Daily Racquet

Agassi Bio On N.Y. Times Best-Seller List

Andre Agassi’s memoir “Open” continues to stay on the New York Times list of best-selling books since its release in early November. And for good reason. Agassi has hit another ace. This time, in the form of a refreshingly forthright autobiography.

Agassi brings a near-photographic memory to every pivotal match and every relationship. Never before has the inner game of tennis and the outer game of fame been so precisely limned. Alongside vivid portraits of rivals from several generations—Jimmy Connors, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer—Agassi gives unstinting accounts of his brief time with Barbra Streisand and his doomed marriage to Brooke Shields. He reveals a shattering loss of confidence. And he recounts his spectacular resurrection, a comeback climaxing with his epic run at the 1999 French Open and his march to become the oldest man ever ranked number one.

In clear, taut prose, Agassi evokes his loyal brother, his wise coach, his gentle trainer, all the people who help him regain his balance and find love at last with Stefanie Graf. Inspired by her quiet strength, he fights through crippling pain from a deteriorating spine to remain a dangerous opponent in the twenty-first and final year of his career. Entering his last tournament in 2006, he’s hailed for completing a stunning metamorphosis, from nonconformist to elder statesman, from dropout to education advocate. And still he’s not done. At a U.S. Open for the ages, he makes a courageous last stand, then delivers one of the most stirring farewells ever heard in a sporting arena.

With its breakneck tempo and raw candor, Open will be read and cherished for years. A treat for ardent fans, it will also captivate readers who know nothing about tennis. Like Agassi’s game, it sets a new standard for grace, style, speed, and power.

Available online at Amazon.com.

New Andre Agassi Bio Slated To Hit Stores Soon

Andre Agassi's new autobiography, Open is slated to hit store shelves November 9th and it's already creating a stir with Agassi's admission that he used Crystal Meth.

With Agassi's near-photographic memory, you will learn about his rigorous training when he was a child through his rebellious teen years. By the age of thirteen, he is banished to a Florida tennis camp that feels like a prison camp. Lonely, scared, a ninth-grade dropout, he rebels in ways that will soon make him a 1980s icon. He dyes his hair, pierces his ears, dresses like a punk rocker. By the time he turns pro at sixteen, his new look promises to change tennis forever, as does his lightning-fast return.

With great recall, Agassi recalls every pivotal match and every relationship. Never before has the inner game of tennis and the outer game of fame been so precisely penned. Alongside vivid portraits of rivals from several generations—Jimmy Connors, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer—Agassi gives unstinting accounts of his brief time with Barbra Streisand and his doomed marriage to Brooke Shields. He reveals a shattering loss of confidence. And he recounts his spectacular resurrection, a comeback climaxing with his epic run at the 1999 French Open and his march to become the oldest man ever ranked number one.

With its breakneck tempo and raw candor, Open will be read and cherished for years. A treat for ardent fans, it will also captivate readers who know nothing about tennis. Like Agassi’s game, it sets a new standard for grace, style, speed, and power.

Pre-orders available at Amazon.com.

New Serena Williams Book To Hit Bookstores In September

Serena Williams' new book On The Line is scheduled to hit the bookstores in September. The book chronicles Williams’s success on the tennis circuit as well as her personal struggles.

One of the biggest stars in tennis, Serena Williams has captured every major title. Her 2009 Australia Open championship earned her the #1 world ranking for the third time in her illustrious career - and marked only the latest exclamation point on a life well and purposefully lived. As a young girl, Serena began training with an adult-sized racquet that was almost as big as her. Rather than dropping the racquet, Serena saw it as a challenge to overcome-and she has confronted every obstacle on her path to success with the same unflagging spirit. From growing up in the tough, hardscrabble neighborhood of Compton, California, to being trained by her father on public tennis courts littered with broken glass and drug paraphernalia, to becoming the top women's player in the world, Serena has proven to be an inspiration to her legions of fans both young and old. Her accomplishments have not been without struggle: being derailed by injury, devastated by the tragic shooting of her older sister, and criticized for her unorthodox approach to tennis. Yet somehow, Serena always manages to prevail. Both on the court and off, she's applied the strength and determination that helped her to become a champion to successful pursuits in philanthropy, fashion, television and film. In this compelling and poignant memoir, Serena takes an empowering look at her extraordinary life and what is still to come.

