Editor's Foreword - Jon Woronoff
Preface
Acronyms and Abbreviations
Chronology
Introduction
THE DICTIONARY
Appendixes
A. International Tennis Hall of Fame Inductees
B. Wimbledon Champions
C. United States National Champions
D. French National Champions
E. Australian National Champions
F. Davis Cup Champions
G. Wightman Cup Champions
H. Federation Cup Champions
I. Olympic Games Champions
Bibliography
About the Author
John Grasso is an Olympic historian and Treasurer of the International Society of Olympic Historians.
This alphabetized lexicon profiles the people, groups, events,
techniques, court terms, and geographical locations of tennis
history. Following an event chronology that commences with 1874 and
concludes with 2011, Grasso (Historical Dictionary of Basketball)
offers a concise historical overview in his 17-page introduction.
Black-and-white player photographs sometimes accompany the
multiparagraph, cross-referenced entries. Nine appendixes provide
quick-reference to Hall of Fame inductees and championship winners
from various international competitions.
*Library Journal*
From its medieval roots to the modern-day grand-slam events, tennis
is a popular sport, for both players and fans. This dictionary
covers the history, rules, competitions, and personalities of the
sport of tennis, from 1874 to 2011. The introduction gives the
roots of the modern sport, details grand-slam events, mentions the
tennis boom of the 1970s, and ends by discussing current tennis
events. Arranged alphabetically by subject, the dictionary itself
covers rules, scoring, events, and countries. Most importantly,
major players are featured, showcasing their personalities and
their importance to tennis. For many fans, it is the players who
provide the most interest, and this work is filled with
biographical information. All of the big names in the sport are
included: Bill Tilden, Maureen Connolly, Arthur Ashe, Jimmy
Connors, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Roger Federer, Rafael
Nadal, and Venus and Serena Williams.
Nine appendixes list information on and winners of the major Open
and Cup events as well as International Tennis Hall of Fame
inductees and Olympic Games champions. The work concludes with a
bibliography of historical, biographical, and instructional
materials as well as tennis periodicals and websites. The most
useful feature of any historical dictionary of a sport is the
organization of the people, events, history, rules, terms, and
champions in one concise volume, and this work is a fine example.
Recommended for public, school, and academic libraries where there
is an interest in sports, and for libraries owning other volumes in
this series.
*Booklist*
In this volume in the new "Historical Dictionaries of Sports"
series, historian Grasso starts with a chronology of important
events. Following this, a short introductory essay attempts to
summarize the evolution of tennis up to the modern game. The
greater part of the book consists of the 500-plus entries in the
A-Z dictionary, a mixture of terms, rules, places, various
countries' histories, and short biographies of many famous
professionals. Any person, place, or thing that has its own
biography or definition is readily identified because names and
terms are cross-referenced in boldface font throughout the
dictionary. The final sections include the roster of the
International Tennis Hall of Fame inductees, the results of the
four Grand Slam tournaments and international events (including the
Olympics and Davis Cup), and an extensive bibliography of other
resources. Overall the author does a commendable job in construing
tennis....Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and
above; general readers.
*CHOICE*
With its impressively broad scope Historical Dictionary of Tennis
is a useful historical overview that is both well-researched and
balanced. The appendices at the back of the book are vast, covering
70-plus pages, and list important statistics such as winners of
major tournaments and cups, and a list of International Tennis Hall
of Fame inductees. This is also quite useful as a quick resource
guide and, together with the historical introduction and the
extensive reference list, provides the most relevant and pertinent
parts of the sport of tennis.
*Sport in History*
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