Courtship

Anyone for tennis? This photographic ode to the most beloved of racket sports spotlights the beauty and pull of the tennis court, and ranges from high-altitude to semisecret locations, taking in chic clubs and inner-city concrete courts along the way.

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To a tennis fan, wherever one finds a court is an exciting discovery. London-based writer Laura Bailey and photographer Mark Arrigo have toured together to document a range of tennis courts, capturing the spirit and locale of each court and club in evocative photographs shot exclusively for this book. With their extraordinary appreciation for the ordinary, Bailey and Arrigo pay tribute to the resilience of one of the great global sports. This is a book about discovery. It s about the many dimensions of tennis and what the court can offer to those who show up and play. But above all else it s about the pull of the court to those who love the sport. From high-altitude court locales in Switzerland, a coastal tennis club on the French Riviera, or adjacent to a hectic concrete flyover in the UK, all the courts featured here are destinations to the tennis devotee. Bailey contributes an essay that depicts her life on the court, expressing the joy, the sadness, the triumph and the moments of enlightenment she has experienced through tennis. A selection of quotes from Bailey s own community of tennis-enthusiast friends, as well as local London devotees to the sport, complete this joyful volume.