What do you think?
Rate this book
Racquet Magazine: The Book
The best writing on tennis from the best tennis writers in the business.
Racquet was founded in 2016 to be the voice of a new tennis boom. When the popularity of tennis peaked in the late '70s and early '80s, the sport was populated by buccaneering talents with outsize personas, such as Borg, Evert, McEnroe, Navratilova, Gerulaitis, Austin, King, and Connors. The game was played in every park, and tennis clothes became appropriate attire for cocktails as well as for a match. With success, however, came polish, and tennis--if not the game itself, then how it came to be represented in the culture--got boring. Having a big personality was no longer a virtue. Tennis went back to being a bastion of the elite.
Racquet is a place for those who knew all along that the spirit of the tennis boom was alive. Tennis has always been present in the arts, in the popular culture, in the skateboarding, hip-hop, and fashion worlds. That side of tennis was--and is--obscured by the tightly controlled messaging of the athletes, the corporate glean of the major tournaments, and the all-white attire of the country-club scene. Racquet was launched to represent the latent, diverse, and large constituency of tennis that has not been embraced by the sport writ large.
Featuring the work of some of today's finest writers, the quarterly independent magazine highlights the art, culture, and style that are adjacent to the sport--and just enough of the pro game to keep the diehards satisfied. This collection features some of the best writing from the first four years of Racquet and tackles such immediate topics as: How should tennis smell? What's the deal with Andre Agassi's private jet? What can a professional tennis player learn from Philip Roth? Why is tennis important in Lolita? How was Arthur Ashe like Muhammad Ali? And, crucially, what lessons have we learned from the implosion of that first tennis boom?
Racquet was founded in 2016 to be the voice of a new tennis boom. When the popularity of tennis peaked in the late '70s and early '80s, the sport was populated by buccaneering talents with outsize personas, such as Borg, Evert, McEnroe, Navratilova, Gerulaitis, Austin, King, and Connors. The game was played in every park, and tennis clothes became appropriate attire for cocktails as well as for a match. With success, however, came polish, and tennis--if not the game itself, then how it came to be represented in the culture--got boring. Having a big personality was no longer a virtue. Tennis went back to being a bastion of the elite.
Racquet is a place for those who knew all along that the spirit of the tennis boom was alive. Tennis has always been present in the arts, in the popular culture, in the skateboarding, hip-hop, and fashion worlds. That side of tennis was--and is--obscured by the tightly controlled messaging of the athletes, the corporate glean of the major tournaments, and the all-white attire of the country-club scene. Racquet was launched to represent the latent, diverse, and large constituency of tennis that has not been embraced by the sport writ large.
Featuring the work of some of today's finest writers, the quarterly independent magazine highlights the art, culture, and style that are adjacent to the sport--and just enough of the pro game to keep the diehards satisfied. This collection features some of the best writing from the first four years of Racquet and tackles such immediate topics as: How should tennis smell? What's the deal with Andre Agassi's private jet? What can a professional tennis player learn from Philip Roth? Why is tennis important in Lolita? How was Arthur Ashe like Muhammad Ali? And, crucially, what lessons have we learned from the implosion of that first tennis boom?
- GenresSportsNonfictionEssays
259 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2020
14 people are currently reading
108 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
October 17, 2020
More books should be compilations of long-form articles!! I read about sports writing in Zinsser's "Writing Well" . My favorite part of that book is when Zinsser describes the cliches that sports writing leans on: '"His condition is day-to-day," they conclude. Whose condition isn't?'. He goes on to say that good sports writing recognizes and relates the relationship between sports and social history.
The articles in this book really do that! It's so relaxing to read about the lives of professional tennis players, how the elitism of tennis seeps into press box dynamics, how one man in Iowa has built a replica of a Wimbledon tennis court in the middle of his fields. How people have approached the "scent of tennis". I didn't even play tennis really, only til 9th grade! And each essay was still really compelling.
