No sport has gone through the seismic changes that rocked tennis when the game, long a holdout against professionalism and creeping commercialism, abandoned its roots as a genteel, amateurs-only enterprise and became a pro sport, vying for the heart of the public with rivals like soccer, NFL football, or NBA basketball.Peter Bodo, who has covered tennis since the dawn of this "Open" era as the chief writer for TENNIS magazine, was there to witness this transition and what it promise...

Early in July of 2015, tennis will celebrate the 40th anniversary of what might be the greatest upset in the annals of tennis.There have been other key matches in which the disparity between the favourite and the victorious underdog may have been more pronounced by standards of the sport. But none has been more resonant, or flush with meaning and contrasts. For this was not just a contest between a mercurial, seemingly unstoppable prodigy and an undemonstrative vet...

This true story of an innocent boy growing up in Hitler's Germany is "a unique memoir…highly recommended."— Midwest Book ReviewPeter and his brothers saw the war not as military or national history, but as the adventure of everyday living. They experienced bombs dropping, soldiers occupying their home, and prisoners of war marching through the streets—all of which seemed like mere intrusions into their childhood existence. They not only survived, but thriv...

Pete Sampras is arguably the greatest tennis player ever, a man whose hard-nosed work ethic led to an unprecedented number one world ranking for 286 weeks, and whose prodigious talent made possible a record-setting fourteen Grand Slam titles. While his more vocal rivals sometimes grabbed the headlines, Pete always preferred to let his racket do the talking.Until now.In A Champion’s Mind, the tennis great who so often exhibited visible discomfort with letting people...

Pete Sampras is arguably the greatest player tennis has ever seen. A man whose hard-nosed work ethic led to an unprecedented No. 1 world ranking for 286 consecutive weeks, and whose prodigious talent made possible an as yet unbroken 14 Grand Slam record. Yet while more vocal rivals often grabbed the headlines, Pete gave everything on the court, revealing little outside it.Now, in A Champion’s Mind, this very private champion, who so often recoiled from letting the world ‘inside his ...

Pete Sampras is arguably the greatest tennis player ever, a man whose hard-nosed work ethic led to an unprecedented number one world ranking for 286 consecutive weeks, and whose prodigious talent made possible a record-setting fourteen Grand Slam titles. While his more vocal rivals sometimes grabbed the headlines, Pete always preferred to let his racket do the talking.Until now.In A Champion’s Mind, the tennis great who so often exhibited visible discomfort with le...

Pete Sampras is arguably the greatest tennis player ever, a man whose hard-nosed work ethic led to an unprecedented number one world ranking for 286 weeks, and whose prodigious talent made possible a record-setting fourteen Grand Slam titles. While his more vocal rivals sometimes grabbed the headlines, Pete always preferred to let his racket do the talking.Until now.In A Champion’s Mind, the tennis great who so often exhibited visible discomfort with letting people...

Tennis star Rafael Nadal reveals the secrets of the sport and the inspiring stories behind his success in this riveting memoir, written with award-winning journalist John Carlin.What makes a champion? What does it take to be the best in the world at your sport? Rafael Nadal has the answers.It begins in Mallorca, where the tight-knit Nadal family has lived for generations. Coached by his uncle Toni from the age of four and taught humility and respect by his ...

Jimmy Connors took the tennis world by storm like no player in the history of the game. A shaggy-haired working-class kid from the wrong side of the tracks, he was prepared to battle for every point, to shout and scream until he was heard, and he didn't care whom he upset in doing so. He was brash, he was a brat. He was a crowd-pleaser, a revolutionary. And he won more tournaments - an astonishing 109 - than any other man in history, including eight Grand Slam singles titles.Only n...

Boris Becker shot to fame in 1985 when at seventeen years old, he became the youngest player ever to win the men's final at Wimbledon. He went on to win two more Wimbledon titles, and a total of forty-nine singles and fifteen doubles crowns, making him one of the greatest players of the twentieth century. But his life off the court has always attracted as much attention as his triumphs on it.Now, in this remarkably candid and thought-provoking autobiography, Boris Becker tells the ...

Tennis star Rafael Nadal reveals the secrets of the sport and the inspiring stories behind his success in this riveting memoir, written with award-winning journalist John Carlin.What makes a champion? What does it take to be the best in the world at your sport? Rafael Nadal has the answers.It begins in Mallorca, where the tight-knit Nadal family has lived for generations. Coached by his uncle Toni from the age of four and taught humility and respect by his ...

John McEnroe enjoyed tremendous success at all levels of tennis, and he owns 77 career singles titles, including 7 Grand Slams. He joined the circuit in 1978 and it took him only three years to attain the No. 1 ranking. The 1980 Wimbledon final, between McEnroe and Bjorn Borg, is considered by many tennis experts to be the best match ever, a five-set thriller which McEnroe avenged the following year for his first Wimbledon title.In doubles, McEnroe is recognised as the best player ...