Available for pre-order at Amazon.com.

A Terrible Splendor: Three Extraordinary Men, a World Poised for War, and the Greatest Tennis Match Ever Played

Next week tennis superstars Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal as they continue their quests for Grand Slam glory, but even their epic battles can't compare to the one between America's Don Budge and Germany's Gottfried von Cramm in their 1937 Davis Cup match, the subject of Marshall Jon Fisher's captivating new book, A Terrible Splendor: Three Extraordinary Men, a World Poised for War, and the Greatest Tennis Match Ever Played.

This deciding Davis Cup match, played on the hallowed grounds of Wimbledon, was a battle of titans: the world's number one tennis player against the number two; America against Germany; democracy against fascism. For five superhuman sets, the duo’s brilliant shotmaking kept the Centre Court crowd–and the world–spellbound. Against the backdrop of the Great Depression and the brink of World War II, one man played for the pride of his country while the other played for his life. Budge, the humble hard-working American who would soon become the first man to win all four Grand Slam titles in the same year, vied to keep the Davis Cup out of the hands of the Nazi regime. On the other side of the net, the immensely popular and elegant von Cramm fought Budge point for point knowing that a loss might precipitate his descent into the living hell being constructed behind barbed wire back home.

Born into an aristocratic family, von Cramm was admired for his devastating good looks as well as his unparalleled sportsmanship. But he harbored a dark secret, one that put him under increasing Gestapo surveillance. And his situation was made even more perilous by his refusal to join the Nazi Party or defend Hitler. Desperately relying on his athletic achievements and the global spotlight to keep him out of the Gestapo’s clutches, his strategy was to keep traveling and keep winning. A Davis Cup victory would make him the toast of Germany. A loss might be catastrophic.

Set at a time when sports and politics were inextricably linked, A Terrible Splendor gives readers a courtside seat on that fateful day, moving gracefully between the tennis match for the ages and the dramatic events leading Germany, Britain, and America into global war. A book like no other in its weaving of social significance and athletic spectacle, this soul-stirring account is ultimately a tribute to the strength of the human spirit.

Available online at Amazon.com.

New Monica Seles Book Scheduled To Hit The Bookstores This Week

Monica Seles' new book Getting a Grip: On My Body, My Mind, My Self is scheduled to hit the   bookstores this week.

 The book chronicles Monica Seles’s success on the tennis circuit where, at age sixteen, she became the youngest winner in French Open history. For three years she dominated the tour, racking up eight Grand Slam titles, and charming the media at post-match conferences with her trademark giggle. She seemed unstoppable until a deranged Steffi Graf fan plunged a knife into her back during a match in Hamburg and turned her life upside down. Her injuries healed but the emotional trauma was deep. With no support from the WTA and her number-one ranking falling, Monica sunk into a depression. Hiding from the media and disappearing from the tennis world, she turned to food for comfort. She spent more than two years in seclusion, trying to fight off the fog of despair.

Seles’s determination, amazing talent, and touching vulnerability make her story both incredibly human and inspiring. By sharing her own narrative, she hopes to motivate other people to take control of their lives and their own happiness.

Available at Amazon.com.

2009 New Year's Resolutions

As we gladly ring out the old, and optimistically ring in the new, most of us have probably included a few things to help us get fit for the courts. If that includes you, here are a few of our favorite fitness aids that might help you accomplish your goal.

Complete Conditioning For Tennis
Take your game to a higher level! Now you can train to play like the pros by specifically conditioning each fitness component to meet the physical demands of tennis. Complete Conditioning for Tennis by Paul Roetert and Todd Ellenbecker improves your strength, power, agility, flexibility, quickness, and stamina. Experts from the United States Tennis Association provide the very best training exercises and drills, sample workouts from the game’s top players, and sample programs to maximize your tennis performance. You’ll finish strong in every match. Available online at Amazon.com.

