The Extraordinary Game of Tennis

From The New Yorker’s archive: a selection of pieces on the game and some of its most vivid personalities. View in browser | Update your preferences The Extraordinary Game of Tennis As last week’s U.S. Open finals made plain, the game of tennis is in a moment of dramatic transition, with older stars feeling the weight of time and new stars ascending. This week, with memories of that tournament lingering, we bring you a selection of pieces on the game and some of its most vivid personalities. In 1973, Herbert Warren Wind, known in his day as the premier writer about golf and tennis, reported on a wild exhibition and media extravaganza billed as a “Battle of the Sexes”: Billie Jean King, then the top women’s player, against Bobby Riggs, who was a top player and a wily hustler. King’s decisive triumph, which was broadcast in prime time from the Astrodome, lives on as both a boost to the women’s game and as a kind of pop-culture milestone in the movement for equality in sports. In “A Tennis Fairy Tale in New York,” Louisa Thomas writes about the stunning final between the biggest new names in the game, Emma Raducanu and Leylah Fernandez. In “The Third Man,” Lauren Collins profiles Novak Djokovic, who had hoped to complete a calendar-year Grand Slam, but fell short in the finals. (“His play is plasmatic,” Collins writes. “He seems to flow toward the corners of the court.”) In “New Racquet,” from 2013, Reeves Wiedeman writes about another lion of the men’s game, Roger Federer. Finally, Gerald Marzorati reflects on the most extraordinary career in modern tennis, that of Serena Williams: “She is, clearly, the greatest of all time: the most dominant for the longest stretch of years; the most influential on the way the game has come to be played.” —David Remnick From The New Yorker’s Archive The Sporting Scene A Tennis Fairy Tale in New York The qualifier Emma Raducanu held her nerve to see off Leylah Fernandez. By Louisa Thomas | September 12, 2021 The Sporting Scene Tracing Tennis to Its Roots From Victorian Britain to the Battle of the Sexes, the sport’s first hundred years. By Herbert Warren Wind | October 8, 1973 The Sporting Scene The Third Man Novak Djokovic has emerged from the shadow of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, but can he learn to act like a champion? By Lauren Collins | August 26, 2013 Newsletters Sign Up for the New Yorker Recommends Newsletter Discover what our staff is reading, watching, and listening to each week. The Sporting Scene The Best Way to Watch Serena Williams at the U.S. Open, Where She Has Nothing Left to Prove Fans want to see Williams make history. But that is the wrong way to watch her play now. By Gerald Marzorati | August 30, 2020 The Sporting Life New Racquet A night with Roger Federer. By Reeves Wiedeman | August 26, 2013 You’re receiving this e-mail because you signed up for the New Yorker Classics newsletter. Was this e-mail forwarded to you? Sign up. Unsubscribe | Manage your e-mail preferences | Send newsletter feedback | View our Privacy Policy Copyright © Condé Nast 2021. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.