I don't follow tennis much but was interested in this book about how Serena & Venus changed the game. I also liked reading the stories of other Black players and the challenges they faced. ( )

This book ended up being a skimmer for me. As some reviewers have noted, it is more a textbook style history lesson than stories of the famed Williams sistersa. Important information, just not what I was expecting, given the title of the book. Thank you, LibraryThing, for the advance copy. ( )

I really liked this book. When I was younger, weirdly, the only sport I was interested in was tennis. I got the Williams' sister branded racket and I loved to watch tennis games. Now I was bad at tennis, but growing up I watched Venus and the Serena play tennis and become leaders.

If you are at all interested in tennis, this is a great book to pick up. I think this is a great book to get insight on how race has affected tennis and tennis players. This is just a story about Venus and Serena Williams. This is about tennis as a sport and the struggles that black players have dealt with and still do deal with.

Anyone who has any interest in professional tennis should recognize the names of Serena and Venus Williams. Since I pay less attention to the “who’s who” in the tennis world of today than I did years ago, it was nice to have the instant name recognition to help me focus on the issues
that black players have faced over the years and still have to face now. It is also a sad reality that I recalled the names of most of the featured players because they played so many years ago. While Serena and Venus still both shine on the tennis court, men have not fared so well. MaliVai Washington’s appearance in the 1996 final at Wimbledon is the last time an African American man made it to a Grand Slam final.

Author Cecil Harris does an excellent job of filling the reader in on the difficulties these players face. Any player with aspirations of rising to the top not only must have a way to fund costly coaching but must also deal with racial discrimination. Playing on the tour is an expensive undertaking: players are responsible for their own transportation, lodging, and they often have others who travel with them. These issues are not limited to those vying for a coveted win, but carry over to others involved in the sport. Young men enjoy sports such as football and basketball – both of which pay attractive salaries to those who qualify at a professional level.

At least a basic knowledge of how tennis is played would help the reader as the author does sometimes detail specific matches. I understand tennis and could follow the play by play, but watching a match is far more satisfying than reading about it, so admit that I read those portions rather quickly. The personalities, struggles, and accomplishments of these players, both on and off the court, are what interested me.

Mr. Harris has provided the reader with an insightful look into the issues faced by a black person hoping to make it a in this competitive sport.

Thank you to the University of Nebraska Press for providing my copy of this book via the LibraryThing.com Early Reviewers. ( )

The subtitle "The Unfinished Black Tennis Revolution" is a more descriptive title for this survey of Black professional tennis players from Althea Gibson to the present. There are individual chapters devoted to Gibson, Arthur Ashe, Sloane Stephens, and James Blake, as well as a chapter on Black umpires and another on Black coaches, with briefer summaries of the careers of other players.

It was written primarily during 2018, and the author possibly expected to be able to end with Serena matching Margaret Court's record for major titles, but it ends instead with her loss to Naomi Osaka in the match with controversial umpire penalties, Serena's loss of temper, and the subsequent fallout.

The author emphasizes how important the Williams sisters have been to the sport overall and as an inspiration to younger players of color. For me, a downside was the focus is almost entirely on the tennis and public post-tennis careers of all of the players, even Serena and Venus. While the point-by-point account of important matches is often dramatic, I would have been interested to learn more about their personal lives.

Donated to Little Free Library ( )