1st Edition
Sporting Gentlemen Men's Tennis from the Age of Honor to the Cult of the Superstar
By E. Digby Baltzell
Copyright 2013
467 Pages
by
Routledge
468 Pages
by
Routledge
441 Pages
by
Routledge
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Tennis is a high-stakes game, played by prodigies identified early and coached by professionals in hopes of high rankings and endorsements. This commercial world is far removed from the origins of the sport. Before 1968—when Wimbledon invited professional players to compete for the first time—tennis was part of a sportsmanship tradition that emphasized character over money. It produced... Read more
1: Introduction: Leveling Upwards and Leveling Downwards; 2: The Anglo-American Amateur Tradition, the Making of a National Upper Class, and a Gentlemanly Code of Honor in America, 1880-1914; 3: The Rise of Lawn Tennis: The Harrow and Harvard Era, 1877-1887; 4: The Expansion ofLawn Tennis in an Age oflnnocence, 1887-1912; 5: Class Complacency Challenged in 1912: The Sinking of the Titanic and the First California Invasion of the Eastern Grass Court Circuit; 6: The Old Order Changes: Amateurism becomes an Issue the Davis Cup Goes Down Under in 1914, and the Championships Are Moved from Newport to Forest Hills; 7: Two Philadelphia Gentlemen: William J. Clothier, Father and Son; 8: Racism and Anti-Semitism: The Gentleman s Achilles Heel; 9: William Tatum Tilden II: A Philadelphia Gentleman as World Champion; 10: The Finest Five Years in Tennis History: The French Musketeers Finally Topple Tilden; 11: Big Bill Tilden: A Gentleman Possessed by Genius; 12: The Grass Court Circuit Becomes a Melting Pot, and Perry Jones Leads a Second California Invasion of the Eastern Establishment; 13: Gentleman Jack Crawford of Australia and Fred Perry, the Last Great Englishman; 14: Budge and the Baron: The Greatest Match of Them All and the First Grand Slam; 15: Indian Summer of a Golden Age: Riggs, Kramer, Gonzales, and the Pro Tour; 16: Lean Years in American Tennis and the Reign of Harry Hopman s Australians; 17: The Great Revolution, 1968-1992: The Rise of Open (Pro) Tennis and the Decline of Civility; Epilogue
Biography
E. Digby Baltzell
