Showing results by publisher "Penguin Audio" in Tennis

Who was Alice Marble? In her public life, she was the biggest tennis star of the pre-war era, a household name like Joe DiMaggio and Joe Louis. She was famous for overcoming serious illness to win the biggest tournaments, including Wimbledon. She was also a fashion designer and trendsetter, a contributor to a pioneering new comic called Wonder Woman - and friend to the biggest names in Hollywood and society, like Carole Lombard and Clark Gable, William Randolph Hearst and Marion Davies, and members of families named Bloomingdale, Loew, and du Pont.

Unstoppable is the fiercely honest, fearless, darkly funny autobiography of global tennis star Maria Sharapova. In the middle of the night, a father and his daughter step off a Greyhound bus in Florida and head straight to the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy. They ring the bell, though no-one is expecting them and they don't speak English. They have arrived from Russia with just 700 dollars and the conviction that this six-year-old girl will be the world's next great tennis star. They are right.

A deeply reported, revealing biography of tennis phenomenon and activist Naomi Osaka, telling the untold story behind her Grand Slam-winning career, her headline-making advocacy for racial justice and mental health, and the challenges of a life in the international spotlight.

The Racket is the story of pro tennis's 99%: the players who roam the globe in hope of climbing the rankings and squeaking into the Grand Slam tournaments. It brings us into a world where a few dozen super-rich players - travelling with coaches and physios - share a stage with lonely touring pros whose earnings barely cover their expenses. Painting a vivid picture of the social dynamics on tour, the economics of the game, and the shadows cast by gambling and doping, The Racket is a witty and revealing underdog's memoir and a unique look inside a fascinating hidden world.

An inspiring and intimate self-portrait of the champion of equality that encompasses her brilliant tennis career, unwavering activism and an ongoing commitment to fairness and social justice. In this spirited account, Billie Jean King details her life's journey to find her true self. She recounts her groundbreaking tennis career - six years as the top-ranked woman in the world, 20 Wimbledon championships, 39 grand-slam titles and her watershed defeat of Bobby Riggs in the famous 'Battle of the Sexes'.

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Play On by Jeff Bercovici, read by Adam Sims. Sports are about challenging our physical limits. But the greatest limit of all remains undefeated: age. We're taught to believe that ageing thwarts effort and grace, talent and grit, outstanding teamwork and individual brilliance. But a new breed of top professionals - the likes of Roger Federer, Jo Pavey and Tom Brady - are overturning long-held assumptions about the duration of primetime in a sporting career. It's not that aging causes a decline in fitness; rather, a decline in fitness causes aging.

Rewind to 1971, and Sue Barker's coach is sending his 15-year-old tennis protégé to a junior championship in France, alone, with a one-way ticket, telling her she'd have to win the money to pay for her return fare. Sue hides in the grounds of the hosting tennis club overnight, to avoid paying for a hotel. The next day, she walks onto court and smashes it. Five years later, and she's Britain's No 1. And now, after four decades on camera encouraging other legends to share their stories, she is telling her own.

What happens when you find you have exceptional children? Do you panic? Put your head in the sand? Or risk everything and jump in headfirst? As mother to tennis champions Jamie and Andy Murray, Scottish national coach, coach of the Fed Cup and general all-round can-do woman of wonder, Judy Murray is the ultimate role model for believing in yourself and reaching out to ambition. As a parent, coach and leader, she is an inspiration who has revolutionised British tennis.

Sue's personal history of Wimbledon is as tightly packed with stories as the courts are with blades of grass. From the most memorable matches to the fashions and trends, the famous rivalries, the upsets and the 'You Cannot Be Serious' unforgettable moments, this is a Centre Court seat on all the riveting drama that has defined British sporting summers for all of our lifetimes.

For much of the past decade, William Skidelsky has not been able to stop thinking about Roger Federer, the greatest and most graceful tennis player of all time. It's a devotion that has been all-consuming. In Federer and Me, Skidelsky asks what it is about the Swiss star that transfixes him, and countless others. He dissects the wonders of his forehand, reflects on his rivalry with Nadal, revels in his victories and relives his most crushing defeats. But this is more than just a book about Federer.