Steve FlinkThe Greatest Tennis Matches of All Time

This book talks about each of "The Greatest Matches of All Time" in 3 sections. What was happening in tennis around the time, specifics on the match and the aftermath. I thought I would be bored by the first section of the book that featured historic matches and players but captivated by matches that I'd seen with players I knew. The opposite was true. The first part of the book was spell binding. Unfortunately when we got to more contemporary matches that Flink had clearly seen himself (or watched on video) the match specific section was so burdened. Sometimes a play by play recap which is DEADLY in written format. I would have given the first half of the book at 6 on a best-of-five scale but the second half a 3 at best. Worth the time and money though...

Easily holds the readers attention for its historical and specific content but did notice a number of inaccuracies. On page 334 It was claimed at the 2003 French Open semi final between Justine Henin and Serena Williams the Belgian won this match 64 26 75, which is actually the INCORRECT scoreline. Henin defeated the American by a 62 46 75 margin. On page 348 It was claimed at the 2010 French Open, Samantha Stosur defeated Justine Henin in the quarter finals, which is actually INCORRECT. The Australian defeated Henin in the fourth round. On page 429 It was claimed Novak Djokovic at the 2010 US Open nearly lost to countryman Viktor Troicki in the second round, trailing two sets to one and falling behind a service break in the fourth set, which is actually INCORRECT. This five set encounter was a first round match. On page 430 It was claimed Ana Ivanovic become the first ever Serbian to secure a Slam singles title when she won the French Open in 2007, which is actually INCORRECT. Justine Henin defeated Ivanovic in the final to win the French Open in 2007. The Serbian claimed the title twelve months later in 2008. On page 457 It was claimed John Newcombe defeated Bjorn Borg in the 1974 WCT final in Dallas 46 63 62 63, which is actually the INCORRECT scoreline. The Australian defeated Borg by a 46 63 63 62 margin.

It's a book for tennis fans (or even freaks) which I am. My problem with it was that I was expecting more from it than basically just a almost shot by shot description of the game because that I can find in youtube (from the 70's onwards, of course).But it's indeed a specialist book, written by someone that really knows and loves the game.

Seems like would be a good book but I thought I was ordering a DVD

There are a lot of legendary matches here, some historically well known and others dated by pre Open eras. The intimate play-by-play description of iconic event showdowns is a tennis fireside chat novelty. Plus the prologue and epilogue entries make for fascinating reading. Where it falls short is that two many other incidental matches are added as before and after filler when space could have been saved for more main all time ranked entries and the inclusion of at least a dozen of the other extras reserved for honorable mention. Also, an appendix of stroke classification grading is too short and limiting to encompass several generations of the racket sport. And in the match list, there is one ever so glaring omission in the 1984 John McEnroe/Ivan Lendl French Open final, a war of wills that marked Lendl's first Grand Slam victory resulting in an eventual head-to-head rivalry lead over McEnroe. If Mac had won that match, he might have had the confidence to add to his trophy case beyond his 7 Big Four triumphs and Ivan might have withered further to earn his first. All in all, this is a good tennis book despite shortcomings. The subjectivity of what is left out just leaves you wanting more.

I've read bits and pieces of this book... I just don't know why Steve Flink put 2 different era's (Amateur Era and the post-1968 Open Era) into one novel. They cannot be compared because of technology changes in racquets and strings and players playing at all the Grand Slam tournaments. I could go on. Sometimes, it's hard to follow when he's taking you through a match... seeing it, or at least the highlights, would be better for me. And finally, he seems like he's pro-Graf on the women's side... I don't agree with that at all. The best player in women's tennis is Navratilova, mostly because she played and won numerous singles, doubles and mixed titles. She was pretty much untouchable in 1984, Evert really couldn't beat her at that time. Steffi Graf never played doubles or mixed... rarely if ever. Also you could bring up that whole Monica Seles stabbing and what that would have done if she wasn't stabbed....This book I think was published in early 2012, but is already obsolete when it comes to what's already happened. Serena Williams is looking more and more to be the greatest women's player of all time, having already won 4 majors since this book has come out (and it doesn't look like she's done). Novak Djokovic is barely mentioned in here at all. Maybe it's time for a rewrite?

excellent book excellent service