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List Price: $24.00 | | Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Salesrank: 7148
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| Our Price: $13.88 |
| Used Price: $7.00 |
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| Media: Hardcover |
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Editorial Review:
In the 2008 Wimbledon men’s final, Centre Court was a stage set worthy of Shakespearean drama. Five-time champion Roger Federer was on track to take his rightful place as the most dominant player in the history of the game. He just needed to cling to his trajectory. So in the last few moments of daylight, Centre Court witnessed a coronation. Only it wasn’t a crowning for the Swiss heir apparent but for a swashbuckling Spaniard. Twenty-two-year-old Rafael Nadal prevailed, in five sets, in what was, according to the author, "essentially a four-hour, forty-eight-minute infomercial for everything that is right about tennis—a festival of skill, accuracy, grace, strength, speed, endurance, determination, and sportsmanship." It was also the encapsulation of a fascinating rivalry, hard fought and of historic proportions.
In the tradition of John McPhee’s classic Levels of the Game, Strokes of Genius deconstructs this defining moment in sport, using that match as the backbone of a provocative, thoughtful, and entertaining look at the science, art, psychology, technology, strategy, and personality that go into a single tennis match.With vivid, intimate detail, Wertheim re-creates this epic battle in a book that is both a study of the mechanics and art of the game and the portrait of a rivalry as dramatic as that of Ali–Frazier, Palmer–Nicklaus, and McEnroe–Borg. Description of Strokes of Genius: Federer, Nadal, and the Greatest Match Ever Played:
Amazon Exclusive: Blake Bailey Reviews Strokes of Genius
Blake Bailey is the author of Cheever: A Life, which the New York Times called "a definitive, Dickensian rendering of a complete and complicated life, addictively readable and long overdue." His last book, A Tragic Honesty: The Life and Work of Richard Yates, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. Read his exclusive Amazon guest review of Strokes of Genius:
If, like me, you regard Roger Federer as one of the three or four most glorious athletes in human history, and an awfully nice guy to boot, then the years 2004 to 2007 were golden years for you. This was the "Federer era" in tennis, when he won 11 of 16 Grand Slam tournaments and amassed an astonishing match record of 315-24. Nor was there much of the nasty tension entailed by hard-fought five-set matches; as a fan of Federer, one had only to sit back and sigh at the artistry--the elegant angles, the impossible retrievals, the bazooka forehands--while Federer rose to the occasion (good-naturedly) again and again, usually in straight sets.
This belle époque might have continued, if not for the rise of the musclebound Spaniard, Rafael Nadal, indisputably the greatest clay-court player of all time. For a while it seemed, at worst, that neither Federer nor anyone else would win the French Open as long as Nadal was healthy; but then Nadal began to dominate on faster surfaces, too. Transcending himself in the fifth set, Federer managed to defeat Nadal in the 2007 Wimbledon final (perhaps the third or fourth greatest match ever played) and thus equal Borg's Open-era record of five straight Wimbledon titles. Borg himself, however, predicted that Nadal would not only win the next Wimbledon, but goad the demoralized Federer out of tennis entirely--reminiscent, that is, of McEnroe's effect on Borg, who retired at age 26 after losing his edge in the rivalry.
As L. Jon Wertheim points out in Strokes of Genius--his riveting analysis of the 2008 Federer-Nadal Wimbledon final, and an instant classic of tennis literature--the "clashing styles" of the two greats have made theirs the gold standard of sports rivalries: "Feline light versus bovine heavy. Middle European restraint and quiet meticulousness versus Iberian bravado and passion. Dignified power versus an unapologetic, whoomphing brutality. Zeus versus Hercules." A senior writer for Sports Illustrated, Wertheim describes the match itself with expertise and élan ("an oil painting of a forehand volley"), while widening and tightening his lens to examine almost every aspect of the modern game: the curious obsolescence of the serve-and-volley approach; the evolution of the racket (natural gut versus polyester, etc.); the vagaries of various players, most notably Nadal and Federer. (Fun fact: Nadal--whose "awkward" left-hand game has given Federer such fits--is actually right-handed.)
These digressions, so nicely deployed, helped distract this reader from a very unhappy ending: 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7, 9-7, which one fan aptly likened to "watching an angel fall." This much we know (and never mind the woe that, Federer-wise, would follow), but did you know that in England, at 9:20 P.M., there was a 1400-megawatt power surge when millions rose as one from their couches to switch the lights on, released at last from the intolerable tension of the greatest match in history? For that detail, and many like it, you need Wertheim's engrossing book.