One of my favorite essays was on the complementary careers of Arthur Ashe and Muhammad Ali. Learned that Muhammad Ali didn't qualify for the draft by scoring in the 16th percentile on the army intelligence test, when the cutoff that year (1964) was 30th. Then the next year they dropped the cutoff to the 15th percentile! And then he was arrested for refusing the draft.
The articles in this book really do that! It's so relaxing to read about the lives of professional tennis players, how the elitism of tennis seeps into press box dynamics, how one man in Iowa has built a replica of a Wimbledon tennis court in the middle of his fields. How people have approached the "scent of tennis". I didn't even play tennis really, only til 9th grade! And each essay was still really compelling.
One of my favorite essays was on the complementary careers of Arthur Ashe and Muhammad Ali. Learned that Muhammad Ali didn't qualify for the draft by scoring in the 16th percentile on the army intelligence test, when the cutoff that year (1964) was 30th. Then the next year they dropped the cutoff to the 15th percentile! And then he was arrested for refusing the draft.
November 23, 2025
Great collection of tennis essays that really span a wide gamut. I’m excited to use some of these for my upcoming class
Read
April 12, 2021I liked it enough to get a subscription to the magazine after. Gave me some solid history and perspective on tennis that I did not have before. Quality writing about a subject I have suddenly gotten interested in.
March 26, 2022
This book lived in my tennis bag from mid-Nov, 2021 to mid-Mar, 2022. I read half of it while on the Red Line to and from my weekly tennis clinics then finished the other half while on my way to my version of a tennis retreat. Anthologies like this are perfect to read on-the-go because it offers such a nice mix, so I don't have to feel committed to one writer nor do I have to bring backup books in case my mood changes. Whether these essays were "good" or "bad" didn't entirely matter (though I def. feel judgmental about three of them, specifically: one related to elitism, one that had no substantial content or opinion, and one that blatantly liked Philip Roth and cited his misogyny as endearing). I learned a lot of new things + further references from all of them.
Notes
p. 38 Shoot the Moon, 1982 film with Diane Keaton and Albert Finney, someone driving a car through a tennis court
p. 42 "As a teaching pro once told me, 'It takes three years just to become a crappy tennis player.'"
p. 62 "More recently, the [Forest Hills?] stadium became home to a colony of feral cats. It was basically a concrete ruin in the backyard of a tennis club." NOTE: to visit the next time I'm in NY, if it's still there
p. 73 mantras, practice, dedication, sacrifice, self-taught, determined, aggression, simplicity
p. 123 The All Iowa Lawn Tennis Club, southwest of downtown Charles City, 2.5-hour drive from Des Moines, opened in 2003 to replicate the grass court at Wimbledon. To check out someday.
p. 135 Orange Lawn Tennis Club in northern New Jersey, not interested, but noting anyway
p. 139 SINGULAR FOCUS, THEN REFINED OVER AND OVER AGAIN
p. 146 "applied consistently and obsessively"
p. 150 "What you realize," he says, "is win or lose, it's almost the same. It just keeps going."
p. 161 "Like badminton, the other Chinese national sport, ping-pong was invented in India, around 1870."
p. 168 I read both Anna Kareinina and Lolita but do not recall any tennis references at all, understandably, back when I didn't care
p. 170 In the First Circle, satire of Soviet state, Abakumov is introduced as "a man who plays tennis", by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
p. 173 For Nabakov, "the game of tennis and the game of writing are inextricably linked, both of them ways of approaching divine understanding"
p. 175 "We want our games to be perfect. We want them to approximate the divine. And for that reason, they're the ideal lens to examine all the ways we fall short of that mark."
p. 178 Tennis, an instructive memoir by Helen Wills, not sure if I'd read this
p. 200 The Soft Lawn is a perfume. To smell, if I ever find myself passing thru a mall. It is: "a touch of Amory Blaine, a touch of Evelyn Waugh, a gleaming Spalding Kro-Bat wood racquet, a highball glass full of tinkling ice, and the shellacked gloss of Ivy League privilege" + cedarwood, dash of lemon, linden tree, pencil shavings, benzoin, dry vetiver grass, methyl laitone which is a chemical aroma that smells like fresh cream
p. 202 Fuzzy Balls by Demeter is another perfume, supposedly available at any city drugstore, that smells literally like a fresh can of tennis balls. To look for the next time I'm at Walgreen's/CVS
p. 219 The way Andy Bragen would meet new people thru tennis and add them to his phone with first name and a last name of "Tennis" lol, me too!
