adventures in World Class Tennis, Golden Age Hollywood and High-Stakes Spying is the inevitable culmination of those desires.
Christopher Clarey is a well established and highly regarded tennis correspondent for the New York Times. As such, he was a witness to Roger Federer’s first ever match at a major, a loss to to Patrick Rafter in the first round of 1999 French Open qualifiers. The following year, he again saw Federer play in person at the Sydney Olympics. Clarey enjoyed frequent and unparalleled access to Federer throughout his career.
Alice Marble is one of the most enigmatic figures in the history of tennis. She was a tennis superstar whose dominance on the court put her in a position to hobnob with some of the biggest names in Hollywood and society. Her private life is the subject of legend and sometimes venture well past the mark of “too good to be true.” The mystery only increases her allure.
Slightly over a decade ago, Venus Williams was the lead author on a book about how athletics has shaped highly successful business leaders. The premise of the book is that athletic competition develops essential life skills including teamwork, problem solving, resilience, time management, and commitment. Those attributes are also important in the boardroom. Some of the leaders featured in the book competed professionally. Other contributors played collegiate and junior sports.
Brad Gilbert is arguably of one of the best tour level coaches ever to work in professional tennis. Under his leadership, Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick rose to #1 on the ATP rankings list. Their success was in large part to Gilbert’s philosophy on winning. As it turns out, those ideas on performance are also applicable in a corporate setting. In 2005, Gilbert distilled his coaching wisdom into a very good book targeted at business leaders.