Autobiographies of professional tennis players

[jaggy]

This has come up before, I always liked Pam Shrivers from the late 80s, pretty candid.

[Great Uncle Bulgaria]

Personally, I think autobiographies are best written after a player's career is over and they have had a chance to look back and reflect. Also they can be honest without having to think of their image/sponsors etc.

I don't read many autobiographies but I really enjoyed John McEnroe's and came away with the impression he was being honest about himself. It was also well written. Nadal's, and I speak as a fan, was pretty bland but still worth a flick through.

At the risk of repeating myself the two biographies (auto or not) I would like to read are Lendl's and Edberg's.

General tennis books

Courts of Babylon - good but I remember it had some factual mistakes that even I managed to spot. Also the author came across as a bit self-righteous.

Hard Courts by John Feinstein (?) - Brilliant; insightful and well written

Strokes of Genius, Jon Wertheim's book about the 2008 Wimbledon final, I liked a lot too.

[galain]

Originally Posted by Great Uncle Bulgaria

Hard Courts by John Feinstein (?) - Brilliant; insightful and well written

+1 - also a great read. I couldn't remember the title when I made my other post. I'd highly recommend this one as well.

[Gonzalito17]

Many good ones - Hard Courts, Patrick McEnroe Hardcourt Confidential, Sampras, Agassi Open, Marcelo Rios The Man We Barely Knew, Vince Spadea Break Point, Federer by Rene Stauffer. The Rios and Spadea books were very uniquely done and worth reading even though they were not major star players they were interesting players.

[RAFA2005RG]

I'll read the Rios book, its bound to have some extreme moments. And the Spadea book too I'll read as he's weird. Agassi book was awesome.

[DolgoSantoro]

Originally Posted by RAFA2005RG

Well, Djokovic only caused 10 months of trouble (2011 Indian Wells - 2012 Australian Open). Nadal has won their last 3 meetings, and none of those 3 matches went to a deciding set.

Well yes, I never said that Nadal never turned it around again. I was just remarking about how Djokovic started giving Nadal quite a bit of trouble soon after he wrote that and how ironic it was.

And in any case those matches were on clay. The true test for Nadal will come when he plays Novak on his preferred surface again.

[RAFA2005RG]

Originally Posted by DolgoSantoro

Well yes, I never said that Nadal never turned it around again. I was just remarking about how Djokovic started giving Nadal quite a bit of trouble soon after he wrote that and how ironic it was.

And in any case those matches were on clay. The true test for Nadal will come when he plays Novak on his preferred surface again.

Not true. The most lopsided wins Djokovic had over Nadal were on clay. Both in straight sets (and no tie-breakers needed). In 2011 he never beat Nadal in straight sets on hardcourt/grass. And look at the Australian Open final, 6 hours, 7-5 in the fifth set. Nadal is EXTREMELY close to winning the Australian Open.

[RF20Lennon]

Originally Posted by RAFA2005RG

I'll read the Rios book, its bound to have some extreme moments. And the Spadea book too I'll read as he's weird. Agassi book was awesome.

Yeah thats what i hear! it was called Open or something right?

[RAFA2005RG]

Originally Posted by RF20Lennon

Yeah thats what i hear! it was called Open or something right?

Yes, "Open" autobiography.

And I also read another Agassi book called "The Agassi and the Ecstasy" which was a biography based on information gained from interviews with almost everyone who ever knew Agassi. In fact, the author interviewed Agassi before Agassi turned pro. It was extremely insightful, yet nowhere near as insightful as "Open" as Agassi revealed a lot that was never told to anyone.