p. 221 The Tennis Partner by Abraham Verghese, a book about two different people, one who is troubled, and they connect and understand each other through the sport
p. 226 Richard Northern's Tennis Hotline, a cable television program that was made in grainy black & white where Northern would offer tennis advice. To check out on YouTube.
p. 228 Re: the Brooklyn Tennis Castle: "and as the hours grew later, it often transformed into one of Brooklyn's hottest gay clubs. 'I ran the bimonthly U-Men U-Sweat parties out of the club for a half-dozen years,' said James Saunders, who founded Black Pride NYC in 1997."
p. 233 lol at Billie Jean King and her ex-husband Larry King starting up a World Team Tennis idea with team names like "Boston Lobsters" and "the New York Apples"
p. 245 "Chris Evert got 'autograph elbow'" 😂
p. 248 "Philadelphia, [. . .], a city that thrives on hoagies and soft pretzels will swallow anything"
p. 252 "What prompted us to do it? Being able to do it."
Notes
p. 38 Shoot the Moon, 1982 film with Diane Keaton and Albert Finney, someone driving a car through a tennis court
p. 42 "As a teaching pro once told me, 'It takes three years just to become a crappy tennis player.'"
p. 62 "More recently, the [Forest Hills?] stadium became home to a colony of feral cats. It was basically a concrete ruin in the backyard of a tennis club." NOTE: to visit the next time I'm in NY, if it's still there
p. 73 mantras, practice, dedication, sacrifice, self-taught, determined, aggression, simplicity
p. 123 The All Iowa Lawn Tennis Club, southwest of downtown Charles City, 2.5-hour drive from Des Moines, opened in 2003 to replicate the grass court at Wimbledon. To check out someday.
p. 135 Orange Lawn Tennis Club in northern New Jersey, not interested, but noting anyway
p. 139 SINGULAR FOCUS, THEN REFINED OVER AND OVER AGAIN
p. 146 "applied consistently and obsessively"
p. 150 "What you realize," he says, "is win or lose, it's almost the same. It just keeps going."
p. 161 "Like badminton, the other Chinese national sport, ping-pong was invented in India, around 1870."
p. 168 I read both Anna Kareinina and Lolita but do not recall any tennis references at all, understandably, back when I didn't care
p. 170 In the First Circle, satire of Soviet state, Abakumov is introduced as "a man who plays tennis", by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
p. 173 For Nabakov, "the game of tennis and the game of writing are inextricably linked, both of them ways of approaching divine understanding"
p. 175 "We want our games to be perfect. We want them to approximate the divine. And for that reason, they're the ideal lens to examine all the ways we fall short of that mark."
p. 178 Tennis, an instructive memoir by Helen Wills, not sure if I'd read this
p. 200 The Soft Lawn is a perfume. To smell, if I ever find myself passing thru a mall. It is: "a touch of Amory Blaine, a touch of Evelyn Waugh, a gleaming Spalding Kro-Bat wood racquet, a highball glass full of tinkling ice, and the shellacked gloss of Ivy League privilege" + cedarwood, dash of lemon, linden tree, pencil shavings, benzoin, dry vetiver grass, methyl laitone which is a chemical aroma that smells like fresh cream
p. 202 Fuzzy Balls by Demeter is another perfume, supposedly available at any city drugstore, that smells literally like a fresh can of tennis balls. To look for the next time I'm at Walgreen's/CVS
p. 219 The way Andy Bragen would meet new people thru tennis and add them to his phone with first name and a last name of "Tennis" lol, me too!
