Hardcourt Confidential: Tales from Twenty Years in the Pro Tennis Trenches [Hardcover]

Patrick McEnroe (Author), Peter Bodo (Author)

Book Description

Release date: June 8, 2010

An entertaining and unfiltered look at professional tennis as only Patrick McEnroe can offer.

Patrick McEnroe has been in the world of professional tennis in one way or another for most of his life. As a player, coach, and ESPN commentator, he's seen it all. The significant tennis books of recent years have all been autobiographies--famous players burnishing their image or attempting to set the record straight within carefully controlled memoirs. No one has been willing to do a book that pulls back the curtain and presents an honest, no-holds-barred look into the ultimate gentleman's sport and the larger-than-life personalities that inhabit it. Patrick McEnroe does just that.

Curious to know which marquee player threw a tantrum and bailed early on a tournament Why Roger Federer, presumably the greatest player of all time, has a losing head-to-head record with Rafael Nadal? Why certain tennis prodigies burned out early? The real role of coaches like Nick Bollettieri? Which player is as much of a diva off the court as on? The greatest match ever played In Hardcourt Confidential, McEnroe uses his twenty-five-plus years in the trenches of the game to tell true tales and wild stories about the players you think you know (from Sampras to Agassi to Roddick to the Williams sisters), how and why the game has changed since he first swung a racket, and what the future holds in store for American tennis. McEnroe takes an unapologetic look at the men, women, and events of the past three decades, right up to the epic Federer vs. Nadal rivalry that dominates the game today. He's got a lot to say and he's not afraid to say it.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Patrick McEnroe was never the tennis stud his brother, John, was, but he has made a nice career out of the game. As a player, he was a Grand Slam doubles champ, advanced to the singles semis in another Grand Slam, and is currently the U.S. Davis cup captain. He's also ESPN's lead tennis analyst. But can he write? Yes, he can. His inspiration sprang from his storytelling ability over dinner and drinks; people kept urging him to gather his tennis stories and put them in a book. The result is a mischievously entertaining and wholly informative, anecdote-heavy look at the relatively insular world of professional tennis. The PG-rated anecdotes are never malicious and usually chuckle-worthy; the analysis of the game and its global growth owes its acuity to McEnroe's unique vantage point as a former athlete, current administrator, and professional observer. Serious tennis fans will find information and perspective here that will add depth to their knowledge of the sport; casual observers will delight in McEnroe's wry wit and sense of the absurd. --Wes Lukowsky

About the Author

Patrick McEnroe is a former world no. 28 singles and no. 3 doubles player, and a former Grand Slam doubles champion and singles semifinalist. He is presently the United States Davis Cup captain (ninth year the longest of any captain in US history), a tennis commentator for ESPN, and head of the United States Tennis Association's player development program. He's married to the actress/singer/songwriter Melissa Errico, with whom he has three daughters; the family lives in New York city.

Peter Bodo has been a senior writer/editor at Tennis magazine for almost 30 years, and he's written numerous books, including four on tennis (in addition to a previous collaboration with Patrick McEnroe, he collaborated with Pete Sampras on the recent New York Times bestseller, A Champion's Mind). He also writes the popular Peter Bodo's TennisWorld weblog, and was a long-time contributor to the New York Times as an Outdoors columnist. He lives with his wife, Lisa, and six-year old son, Luke, in New York city and the upstate town of Andes.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion; 1 edition (June 8, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401323812
• ISBN-13: 978-1401323813
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 1 x 9.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #932,327 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 37 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Total Disappointment! June 14, 2010

By A. Green

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I was so underwhelmed by this book, that for the first time since using Amazon.com, I felt obligated to write a review to warn other potential readers that this book is a total waste of time. I was really looking forward to reading this book because Patrick McEnroe seemed like a decent tennis commentator and the title, "Hardcourt Confidential" lead me to believe that the book would contain a behind the scenes look at the pro tour. No such luck. The author reveals little or nothing that even a casual fan doesn't already know. His great insights into the game are that Federer and Nadal are "special" players. Really??? That's your big reveal about the modern pro tour! Worse yet, the stories are just boring, and poorly written. Maybe the author is hamstrung to be any more revealing because he has Davis Cup responsibilities or a commitment to the USTA, but if that's the case, just don't write a book, or don't write a jacket cover for your book promising interesting tales from the tennis tour. I feel burned.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Who is this book for? July 15, 2010

By Luke Malone

Format:Hardcover

Seeing as Patrick McEnroe is an astute commentator, I was looking forward to some insider insight into pro tennis. Boy, was I disappointed. MacEnroe spends the book outlining the tour schedule and basic rules of the game, intermittently rehashing tennis headlines from the past 30 years. Does he not understand that anyone reading a book by Patrick McEnroe probably already has a good handle on the fact that a Davis Cup match is called a Tie, or that players used to skip the Aussie Open? This is a serious case of a writer having no idea what audience he should be writing to. People are reading this for inside dirt, and there's just nothing there. The most interesting anecdotes were already covered by Andre Agassi in his far superior Open. To compound the problems, the book is poorly written and littered with errors. Unless 34-40 actually is a possible score in a tennis game, or sometime this year while I wasn't looking New York and Melbourne became international capitals, or Bjorn Borg was in fact 25 in 1987. What a waste of time - I'm thankful I got this at the library, but it's not even worth a borrow.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars The Interesting Parts January 4, 2012

By J. Michael Amis

Format:Hardcover

I felt the writing was disjointed, skipping from one partially-finished topic to another and then, occasionally, back again. What I did find of value was bringing the reader from the "old era" up to date with explanations about the change of the game from the strokes to the surfaces. A more in-depth discussion of these subjects would have been of great interest to me and others who were taught the way Tony Palafox, Patrick, thousands/millions ever since the last previous western forehand known to man, that of William Johnston, Tilden's rival in the 1920's. Hitting winning groundies off the rear foot deliberately and the shift in teaching would be an example of how greater depth of treatment would have been helpful. One thing I did not understand, eiether on the part of Patrick or his collaborator, was the necessity for the f-bombs. What's the deal? Does this help sell books these days? Is this a requirement of the publisher? I can understand a direct quote from Andy Roddick containing the f-word calling for literal accuracy, but why does the reader need it from the authors? Why do they need it?

John Amis, Richardson, Texas