Love game : a history of tennis, from Victorian pastime to global phenomenon / Elizabeth Wilson

Author: Wilson, Elizabeth, 1936-
Published: Chicago : The University of Chicago Press, 2016.
Copyright Date: ©2014
Physical Description: viii, 342 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

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Contents

The game of love -- Part One: A leisured class -- Healthy excitement and scientific play -- Real tennis and the scoring system -- The growth of a sporting culture -- On the Riviera -- What's wrong with women? -- A match out of Henry James -- The lonely American -- The Four Musketeers -- Working-class heroes -- Tennis in Weimar : and after -- As a man grows older -- Three women -- Part Two: This sporting life -- Home from the war -- Gorgeous girls ; Opening play -- Those also excluded -- Tennis meets feminism -- Part Three: That's entertainment -- Bad behaviour -- Corporate tennis -- Women's power -- Vorsprung durch Technik -- Celebrity stars -- Millennium tennis -- The rhetoric of sport -- Back to the future.

Summary

Tennis is defined by its head games, its demands for physical prowess, and its plethora of outsized personalities. It mixes chess and dance, intellectual geometry and aesthetic joy. People who love tennis love it like few others love other sports. Some fans build their lives around the calendar of tourneys, and events like Wimbledon and the U.S. Open remain, year after year, popular and well attended. Wilsons captivating cultural history embraces the rich and intertwining stories of the sport, and tells the story of its evolution from upper-middle-class hobby to global TV spectacle. Wilson marshals and conveys all the passion for a game known for its players grunting, growling, sweating, and pursuit of sweet spots. No wonder, as Wilson says, each match starts with love.

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