A champion’s autobiography can do something a match recap cannot: show what a player was thinking when the score, the crowd and the stakes all pressed in at once. Tennis players who become authors offer more than behind-the-scenes stories, though. Some explain how they built a game, others reckon with fame or identity, and a few turn their court experience into practical advice.
Here are notable player-authors and a guide to what their books are like. Many were written with journalists or collaborators, a common way to shape a career’s worth of memories into a readable book. That doesn’t make the athlete’s perspective any less central; it’s useful context when choosing what to read.
Memoirs that reveal the person behind the results
Andre Agassi: Open
Agassi’s 2009 memoir, written with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist J.R. Moehringer, is one of tennis’s most candid sporting books. It follows his rise from a childhood shaped by his father’s relentless ambition to the highs and lows of a long professional career. Its striking opening confession—that Agassi hated tennis—sets up a more complicated story than a familiar triumph narrative.
The book is especially compelling on the split between the player’s public image and private feelings. Agassi describes the pressure of performing, the struggle to find motivation and the changing meaning of competition as he grew older. Tennis fans will recognize the champion’s results, but the value of Open is how it explores the cost of pursuing them.
John McEnroe: You Cannot Be Serious
McEnroe’s 2002 autobiography, written with James Kaplan, brings the same sharp, outspoken energy that made him one of tennis’s most memorable personalities. It revisits his rise, his volatile relationship with officials and the demands of life at the top of the sport. The book is entertaining, but it also gives context to the temper that so often overshadowed his exceptional touch and feel for the game.
Readers looking for a measured, quiet reflection may find McEnroe’s voice more combative than contemplative. That directness is also the appeal: he doesn’t pretend his outbursts were separate from his competitive character.
Billie Jean King: All In
In All In (2021), written with journalists Johnette Howard and Maryanne Vollers, King looks back on her career as a champion and an advocate. Her story includes the work of competing in a sport that offered women fewer opportunities and less recognition, as well as her role in pushing for change beyond the court.
King’s book is a useful reminder that a tennis legacy can be measured in more than titles. It connects the practical realities of professional sport—pay, visibility and respect—to the broader movement for gender equality. Readers interested in tennis history and social change will find it particularly rewarding.
Arthur Ashe: Days of Grace
Published after Ashe’s death in 1993 and completed with biographer Arnold Rampersad, Days of Grace is a reflective account of his life, illness and values. Ashe was a Grand Slam champion, but his writing also addressed race, public responsibility and living with HIV. The result is a thoughtful book about the person behind the sporting achievements, rather than a conventional tour through match results.
Ashe also wrote A Hard Road to Glory, a three-volume history of Black athletes. Together, his books show how a player’s experience can open a door to a much wider account of sport and society.
Players looking back on careers across eras
Rod Laver: The Education of a Tennis Player
Laver’s memoir, written with tennis journalist Bud Collins, appeared in 1971. It offers a valuable first-person view of a career that bridged amateur and professional tennis and included major success on both sides of that divide. The tennis world he describes is very different from today’s global tour, making the book a particularly interesting historical read.
Martina Navratilova: Martina
Navratilova’s autobiography, written with journalist George Vecsey, recounts her development into one of the sport’s defining champions. Her story gives readers a window into the choices and adjustments that came with building a career away from her birth country, as well as the physical and mental demands of staying at the top.
Rafael Nadal: Rafa: My Story
Nadal’s 2011 memoir, written with journalist John Carlin, focuses on the values and routines that shaped his early career. It discusses family, discipline and the competitive mindset behind his relentless play. For fans, one of its most interesting angles is the contrast between Nadal’s composed public image and the intensity required to fight through long, physically demanding matches.
Maria Sharapova: Unstoppable: My Life So Far
Sharapova’s 2017 memoir traces her move from Russia to the United States as a young player, her rise to the top of tennis and the pressure of sustaining success. It is a story of ambition and sacrifice, including the strict routines behind a career that began in childhood. Readers interested in the business and branding side of modern sport will also find plenty to consider.
From memoir to instruction and ideas
Brad Gilbert: Winning Ugly
Gilbert was not known for overpowering opponents; he built a successful career by reading matches and making smart adjustments. In Winning Ugly, written with Steve Jamison, he turns that experience into practical advice about tactics and mental preparation. The central lesson is that a player doesn’t need the prettiest strokes to compete well: recognizing an opponent’s weaknesses, managing risk and choosing the right patterns can matter just as much.
The book is aimed at players, but its match-thinking lessons are enjoyable for fans too. Gilbert’s examples encourage readers to look beyond winners and errors and ask why a player chose a particular shot or target.
Venus Williams: Come to Win
Williams’s 2010 book is not a standard autobiography. Instead, it explores how lessons from sport can carry into other careers, drawing on conversations with people in fields including business, medicine and the arts. It’s a different kind of player-authored book: less focused on retelling a tennis career, more interested in the wider usefulness of athletic habits such as persistence and preparation.
| Book | Best suited to readers who want… |
|---|---|
| Open — Andre Agassi | A frank, personal account of fame, pressure and motivation |
| All In — Billie Jean King | Tennis history alongside the fight for equality |
| Days of Grace — Arthur Ashe | A reflective story about sport, identity and public life |
| Winning Ugly — Brad Gilbert | Practical ideas about tactics and match management |
| Unstoppable — Maria Sharapova | A modern player’s account of ambition and career-building |
Frequently Asked Questions
Which tennis player’s book is a good place to start?
Open is a strong starting point if you want a vivid, personal memoir. For tactics you can apply to your own tennis, try Brad Gilbert’s Winning Ugly. Readers drawn to tennis history and advocacy may prefer Billie Jean King’s All In.
Are these books written entirely by the players?
Not all of them. Several were developed with journalists or co-writers, including Agassi’s Open and King’s All In. Their books are based on the players’ experiences, but collaboration helped shape those stories for publication.
Do tennis players write books other than autobiographies?
Yes. Brad Gilbert wrote a tactical guide, and Venus Williams’s Come to Win looks at lessons from sport in other professions. Arthur Ashe also wrote a substantial history of Black athletes in A Hard Road to Glory.
Which books are most useful for improving as a player?
Winning Ugly is the clearest choice for match tactics and decision-making. Memoirs can also offer useful perspective on focus, preparation and resilience, but they are primarily personal stories rather than step-by-step coaching manuals.
Final Thoughts
Tennis players who write bring readers close to parts of the sport that scorelines leave out: pressure, ambition, identity and the choices made between points. The best book for you depends on what you want from it. Choose a memoir for a life behind the results, a tactical book for ideas to take onto court, or a wider-ranging work to see how tennis connects with the world beyond the baseline.
