Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.3420820922
EAN num: 9780060197742
ISBN number: 0060197749
Label: HarperCollins
Manufacturer: HarperCollins
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 240
Printing Date: August 01, 2001
Publishing house: HarperCollins
Release Date: August 07, 2001
Sale Popularity Level: 1183549
Studio: HarperCollins
Editor's Notes and Comments:
Brief Book Summary:
Venus.
Serena.
Anna.
Martina.
Lindsay.
Like other modern-day heroines -- Madonna, Hillary, Mia -- they need only one name. They are the stars of professional tennis -- the young, brash, and often reckless women who hold court, and serve.
The last several years have seen such a seismic explosion in women's tennis that you might be surprised to learn there's still a men's game. Fans flock to the high-voltage matches, which come packaged with tales of infighting, family squabbles, and, of course, Anna Kournikova's micro-miniskirts. In Venus Envy, Sports Illustrated investigative reporter and tennis columnist L. Jon Wertheim draws back the curtain on the soap opera that is the women's professional tennis tour, with its primal plotlines driven by ambition, sex, and revenge.
Here are the stories behind the stories: the tragic Garbo-like star who whiles away hours in a midwestern hotel room because she's afraid to go outdoors; the teenager who tries to cope with the pressure of the big time as well as an abusive father; the brilliant number one who plays out her adolescent tantrums on the public stage; the coquette who launched a thousand Web sites; and a little-understood African-American family who proved that they could play by their own rules and still win the game -- not to mention the endorsements.
The biggest story in sports in 2000 was Venus Williams. Forced to the sidelines for the early months by injuries to both her wrists and her psyche, she stormed back to win Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, and two Olympic gold medals. Not since the glory days of Martina Navratilova -- and the historic days of Althea Gibson -- has women's tennis seen such a dominant champion with the rare combination of athleticism, intelligence, and competitive fire. By the time Venus signed the biggest endorsement deal ever for a female athlete, her opponents' sentiments could be described in just two words: Venus Envy.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers -
J. Wertheim writes a great online tennis column for SI. I read it everyday and I'm appreciative of his knowledge and love of the sport. Behind the scenes are many players struggling, not just the stars. It was also sad to hear how many vulnerable young girls are exploited by their coaches. Parents should keep a watchful eye on their girls and not expect them to support the family. That is of course the downside of the tour. The good side is that it give many with talent a chance to do what they love and make a living. Currently the tour pays much more and lower ranked players have more of a chance to make a living. Serena and Venus no longer dominate, but they can win big matches while only playing part time. The overall level of the game has risen and the competition is even fiercer. Please write a sequel.
Rated by buyers -
I overlooked this gem for years, thinking it was just about Venus Williams. Not so. It's a great, candid look at some of the players on the WTA tour, circa 2000, most of whom are now retired, such as Monica Seles, Jennifer Capriati and the soon-to-be Lindsey Davenport. Since the book came out, Martina Hingis retired, then came back to top 10 results, though not like when she was burning up Grand Slams as a teenager. The author is a bit too worshipful of the Williams sisters, though he accurately paints Richard Williams as nuts. If you follow tennis, you'll want to read this, though the definitive insider look at the WTA tour is still to be written.
Rated by buyers 
-
This book, though dated now, chronicles the re-emergence of women's tennis as one of the world's most popular, most intriguing and most marketable sports.
For the better part of the 1990s, all we heard from tennis aficionados was how the sport was dead in the USA, how the dominance of Steffi Graf & Monica Seles failed to raise the sport's profile a la Martina & Chris and how the women's game pailed miserably in comparison to what was a bustling men's game (you still had Sampras, Agassi, Becker, Moya, Bruguera, Courier, Chang, Washington, Stich, Henman and Rafter doing wonders for the sport's popularity).
BUT, along comes a new, different and exciting generation of young pony-tailed, bleached-blond and beaded wonders who were as eye-catching in appearance as their game's were revolutionary, aggressive and athletic.