Dyna-Flex Pro Plus Gyro Exerciser
Professional athletes use the Dynaflex Pro to strengthen your wrists, forearms, and other lower arm muscles. It's great to use as a carpal tunnel exercise (for prevention and rehabilitation), and also works great for improving arm strength for almost every sport and physical activity. Professional athletes use the Dynaflex Pro to improve grip, to improve arm strength, to improve shoulder strength, to improve coordination, as therapeutic relief for the hands, wrists, arms, biceps and triceps, and to gain a competitive edge in sports requiring hand speed, control, accuracy, and grip strength.They've been around forever. You may have played with one as a kid. They come in fun and different colors. Available online at Tennis Warehouse.

ETCH-Swing
ETCH-Swing is great to use for tennis strength training, whether you’re working on your serve, forehand  or backhand. At advanced levels, it has become an integral part of the training regimens of pros Justine Henin, Jelena Jankovic and Victoria Azaeenka since the Etch-Swing allows players to merge movement drills with upper body strengthening for more efficient training sessions. The unique design of the Etch-Swing does much more than a weight on the end of a racquet. Available online at Etcheberry Experience.

Yoga for Great Tennis 
In this easy-to-follow 45-minute video, avid tennis player and Jivamukti-certified and registered yoga instructor Anastasia will guide you through this tennis specific yoga practice. Flexibility, strength and breath control, which is part of every Yoga posture, is the key to on-court improvement. Available online at Tennis Warehouse.

TenniSpheres
TenniSpheres are an innovative product based on an ancient hand exercise technique. Two iron balls are manipulated in the hand(s) with various motions. The exercises are believed to have beneficial effects not only for the hand, wrist and arm, but for the whole body. Not only on these little balls helpful to your well-being; they're very cool looking! Available online at Tennis Warehouse.

Timex Fitness Tracker
The sleek Timex Fitness Tracker, which combines a comfortable sports digital watch with a wireless digital transmitter that can help you track your daily activity —  this watch works great on the tennis court. The Wireless Fitness Tracker’s digital transmitter easily clips to the waist and wirelessly relays information to a fashionable, highly functional wristwatch that lets you track your time, steps and calories. What a way to get a step on your opponent. Available online at Amazon.com.

PumpOne
PumponeNeed a little incentive to help you? Try PumpOne — a personal trainer that fits in your racquet bag. Here's how it works — you download a workout program, sync it to your iPod, iPhone, Nano, Zune or cell phone, and click through your workout while listening to your own music. When you’re done with an exercise, click the next button for your next move. Single workouts start at $9, packages start at $49. And for the tennis player there's even a tennis-specific stretch and core package. Available online at PumpOne.

Xtensor
The Xtensor is a glove-like device that uses elasticized bands for resistance as you open your palm and extend your fingers fully. The mini-workout can help rebalance your muscles, reduce pain from repetitive strain, and ward off join erosion. Use the Xtensor for two to three minutes a day. Work up to two sets of 15 repititions and while it may look a little strange, this little gadget works wonders to help build strength and relieve pain and tension. Available online at Amazon.com.

You make 'em and you break 'em but at least you have to try.

Holiday Page-Turners

Here are a few books worth considering for the tennis player on your holiday list:

Pressure Is A Privilege
Billie Jean King's Pressure is a Privilege is an invaluable tool for any person in any profession who wants to achieve a richer, more fulfilling life. It is packed with the common-sense lessons by which King has lived her remarkable life, as well as words of wisdom and inspirational advice for how you can use these lessons.

The Open Book: Celebrating 40 Years of America's Grand Slam
This book and DVD combo provides an engaging tribute to America's premier tennis event, the largest attended sporting event in the world, and its champions —the US Open. With each page of The Open Book you can feel the drama of the past 40-years through the expert writings of tennis journalists who were on the scene and the exceptional images by the game's top photographers. You won't want to miss out on this commemorative pictorial that will be a keeper for years to come. 

