Book info

• Title Court Confidential
• Author Neil Harman
• Year 2013
• Genre Sports

Tennis has never before been blessed with such an array of talented stars doing battle for the sport's most coveted titles. Games featuring Murray, Nadal, Federer, Djokovic, the Williams sisters and Maria Sharapova are among the most thrilling matches in the history of the game - and Neil Harman has witnessed them all. He is so close to the beating heart of tennis that he has become a confidant to many of the game's stars and administrators, even at one stage mentoring Victoria Azarenka to help her handle the media pressure at the top of the women's game. In short, Neil enjoys a privileged access that is unmatched elsewhere in the sport. Here he shares tennis's most intimate secrets in a book replete with personality, excitement, drama and intrigue. Featuring frank, in-depth interviews with all the leading players, their coaching staff, their agents and managers, Harman presents the game from an insider's perspective and offers the fresh insights and strong personal views for which he is celebrated. Court Confidential recounts a defining time for modern-day tennis: from Wimbledon to the Olympic Games, from Serena Williams's battle with illness to Andy Murray's historic grand slam victory, this is a book for tennis fans everywhere.

Thoughts

A year in the life of professional tennis tournaments, through the eyes of a journalist who follows the players around the globe. Taking in 2012, from the early beginnings in Australia, through the bigger and smaller tournaments, Andy Murray’s loss at Wimbledon and subsequent victory at the Olympics, as well as all the political shenanigans going on in the background.

It’s an interesting read for tennis fans, but it can sometimes be hard to follow exactly what’s going on in the matches - reading the progress of a tennis match, and the permutations of a championship, can be really tricky when you’re so far removed from the situation.

Nevertheless, there are some good insights into how the sport is set up, and how some of the players behave off court. I wasn’t totally sure all the quotes added to the narrative but the ones that did were worth the ones that didn’t.

Rating: 3 / 5