Six books about tennis’s greatest players

FOR TWO WEEKS every year, tennis fans focus their attention on a leafy suburb in south-west London. The Wimbledon Championships are regarded as the most traditional and prestigious of the four Grand Slam tournaments. (It is the only one to enforce a predominantly all-white dress code, for instance.) Wimbledon is a place where new stars of the game are spotted—as with Roger Federer’s victory over Pete Sampras in 2001—and fading ones hope to go out in a blaze of glory. To better understand what it takes to succeed on Centre Court, pick up one of these books about a few of the greatest players ever to pick up a racket.