World of Tennis

by John Barrett

Book Overview

Published in association with the International Tennis Federation and listing Grand Slam and other major competition results, this 30th anniversary edition also contains top-60 player profiles,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0002188244
• ISBN13: 9780002188241
• Release Date: April 1998
• Publisher: HarperCollinsWillow
• Length: 544 Pages
• Weight: 1.71 lbs.

Customer Reviews

dissapointed

i've been collecting/buying the world of tennis from 1991,and am very dissapointed that john barret has not made any other issues from 2001.what do i do now?all the internet stats on career money earnings for men etc...are not updated on the net.i need a new tennis bible,can somebody please help me get any yearly statistical book from 2001 until now.would be forever grateful.

A thorough look at the Professional Tennis World

I have one of every volume that World Of Tennis has put out - back to 1969. These books capture the results of every significant (including satellites) professional tennis tournament which takes place during a year. There are also in-depth player biographies of all significant players (including doubles specialists) - both current players and all-time greats, performance rankings, and prizemoney rankings. You'll refer back to these books for years to come. If you have never bought one of these "yearbooks" get started now!

If the best can be a little better ...

I wrote a review a week back. Are you going to use it ?

If the best could be a little better ...

THIS IS the 33rd edition of a yearbook sponsored by the International Tennis Federation. Now, in tennis -- unlike in many other disciplines, such as soccer, where FIFA is the sole authority; or aquatics, where FINA rules supreme -- there are various bodies (ATP is one of them) running the sport : so some bias is natural. Despite that, World of Tennis is the game's best and most comprehensive annual. Here I must admit a personal situation. I am the lucky owner of a full set of 33 volumes. Until I was able to get the few back numbers I needed to make up my collection, I held a sort of grudge against John Barrett, the Englishman who has edited the annual all these years. For whenever I contacted a dealer about a missing year, the reply was : "Oh! Mr Barrett just took away the last copy!" Three types of people should be interested in this book. First, the collector who buys sporting annuals. Second, the tennis-lover who takes the occasional copy and would like to know if this year's is special. Thirdly, those who have never bought the annual and are wondering if it would be a worthwhile buy. For the price and content, it certainly is. This edition follows the pattern established over the last several years : separate reviews of the year past, the the Grand Slam tournaments, of the Davis Cup and Fed Cup meets, the year-end play-offs; biographies of players both current and past; championship rolls; feature articles. The special features, not in one section but scattered through the volume, include a fine appreciation of the late ITF chief, the visionary Philippe Chatrier, by fellow-Frenchman Alain Deflassieux. Chris Clarey, an American in Europe, assesses Pete Sampras' status in the pantheon of champions. Wendy Kewley looks at 25 years of wheelchair tennis, after an earlier piece about the Paralympics, which appears together with the editor's own coverage of the Olympic Games. Yet there was no need to put a sub-title on the cover : "Celebrating the Millennium Olympics". For one thing, Sydney is over; secondly, Olympic coverage is but a few pages of a 544-page volume. The biographies of current players, taking 136 pages, may sensibly be cut down from their extremely comprehensive nature. Instead, a couple more feature articles would add value. For those who have never bought the annual, or haven't owned a copy in recent years, I would unhesitatingly recommend it. Production standards, after a few years when b & w photos were of indifferent quality, are now first-class and the color section is good. Over these 33 years, Barrett has done a tremendous job. Yet, should he take a year's sabbatical, another person in charge might make the yearbook even more attractive, give it a definitive authority, be more adventurous in the choice of contributors. Personally, I should like to see an article each year on some technical aspect. Many years ago, the Fernbergers at the US Pro Indoor in Philadelphia brought out a fine annual b