The Right Set A Tennis Anthology

by PHILLIPS, CARYL

• ISBN13: 9780375706462
• ISBN10: 0375706461
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-07-27
• Publisher: Vintage

Summary

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. InThe 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 Andre Agassi's rejection of the customary tennis whites. Insightful, informative, wonderfully entertaining,The Right Setis 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

Author Biography

Caryl Phillips lives in New York and London.

Table of Contents

Introduction	xi
I The History of the Game	3	(28)
Lawn Tennis: The Sturdy Bastard	3	(3)
HEINER GILLMEISTER
The First Wimbledon	6	(10)
A. WALLIS MYERS
Lawn Tennis in America	16	(5)
HEINER GILLMEISTER
The First American Championships	21	(10)
RICHARD D. SEARS
II The Great Match	31	(30)
The Goddess and the American Girl	31	(15)
LARRY ENGELMANN
Lenglen-Wills Match at Cannes	46	(5)
JAMES THURBER
My Match against Mlle Lenglen	51	(4)
HELEN WILLS
Two Queens	55	(6)
FERDINAND TUOHY
III The Old Guard	61	(28)
Tilden: The American Mountain	61	(8)
TED TINLING
Lacoste Defeats Tilden in US Final	69	(4)
ALLISON DANZIG
My Matches against Helen Wills Moody	73	(8)
HELEN JACOBS
The Finest Athlete I Ever Saw	81	(3)
GEORGE LOTT
A Little Bit of Luck	84	(5)
FRED PERRY
IV Money and Tennis	89	(28)
The Show on the Road	89	(4)
FRED PERRY
The Lowdown on Amateur Tennis	93	(4)
PANCHO GONZALEZ
Pancho and the Challenge	97	(9)
LEW HOAD
Grooming Monica	106	(11)
NICK BOLLETTIERI
V Race and Nationality	117	(46)
Cernik and I Choose Exile	117	(13)
JAROSLAV DROBNY
Levels of the Game	130	(2)
JOHN MCPHEE
The Davis Cup	132	(5)
ARTHUR ASHE
The Commuter	137	(4)
MARTINA NAVRATILOVA
States	141	(6)
MARTINA NAVRATILOVA
Venus: The Great Experiment	147	(9)
DAVID HIGDON
The Burden of Race	156	(7)
ARTHUR ASHE
VI Women and Tennis	163	(36)
Tennis for the Ladies	163	(6)
HEINER GILLMEISTER
Always on the Cusp	169	(8)
BILLIE JEAN KING
Ladies of the Evening	177	(10)
MARTINA NAVRATILOVA
The Forbidden Zone	187	(12)
MICHAEL MEWSHAW
VII Artistry and Psychology	199	(24)
Footwork and the Preservation of Rhythm and Balance	199	(2)
SUZANNE LENGLEN
Winning	201	(2)
ALTHEA GIBSON
The Style of Rod Laver	203	(3)
JULIUS D. HELDMAN
Levels of the Game	206	(3)
JOHN MCPHEE
The Mental Aspects of Tennis	209	(14)
MARTINA NAVRATILOVA
VIII The Modern Personalities	223	(64)
You've Come a Long Way, Billie	223	(8)
GRACE LICHTENSTEIN
Chris Evert The Cold and Absolute Fire	231	(26)
PETER BODO
Jimmy Connors	257	(7)
RICH KOSTER
Becker	264	(7)
GORDON BURN
Educating Andre	271	(16)
MARTHA SHERRILL
IX Tradition and the Game	287	(28)
Lawn Tennis	287	(1)
ROBERT D. OSBORN
Etiquette	287	(6)
HELEN WILLS
Court Manners and Etiquette	293	(2)
ROD LAVER
`You Cannot be Serious'	295	(12)
JOHN FEINSTEIN
Tennis Personalities	307	(2)
MARTIN AMIS
My Life with Gabriela Sabatini	309	(6)
ALISTAIR COOKE
Acknowledgements	315	(4)
Index	319