Five of the best books about tennis

Benjamin Markovits is an author and critic. His new novel is A Weekend in New York. One of five books about tennis the author recommended at the Guardian:

[H]ow do you lose and cope?

Agassi’s memoir, Open, is worth reading on this question. Written with the help of Pulitzer-winner JR Moehringer, it’s a smart, vivid and sometimes sentimental account of his life and career. Like most sporting memoirs, it mixes mantra-style philosophy with a kind of accountant’s fixation on small technical moments and details. “I hate tennis,” he confesses at the start, but the book complicates that picture. Like anything you do for a living that you do well, tennis at some point will absorb most of your thoughts and feelings, and the battles you fight in the game will stand for larger battles.

Read about another entry on the list.

Also see: the Barnes & Noble Review's list of five top books on tennis.

--Marshal Zeringue