The overwhelming beauty of this text goes far beyond the baselines of a court. —foreword by Jean-Paul Dubois

Short stories fluctuating between humour and gravity, anecdote and intimate confession.

James Hyndman combines his passion for the game with his love of words in a collection of exhilarating short stories that have the understated elegance and the unpredictable bounce of a tennis ball. Blending the history of tennis with personal anecdotes, Hyndman writes with an acute sensibility for the highs and lows of human relationships.

“Watching Federer or Djokovic walk onto the court the afternoon of a final; witnessing Chris Evert stride up alongside Martina before taking to the clay; seeing Sampras and Agassi warm up in preparation for an umpteenth match: moments of grace and wonder when we rediscover the rosy bits of childhood we have managed to preserve.”