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Tennis's most incredible moments (minus one)


Among the many tennis books that now have one serious omission after the history-making epic contest between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut, here’s one that is scarcely less worthy for being overtaken by the incredible events on Wimbledon’s Court 18.

101 Incredible Moments in Tennis: The Good, the Bad and the Infamous is an entirely subjective collection of classic matches and milestone events in the history of the game, although it is hard to imagine author Joshua Shifrin would exclude Isner’s extraordinary victory by 70-68 in the fifth.

Shifrin, a tennis fanatic who was a junior player and has coached in the United States for more than 20 years, spent many hours deciding which 101 moments were worthy of inclusion and assembles them in ascending order.

He starts with Anne White’s appearance in an all-white figure-hugging body suit at Wimbledon in 1985 and concludes with Rafael Nadal’s defeat of Roger Federer in the 2008 Wimbledon final, widely regarded as the greatest match ever played.

Its format makes it a nice book for dipping in and out but Shifrin’s writing style is light and amusing and dipping out may not always be easy.

Click on the text or cover image links to buy the book. For more books on tennis, visit The Sports Bookshelf Shop.

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