So here's my personal take on this - I am pretty clueless about what has been going on in the world of professional tennis beyond the last 5 or so years. I just wasn't paying attention when the US men won the Davis Cup in 2007 and certainly didn't keep up with John McEnroe's tantrums, Jimmy Connors' renaissance or the self-destruction of Vitas Gerulaitis. McEnroe goes into all of that and thus Hardcourt Confidential was, for me at least, interesting and insightful. Frankly, I like hearing what it took to get Andre Agassi to play Davis Cup. And I really was surprised to hear about Pete Sampras' gambling and cheapness. The only drawback to me - I think this is the kind of book McEnroe should have taken on 15 to 20 years from now - when he's in the sunset of his tennis/sportscasting career and wouldn't have to worry about stepping on toes. I don't know that he was worried about that but, he's in his ESPN prime, so he must be, right?
This isn't a book about how to survive the pro Tour. And it isn't a book revealing any deep, dark McEnroe family secrets. But its a great book to read during a Slam when Patrick McEnroe is commentating because it explains a lot about what it took for him to get to where he is today. The French Open is not too far down the road - this might be a good time to pick up a copy of Hardcourt Confidential and prepare yourself to enjoy that next Slam.
And - if you're interested in possibly getting yourself a FREE copy of Hardcourt Confidential, be sure and enter the Tennis Fixation giveaway where we're giving away a copy of this book. To enter, leave a comment on this post. For more entries (and all of the details), just click on this post: Happy 300th Tennis Fixation Post and Giveaway!
© Kim Selzman 2011 All Rights Reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment