Love Game: A History of Tennis, from Victorian Pastime to Global Phenomenon

by Elizabeth Wilson

Tennis's gladiatorial beauty, its stylish duelling and fashionable court-wear make it a romantic's dream. Ever since young men and women first came together to play on vicarage lawns, this most Victorian of games has always had a peculiarly passionate undercurrent - love even makes it into the scoring system. And passion in other forms - the rivalry of Federer and Nadal, and John McEnroe's legendary angry outbursts. Beyond the romance, tennis has always been a barometer of the times. French star Suzanne Lenglen was a celebrity trailblazer, Jimmy Connors channelled punk, and Henman Hill is unrecognisable from the days when the All England Club ostracised working-class Fred Perry - and the great English tennis champion who is now more famous as a leisure clothing brand than a sportsman. Love Game is the must-have companion for tennis fans during Wimbledon 2014. It tells the story of tennis' journey from upper-middle-class hobby to global TV spectacle, taking in the innovators and trendsetters, the great players, heroes and iconoclasts, and the politics, class wars and culture clashes of what could rightfully be called the 'beautiful game'.

Genres: Nonfiction, Sports, History

320 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2014

About the author

Elizabeth Wilson is a pioneer in the development of fashion studies, and has been a university professor, feminist campaigner and activist. Her writing career began in the ‘underground’ magazines of the early 1970s, (Frendz, Red Rag, Spare Rib, Come Together) before she became an academic. She's written for the Guardian and her non-fiction books include Adorned in Dreams (1985, 2003), The Sphinx in the City (1992) (shortlisted for the Manchester Odd Fellows Prize), Bohemians (2000) and Love Game (2014) (long listed for the William Hill sportswriting prize), as well as six crime novels, including War Damage (2009) and The Girl in Berlin (2012) (long listed for the Golden Dagger Award).

There is more than one author with this name in the database. This is the disambiguation profile for authors named Elizabeth Wilson.

Reviews

[BrokenTune · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The term 'love' is also mysterious, although possibly it had something to do with the universal practice in earlier times of betting on matches ('for love or money'). That one word has caused more controversy than any other aspect of the game, but these linguistic mysteries only add to the romance of tennis."

Every year in June, a friend of mine despairs over many comments of mine - both on social media and when meeting up in person - because I will be in the throws of the ongoing thrill that is the tennis season and my friend absolutely detests the sport - and especially the scoring system. Or, rather, I should say the the 'idiotic' scoring system.
Over the years, this has developed into a bit of a joke between us and by now we have made it a tradition that she will comment on the matches as well - which usually is hilarious.

What has all this to do with the Love Game? Nothing, except that when reading this book I was reminded of my friend and how much she would despise the book. Not so because Love Game is about tennis, but because there seem to be very few answers in the book to questions that the non-tennis enthusiast might have. What I am getting at is that, while reading this book, I was not sure who it was written for. Was it written for people who are already familiar with the sport or for people who were looking for an overview of the sport and its history?

Most of the book read like a piece of academic work, although less like a research paper and more like a literature review, touching on subjects and stories, but never fully investigating them.

Also, having followed the sport since the late 1980s and actually having read some of the books that are referenced in Love Game, much of the information was tangible, if not even familiar. Even to a degree where it was possible to notice where stories were summarised to the extent that they may have lost some of their poignancy.

As a result, I liked the book as a compendium of tennis history but only as a quick introduction, as an appetizer, if you will. I would doubt tho that the fairy impersonal, dare I say passion-less, style of the book would enthuse anyone to find out more about the personalities and issues that have shaped the sport since its inception.

[Smh624 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book in London in 2014 while we were there to watch The Championships. I enjoyed reading it because it is a good survey of the history of tennis, but doesn't offer anything new or insightful.

[Vishal Katariya · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good history of the game. A blurb on the back said that it showed how bad other histories of tennis are, and since I haven't read any, I can't comment on that. However, what is especially refreshing is that the book is not about any single player or any single style. It focuses on the women's game as much as it does on the men's. From a historical perspective, the women's game is definitely more interesting than the men's. Tennis started being a way for men and women to co-mingle in a single place. Lastly, another interesting thing is that one particular critic (don't remember who) said that the women's game should be more interesting because the men's game had denigrated into a show of athleticism and muscle.

[Todayiamadaisy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Did you know that the early developers of lawn tennis wanted to differentiate their game from the older one of real or royal tennis, so they called their invention "sphairistike"? That's just one of the things I learnt from reading this, a whistlestop tour of tennis, placing it in different contexts: era, class, sex and race. I enjoyed the first half, covering the early years, more than the second half, which seemed rushed. It also needed a bit of tidying-up: a couple of striking phrases are re-used in different chapters, and one memorable sentence suggests that Ivan Lendl played on the women's tour.

[Whit Andrews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoughtful, balanced look at tennis useful to the absolute novitiate (me) who might read it before going to a Big Match (in my case, the US Open) to get a sense of the durable and ephemeral cultures in tennis.

[Teghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. In fact the first half was five stars! I was utterly engrossed learning about the early decades of tennis; the eccentric stars who reflected the changing times. The stands out for me being Suzanne Lenglen and Bill Tilden.

It became less interesting post 1970s. That I already knew a fair bit about that time didn’t help, however the author herself seemed less interested. Her writing didn’t have the sparkle of the first half and she mostly covered various criticisms of how tennis had changed (to be fair that was the commentary of the time). It was odd to end on such a critical note considering this book is presumably /for/ tennis fans. But I found it interesting nonetheless.

Overall this was a fascinating and engagingly written book.

With a quibble.

She makes a mistake on page 174 claiming that Evonne Goolagong “did not empower other potential indigenous players”. Which is categorically false considering the Women’s World #1 is currently an Australian of Indigenous descent. It denies the amazing work Evonne did after her tennis career and implies Wilson didn’t do much research on her. A shame.

[Adam Mills · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you love sport, not just tennis, this is for you. Much more interesting than 'the history of tennis' sounds, yet it adds a vibrancy and a character to each and every page. Loved it from start to finish.

[Bobby · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first two thirds are a great historical overview of the sport and very informative. However, from the 1980s onward the book devolves into opinion-driven disdain for the modern game. None of the modern era stars—Lendl, Edberg, Becker, Graf, Sampras, Agassi, Hingis, the Williams sisters, Federer, Nadal, Djokovic—get as much ink as the 1920s French Davis Cup team. The writer clearly finds modern tennis inferior to earlier playing styles and abandons any pretense at documenting it with the same historical eye for objective relevance. Instead, the writing becomes so unapologetically biased it makes you question the veracity of everything that came earlier. Regardless of how you feel about Federer and Serena's playing style, their careers certainly merit a whole chapter themselves for their impact on the sport, just like Suzanne Lenglen and Bill Tilden received earlier in the book for their impact on their eras. How can a book published in 2016 and claiming to cover the entire history of tennis shortchange the past 40 years of the sport? I'd recommend reading up until Borg/McEnroe and then pretending that's when this "history" was published and skip the rest.

[John Gueltzow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Too short a book given what it purports to give the reader: a history of the game of tennis from its origins as an English pastime to the modern commercial behemoth.

However, it was almost perfect for me. As a casual tennis fan at best and one who has almost zero knowledge of the game outside my lifetime, it was a fantastic primer and pointed me to any number of great works the author used as source material that I can’t wait to dive into for a deeper look at the areas I’m interested in: the fabulous and sad life of Bill Tilden, the autobiography of Andre Agassi, the glamour of Riviera tennis between the wars.

I’m genuinely excited to explore more of the history of the game and this relatively light introduction to its history and beauty have given me a path.

[York · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent introductory history to tennis, and one that I have to compliment for its ability to comment on gender equality as well as the whiteness of the sport. One of the things I enjoy about tennis is the comparative accessibility of the women's game, and the back and forth between the trends of men and women's made for a more complete overall picture. The parts of the book that touched on gender deviance and the perception of sport were also well timed. My issue came more with the later chapters, which shifted from a tennis history into a more broad discussion of the value of sports to society, sporting nationalism, and the quantification of qualifications; while interesting they're not what I'm looking for from a tennis book.

[Donald · Rating 2 out of 5]

History of tennis from British point of view. Fairly dry. I was disappointed when I quickly flipped to a reference (p. 223) to Chris Evert only to find an error. The author said that Evert's last win at the French Open was in 1985. She did beat Martina Navratilova that year, but she repeated the feat in 1986 as well for her final win at a major. Once you find an egregious error in a nonfiction title, you question whether there are more mistakes.

[Emi Kottasz · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s a nice historical account of how the game and its politics evolved over time. I never think of politics when playing sports and it only affects you when you reach the top, but it’s still interesting to read about how the game of tennis often reflects current societal realities. In particular when it comes to women’s rights and other inequalities between rich and poor between races and between the gentleman and the entertainer.

[Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, very informative book on tennis and it’s history. The first 2/3 of the book are slightly meandering and suffer from poor organization and the underdevelopment of major themes. The last 1/3 of the book that contextualizes the modern game in its political and economic dimensions, is much more insightful, interesting and clearly written. The clarity of her analysis of the modern tennis game provides for an informative read and understanding of the game as it stands today.

[Sidney · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book gives a very detailed history of the sport and although I enjoyed the overall information that was presented (especially the focus on the women's side of tennis), I felt the language was so hard to follow. I often found myself reading paragraphs over and over again.

[Nik · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great read. Far broader and encompassing than 'just' a history of tennis. This is popular sociology done well.

[Philip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice wee book.

[Eachen · Rating 4 out of 5]

對於想探索網球歷史的讀者來說整體很有趣，但「愛」的部分僅有草草帶過，書名比較適合叫「草地網球起源」

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a lot in this; it's well researched and it's worth reading - however, you'd be forgiven for thinking the author has a pretty negative attitude to the sport and to life in general. Tennis has its problems but to conclude, as she does, that it's "the poor relation of boxing" is pretty absurd. She also takes unfairly takes pops at various people, e.g. to call the excellent commentator Mark Petchey "prissy" and "pompous" for daring to suggest fans at one match weren't showing Novak Djokovic the respect he deserved is a bit rich and rather contradicts the other points she makes about the commercialisation of the sport at the players' expense.

Also you should be aware going into it that she is (at least according to The Guardian) a "feminist author and activist", so there's a degree of shoe-horning of all that and it can feel a bit "axe-grindy" at times.

Nevertheless, clearly a lot of work went into it and definitely worth reading, just be prepared take the opinions with a pinch of salt. (I also highly recommend Neil Harman's book - Court Confidential - which examines the current professional tours in a lot of detail).

[Tariq Mahmood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book on the history of tennis, right from its early days to 2014. I loved the format of the book which focussed on individual tennis players and promotors. The details of their personal lives along with their travails and struggles was very interesting read indeed. I also enjoyed the authors philosophical take on tennis juxtaposing with the changing world events. This book is a must read for players and fans.

[Gustavo Sénéchal · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I had to sum up what this book is about, I would say it's a social history of Tennis, or even, of sport in general. Very engaging, insightful, analytical without being brainy, a critical, yet amusing, account of the development of tennis since its early days until the age of the global professional tour. I highly recommend it.