A Champion’s Mind
In A Champion’s Mind, Pete Sampras, arguably the greatest tennis player ever, a man whose  hard-nosed work ethic led to a record-setting fourteen Grand Slam titles and the world's number one ranking for  an unprecedented 286 consecutive weeks, offers an intimate look into what it took to be a champion. Sampras, who so often exhibited visible discomfort with letting people “inside his head” finally opens up. A compelling read and nobody better to tell it than Sampras himself. 

Game. Set. Life. Peak Performance for Sports and Life
This easy to read motivational book is filled with tips, quotes, and stories that can apply to all areas of life. Whether you're an athlete, coach, or student, Game. Set. Life. Peak Performance for Sports and Life provides insight that will inspire you to go from where you are to where you want to be.

Playing Tennis After 50
A successful doubles team knows that good communication is important to working together effectively, instilling confidence, and making matches fun. In Playing Tennis After 50, Kathy and Ron Woods offer tips for maintaining open lines of communication during doubles matches.

James Blake Offers Up The Perfect Holiday Gift: Signed, Sealed and Delivered!

James Blake is offering tennis fans a perfect opportunity to get a personally dedicated hardcover copy of his New York Times best-selling book, Breaking Back: How I Lost Everything And Won My Life Back.

In Breaking Back, Blake shares his string of hard-won successes both on the court and in his personal health. A child of a black father and white British mother in Fairfield, Conn., Blake hooked into serious tennis playing by age 11, when he was paired with coach Brian Barker, who remained his gentle mentor for the duration of his career. Having turned professional by his sophomore year of college at Harvard in 1991, Blake had mixed success on the pro circuit for the first few years. Sustaining confidence seemed to be Blake's biggest challenge, as he struggled to follow the advice of his father, Tom, who was fighting a losing battle with stomach cancer: You can't control your level of talent, but you can control your level of effort. At age 23, he decided to shave his trademark dreadlocks. Soon after, he ran into a steel net post during a practice game in Rome, fracturing his neck vertebrae. A few months later his father lost his battle with cancer. Shortly after that,  Blake was diagnosed with paralyzing zoster, or shingles. His memoir is an inspirational account of overcoming the odds to return to competitive playing — a story of passion, willpower, and the unbreakable bonds between a father and a son.

Order your personalized copy of this incredible memoir now for $35 plus $5 for shipping — this is the perfect Christmas gift for any James Blake tennis fan or perhaps, a friend facing a challenge. 

Available online at jamesblaketennis.com.

Game. Set. Life.

Have you ever heard the saying, "Tennis is Life?"

Tennis pro and peak performance expert Ed Tseng takes this saying to a whole new level in his new book, Game. Set. Life. Peak Performance for Sports and Life.

This easy to read motivational book is filled with tips, quotes, and stories that can apply to all areas of life. Whether you're an athlete, coach, or student, this book provides insight that will inspire you to go from where you are to where you want to be. 

Packed with gems of wisdom, this is one of those books that you will find yourself reading over and over again — keep a copy next to your bed or keep a copy in your racquet bag but keep it close and take in a lesson a day. It's bound to help you, both on-and-off the court!

Available online at Amazon.com.

Good Doubles is all about Good Communication

A successful doubles team knows that good communication is important to working together effectively, instilling confidence, and making matches fun. In Playing Tennis After 50, Kathy and Ron Woods offer tips for maintaining open lines of communication during doubles matches.

• Before every point, make sure both of you know the correct score, whether you are the serving team or the receiving team.
• During the point, help your partner let balls go by calling "out" when you are sure the ball will land outside the court.
• During the point, call "yours" if you want your partner to take an overhead smash or cover a lob that is over your head.
• During the point, if both of you are at the baseline defending, call "mine" or "yours" on any shot down the middle.
• During the point, if you play a defensive lob, warn your partner to move back to defend.
• After the point, applaud good shots and high-five great shots. If your partner misses a shot, encourage him to hang in there and get the next one. Simply saying "bad luck" is often a terrific reassurance.
• When you change ends of the court, briefly suggest changes in tactics you think might work and agree as a team what your plan of attack will be.
• At the end of a match, thank your partner for playing and compliment her on her effort and any outstanding plays she made no matter which team won.

Available online at Amazon.com.