Tennis is a very rock'n roll sport
Who Said Tennis Is A Boring Sport?
The book "Out", written by Quentin Moynet, journalist for the tennis section at L'Equipe, tells a hundred edifying stories that have crossed the history of tennis.
A lot of research work
to tell sometimes unrecognized anecdotes, classified into different categories: “I immersed myself in the archives of the Team for stories after the Second World War.
Regarding those from the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th, I found newspaper clippings which were mostly digitized and then I also spent an afternoon with Alain Deflassieux and Philippe Bouin, two historical figures. from the tennis section of the Team, now retired. ”
Over the pages, we learn with delight that a Soviet player had been watched by the KGB, that Tommy Haas had been poisoned in the middle of the Davis Cup, that Suzanne Lenglen had posed a rabbit to the Queen of England in 1926. Not to mention
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this player who had an imaginary eagle on his shoulder, this Titanic survivor who became a tennis champion, or closer to us, a Macedonian named Darko Grncarov who made the whole tennis planet believe in 2017 that he was a professional player and coming out of a year of coma ... “I wanted to show that this sport is much less smooth than it might appear from the outside.
I tried to find an original angle, even when these are well-known stories.
That of the stab at Seles, everyone knows it.
But I tried to focus on the life of the author of the assault, a pure psychopath. ”
Prefaced by Pair
In the psychopathic department, the author has a particular affection for the story "of the Wimbledon finalist who became a murderer."
The whimsical Illie Nastase even has his own chapter.
Evidence according to Moynet: "I could have done a McEnroe chapter, but it wouldn't have surprised anyone."
If the author had first dreamed of Nick Kyrgios, it is the unpredictable and endearing French number two Benoit Paire who took care of the preface of this book, very well documented and alert writing.
In confessional mode, the Avignon resident is living like never before, especially on his relationship and his break up with his ex, Shy'm and confides that he is a better tennis player when he is single.
“I was really bad three years ago.
The breakup destroyed me, I was still in love.
I missed her a lot, I thought of her while playing.
To be honest, I still miss her.
I had never been so in love.
Three years later, I am still able to talk about her with emotion.
My head was elsewhere.
I wanted to try again with her, to give it my all, but it was not possible.
So, I bought a notebook to draw.
Almost all of my tattoos are drawings from this notebook. ”
It is understood that tennis is definitely a very rock'n roll sport.
Out! Crazy and quirky stories: tennis as you've never read it at Hugo Editions, € 15
Alizé Cornet tells his story
It is very rare that an active sportswoman offers us an insight into her daily life.
At 30, tennis player Alizé Cornet released an autobiographical book entitled “Without Compromise” at the beginning of September.
Between quotes, from Kung Fu Panda to René Char, she tells about her life on the circuit, her joys, her loves, her sorrows, her desires or even her discovery of meditation.
She looks back on her victory at the 2007 Junior Roland Garros, the length of her career with her record of 54 consecutive Grand Slams.
She also speaks without language on her "bad temper".
The Niçoise goes to the net against machismo in the world of tennis.
During a US Open, she wanted to change her T-shirt that she had put on backwards and had been sanctioned by a judge for "unsportsmanlike behavior".
If she does not settle accounts with the middle, except with Nicolas Escudé, she tackles the anti-doping sports authorities by recalling her passage before a court of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) in the case of her three no shows (if the athlete is not present during the control, he is notified of a "no show").
Case of which it was finally cleared.
Logbook written in five months
This autobiographical logbook was written in five short months between Wimbledon 2019 and the Blue's victory in the Fed Cup in Australia.
A book, which she herself wrote, she who loves writing.
She is also preparing a novel.
The choice of the photo of the cover, where she wears a bandage on the thigh, is not innocent: "She imposed herself on me," she told GQ magazine.
The photo was taken at the Australian Open two years ago and sums up my career and what's in my book really well: my determination, my fighting spirit, my (small) injuries… ”She said nicely: "Tennis is a crazy sport.
We are constantly juggling emotions, ecstasy and despair.
You have to be strong in your head to not get carried away in this wave. ”
A document necessarily interesting for a fan of the little yellow ball.
"Without compromise", Amphora editions, 19.50 euros.
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