Hard Courts: Real Life on the Professional Tennis Tours

Though John Feinstein made his mark writing about basketball-- A Season on the Brink is one of the top sports books ever--he's always had a love of tennis. For Hard Courts, he spent nearly 15 months interviewing the players, coaches, managers, tournament officials, agents and fans -- more than 200 people in all -- that make-up the international tennis circuit. What he found wasn't always as pretty as a Pete Sampras backhand. While Feinstein touches on the scandal and corruption that is as much a part of tennis as any other professional sport, he offers revealing profiles of the greatest players and a celebratory tribute to the sport's elegant tradition.