From its medieval roots to the modern-day grand-slam events, tennis is a popular sport, for both players and fans. This dictionary covers the history, rules, competitions, and personalities of the sport of tennis, from 1874 to 2011. The introduction gives the roots of the modern sport, details grand-slam events, mentions the tennis boom of the 1970s, and ends by discussing current tennis events. Arranged alphabetically by subject, the dictionary itself covers rules, scoring, events, and countries. Most importantly, major players are featured, showcasing their personalities and their importance to tennis. For many fans, it is the players who provide the most interest, and this work is filled with biographical information. All of the big names in the sport are included: Bill Tilden, Maureen Connolly, Arthur Ashe, Jimmy Connors, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Venus and Serena Williams. Nine appendixes list information on and winners of the major Open and Cup events as well as International Tennis Hall of Fame inductees and Olympic Games champions.

The work concludes with a bibliography of historical, biographical, and instructional materials as well as tennis periodicals and websites. The most useful feature of any historical dictionary of a sport is the organization of the people, events, history, rules, terms, and champions in one concise volume, and this work is a fine example. Recommended for public, school, and academic libraries where there is an interest in sports, and for libraries owning other volumes in this series.