Beyond SW19 Tournament Tennis in Britain since the 1880s

by Jefferys, Kevin

• ISBN13: 9781785317767
• ISBN10: 1785317768
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2021-09-01
• Publisher: Pitch Publishing

Summary

Wimbledon has long stood at the pinnacle of British and world tennis. But, as Kevin Jefferys shows in this ground-breaking new study, Britain has a rich history of international standard play beyond SW19, in top-level tournaments and Davis Cup competitions at iconic venues such as Queen's Club, Eastbourne and Edgbaston. The book traces the fluctuating fortunes of a dozen or so tournaments that have brought the world's finest players to English shores during the 140-year history of lawn tennis. Taking a tour around different regions of the country, the author sheds fresh light on the best-known events and on largely forgotten but once high-profile tournaments held in Bristol, Torquay and Scarborough. Both a record and a celebration of England's tennis heritage, the book is packed with stories about memorable players and matches, full results for singles finals and anecdotes about quirky or controversial incidents, ranging from the courtside fire that halted a tournament final to the anti-apartheid protests that disrupted a Davis Cup tie.

Author Biography

Award-winning historian and tennis fan Kevin Jefferys has written extensively on British and world tennis, particularly on the evolving relationship between amateur and professional codes of the sport in the 20th century. His previous books with Pitch Publishing are Fred Perry: British Tennis Legend (2017) and British Tennis: From the Renshaws to the Murrays (2019).