This book attempts to capture the essence of what Martina Hingis, the Williams sisters and Anna Kournikova brought to a table that already included notable top players like Lindsay Davenport and Mary Pierce.
You'll get a refreshing behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of the women's locker room.
You've got the smug, borderline arrogant Hingis, the world No. 1 that everyone respects but nobody really likes off court.
You've got the Hingis-foil Williams sisters who couldn't be more different: African-American, large, strong and coming up from the hood to wreck havoc on the lily white, privileged tennis establishment.
Then you've got the sex-kitten, Lolita type in Anna Kournikova -- a celebral player with good hands to match that gets more credit for the skimpy outfits and goldie locks, girly girly appeal that sent pre-pubescent kids & dirty old men into a frenzy a like.
All four players were immensely talented and all contributed to the rivalries that gave rise to the pro women's tennis circuit heading into the new millennium.
This book specifically will look at the 2000 women's tennis season, so it'll focus on Venus Williams' ascent to becoming the best player in the world with wins at Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and the Olympics.
However, this book easily could've been used on a broader scale to examine women's tennis: 1997-2001.
That's what I'd consider the golden age of the sport's re-emergence in popularity. Hingis, the Williamses, Kournikova, Capriati, Davenport and Pierce were at their best and you literally didn't know who'd win a tournament when all were present.
In hindsight, this era is definitely in stark contrast to the present: none of the top players are healthy at the same time & you can't get all of them into the same tournament to save your life.
This book will make you miss the 1997-2001 era ... the Henins, Clijsters, Sharapovas and other Russian "Ovas" lack personality if you ask me.
But back to the book ...
The main criticism, and it's a small one, you don't necessarily get the "head to head" feeling of why the players disliked each other or for that matter any sense of unifying quality where a Martina, Serena, Venus and Anna can all take credit for raising the game's profile.
Cat fights, sex appeal and power games were what this generation brought to the table, but that's an inference.
The behind the scenes banter among the world's best players is what this book delivers.
Rated by buyers -
This was a well written book that will be a fun read for any tennis fan. I found myself chuckling at the high school-like behavior of the women of tennis. Come to think of it, most of them are of high school age, so I guess it makes sense.
Rated by buyers -
Martina, Monica, Venus, Serena, and Anna: five tennis players who dominated (and still dominate) the headlines in 2000. Martina trying to stay on top with unparalleled dexterity and grace; Monica with her personal tragedy and on-court power; Venus and Serena, two sisters with unmatched power trying to define their game styles as well as their separate identities; and Anna, the media's perennial it-girl. All of these players' on-court game styles and off-court intrigues collide in Wertheim's Venus Envy, an insightful recording of the events during the WTA in 2000. Events ranging from the Australian Open in January to Indian Wells, Key Biscayne, Roland Garros, Wimbledon, and the US Open in August are all covered. Match analysis of championship and pertinent earlier round matches are melded with insight into who the top women tennis players are and the joys and struggles they face on and off the tour. While mainly focusing on the events of 2000, references are made to past tennis stories, like Monica's stabbing, and constant motifs in women's tennis, like funding and coaching.
Within a sphere of 250 pages Wertheim attempts to cover much and sometimes needlessly dwells upon and revisits certain issues (coaching and commercialization) far more than the equally important ideas upon which he briefly touches on (the Wimbledon quarterfinal match between Martina and Venus). Intertwining the stories behind a player's slip in the rankings and recent renaissance or the issue of the popularity of women's tennis versus that of men's, in a chapter pertaining to Wimbledon or Indian Wells leads to cohesion errors, as Wertheim tends to get carried away and digresses. Additionally, Wertheim tries to write an overtly pretentious and grandiose text by using legalese and French phrases that have been assimilated into the English language in an endeavor to stray the farthest away from stereotypical sportscaster vernacular. It's a transparent endeavor to write in a grander yet less effectual manner, which in the end just takes the meaning away from what he's trying to convey.
Overall, Venus Envy proves to be a solid, yet too succinct text that manages to allocate the necessary amount of time to each of the top tennis players. Overall, it's an entertaining, insightful, and engaging read.
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