p. 221 The Tennis Partner by Abraham Verghese, a book about two different people, one who is troubled, and they connect and understand each other through the sport
p. 226 Richard Northern's Tennis Hotline, a cable television program that was made in grainy black & white where Northern would offer tennis advice. To check out on YouTube.
p. 228 Re: the Brooklyn Tennis Castle: "and as the hours grew later, it often transformed into one of Brooklyn's hottest gay clubs. 'I ran the bimonthly U-Men U-Sweat parties out of the club for a half-dozen years,' said James Saunders, who founded Black Pride NYC in 1997."
p. 233 lol at Billie Jean King and her ex-husband Larry King starting up a World Team Tennis idea with team names like "Boston Lobsters" and "the New York Apples"
p. 245 "Chris Evert got 'autograph elbow'" 😂
p. 248 "Philadelphia, [. . .], a city that thrives on hoagies and soft pretzels will swallow anything"
p. 252 "What prompted us to do it? Being able to do it."
March 14, 2022
I appreciate that they have made this book as a taster for the magazine minus the pictures but if this is the standard they serve (ahem) as their finest then I think I won't be picking up a copy any time soon. The American Dream is writ large in its storytelling from against the odds coming back from near ruin to create a feelgood story (see the first one) etc. The worst feeling when reading a book is seeing the North American tendency to use the nauseating double negative in a sentence. For example they were "NEVER NOT going to quit" when it's common decency to say they weren't ever going to quit. It reeks of the worst kind of self-obsession that perhaps is inherent in those who like to pick up tennis (I've no idea but I've occasionally enjoyed watching the game on TV) and just doesn't feel all that inviting as an incentive to read more. To anyone who thinks that tracksuits are sensual, they might want to take a look at some of the poorer regions in big cities to see that that's all they wear and there's nothing sensual about them - this turn of phrase was used in one of the better pieces that took a sociopolitical look at the rise of tennis in the US.
If you're a hardcore tennis fanatic, no doubt you will have heard of Racquet Magazine and are possibly a subscriber. For the rest of us, there's always something else to grab our attention.
If you're a hardcore tennis fanatic, no doubt you will have heard of Racquet Magazine and are possibly a subscriber. For the rest of us, there's always something else to grab our attention.
January 9, 2022
A collection of 21 tennis articles from different writers and covering a variety of subjects related to tennis. And the writers aren't all necessarily sports/tennis writers, they include authors and playwrights and an actor (Jason Biggs) and a professional tennis player (Andrea Petkovic).
Like all collections, some essays are better and more interesting than others. My favourites were probably Rod Laver's Wayward Nephew Finally Makes Good by Rick Marin, A First Time Tennis Reporter Learns the Ropes by Chloe Cooper Jones, The Chilly Elegance of Arthur Ashes Meets the Passion of Muhammad Ali by Steve Tignor and The (Re)Selling of Maria Sharapova by Sarah Nicole Prickett.
Like all collections, some essays are better and more interesting than others. My favourites were probably Rod Laver's Wayward Nephew Finally Makes Good by Rick Marin, A First Time Tennis Reporter Learns the Ropes by Chloe Cooper Jones, The Chilly Elegance of Arthur Ashes Meets the Passion of Muhammad Ali by Steve Tignor and The (Re)Selling of Maria Sharapova by Sarah Nicole Prickett.
July 21, 2022
A welcome and long overdue initiative to build the long form literary coverage of tennis, that goes beyond descriptions of games; rather drawing on tennis in the larger societal context.
September 15, 2022
mostly good. a few clunker essays.
March 22, 2024
Some remarkably good essays, a pleasant surprise from a book that’s seemingly no longer in print
February 1, 2022
‘This is an unseemly side of the athletics: the labour that is overlooked in the delirium of mass mediation, the absurdity that we ignore because it is ugly and alarming and unhealthy, but also necessary. It is very hard to go pro in any sport, and few sports are as isolating as tennis. As a result, the life of an athlete, even a young one, has to dwindled down to a singular focus, and then refined over and over again.’
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews