Courts of Babylon: Tales of Greed and Glory in The Harsh New World of Professional Tennis

An expose+a7 of professional tennis and the celebrity cult surrounding it provides an insider's look--including overzealous parents, pampered athletes, sex, politics, commercialism, constant travel, and world-weariness--at those who have it all too fast and too young. 15,000 first printing. A true insider's book, The Courts of Babylon is both a celebration and a stinging critique of tennis and the cult of celebrity that surrounds it. Beginning in the early 1970s, a new professional sensibility arose in tennis, one that ultimately transformed the game from a country club sport to a high-concept, multimillion-dollar industry. As a writer for Tennis magazine, Peter Bodo was there, chronicling the radical changes in sportsmanship, in the lifestyles of the players, and in the ethics of the sport. Here are the players - Lendl, Evert, Connors, Navratilova, McEnroe, Borg - who have shaped the game for the past generation, and here, too, are the rising stars - Capriati, Agassi, Sampras, Graf - who will lead tennis into the next century.

A true insider's book, this sly, irreverent expose of the personalities, politics, intrigue, and innuendo surrounding the greed-and-ego fueled world of pro tennis leaves no player untouched, from John McEnroe and Steffi Graf to Jimmy Connors, Andre Agassi, and Martina Navratilova. Photos.

"A true insider's book, The Courts of Babylon is both a celebration and a stinging critique of tennis and the cult of celebrity that surrounds it. Beginning in the early 1970s, a new professional sensibility arose in tennis, one that ultimately transformed the game from a country club sport to a high-concept, multimillion-dollar industry. As a writer for Tennis magazine, Peter Bodo was there, chronicling the radical changes in sportsmanship, in the lifestyles of the players, and in the ethics of the sport." "Here are the players - Lendl, Evert, Connors, Navratilova, McEnroe, Borg - who have shaped the game for the past generation, and here, too, are the rising stars - Capriati, Agassi, Sampras, Graf - who will lead tennis into the next century."--BOOK JACKET http://archive.org/details/courtsofbabylont00bodo