Strokes of Genius: Federer, Nadal, and the Greatest Match Ever Played Reviews:
A good read but also a little disappointing 
2009-10-30 - Overall, this is a good read and I did enjoy the book. However, I was also a little disappointed with the greater focus on Federer. I expected a fairer balance about both players but clearly the author had already done a lot of research on Federer - as he initially planned ot write a book on RF - and included much of this in Strokes. Given who won this epic match, it's a bit too bias for me. Nevertheless, it is well written and fans of Federer will enjoy it. I would still recommend the book for some rare insights like with the umpires for example.
A MUST READ IF YOU LOVE TENNIS! 
2009-09-12 - I watched the 2008 Wimbledon Men's Final and I bought the book because I admire both Federer and Nadal and it looked like an easy-summer-read. It was so much more than what I anticipated. The writer brought in so many humorous traditions peculiar only to tennis and gave me an incite into the background of both men. I would definitely recommend this book and in fact, it's "out on loan" now to one of my friends.
Enjoyable reading about the current two greatest tennis players
2009-09-10 - This book came out in early June (in time for the Wimbledon championship), but I only picked up this book last week, as we are in the midst of the US Open tournament (in fact I'm doing this review while watching a late night match featuring Federer).
"Strokes of Genius: Federer, Nadal, and The Greatest Match Ever Played" (211 pages) brings a great retelling of the Federer-Nadal final at Wimbledon in 2008. Not sure that it was the "greatest match ever played" although it was no doubt a very memorable match, no question. The author spices up the chapters with insight on both Federer's and Nadal's background and other details, which is (for me) where the book really shines. Commenting on how Nadal keeps his daily life down to earth: "On most days, Nadal simply grabbed his bag and walked to the courts. More than a few ticket holders were surprised to walk down Somerset Road and see the tournament's second seed strolling among them". But the author has other nice observations: "Just as the Eskimos have nineteen different words for snow, Federer has multiples cognates of the forehand."
We all know what the outcome of the match was, and what a thrill it was to see it happen before our eyes (for me, on TV, alas). The match may have signaled the end of the Federer era, but by now we know better: Federer won Roland Garos and Wimbledon this year, and he may very well win yet another US Open. That aside, if you are a tennis fan, you will enjoy this book (which is a quick read) from start to finish.
A great way to revisit this match for all time
2009-09-04 - I have regularly enjoyed Wertheim's articles on Sports Illustrated's website. When I found out about this book, I was immediately interested.
I found this book thoroughly enjoyable. The background material on the two master players alone would have been worth the price of the book. The background material of Wimbledon itself, fans, and even the umpire was all very insightful and engaging. Highly recommend him.
A Match for the Ages.
2009-08-29 - I am a passionate, albeit mediocre, recreational level tennis player. Self-taught in the sport, I lack any discernible style or classic strokes, but I have a strong appreciation for good tennis. So, as I watched the 2008 Wimbledon Men's Finals with awe, I knew instantly that I was seeing history in the making. That preliminary verdict has been affirmed and verified in a wonderful new book about the event written by acclaimed Sports Illustrated writer, L. Jon Wertheim.
Werthein does a wonderful job of taking the reader through the unfolding events that occurred a year ago at Wimbledon. He adds spice and texture by weaving in back stories from the early lives and tennis careers of Federer and Nadal - the latest personal embodiments of the ages-old Athens vs. Sparta rivalry. On the surface, the grace vs. brute force analysis is a tempting one to endorse, but the styles of these two great players are not so easily distilled and deconstructed.
Here is how Wertheim sets the stage in contrasting their divergent styles and personas:
"Beyond the records, their rivalry was heightened by clashing styles. One could spend hours playing the compare-and-contrast game. Federer versus Nadal embodies righty versus lefty. Classic technique versus ultramodern. Feline light versus taurine heavy. Middle European restraint versus Iberian bravado and passion. Dignified power versus an unapologetic, whoomphing brutality. Zeus versus Hercules. Relentless genius versus unbending will. Polish versus grit. Metrosexuality versus hypermuscular hypermasculinity. A multitongued citizen of the world versus an unabashedly provincial homebody. A private-jet flier versus a steerage passenger. A Mercedes driver versus a Kia driver." (Page 4)
This is a book that will delight even the most casual of tennis fans and everyone who has an appreciation for superlative levels of human achievement.
Enjoy!
Al
