The Cruelest Game

Praise for The Cruelest Game

“The Cruelest Game is a solid companion as the U.S. Open approaches. Will Mr. Alcaraz return diminished from the wrist injury that has kept him from competing in the two most recent Grand Slams? How long can the fascinating variety at the top of the women’s tour persist? Might a fading champion like Ms. Williams reclaim her former renown in a few weeks? Tennis is a sport that rewards our keenest attention. It feels impossible not to watch and find out.”
—Wall Street Journal

“Maybe your cruelest tennis opponent is a sadistic brother-in-law, but those who play the game at the highest level face more painful adversaries, on and off the court. If you ever dreamed of serving for the championship at center court, let Futterman’s sharp observations disabuse you: You’re happier at the town courts.”
—Boston Globe

“Matt Futterman is one of the clearest modern-day journalistic voices in tennis, and in The Cruelest Game he lifts the curtain on the physical and mental challenges faced by professional athletes today. It’s a great read for all sports fans.”
—Billie Jean King, Sports Icon and Equality Champion

“Drawing on his years covering the sport as well as fresh interviews, Futterman weaves together insights and admissions from top players, coaches, sports psychologists and retired legends like Roger Federer and Andre Agassi. While he emphasizes that he is only reporting on what he’s told and not trying to guess what’s going inside everyone’s heads, the book does indeed put you inside the tormented minds of the players at or scrambling toward the top.”
—LA Daily News

“Longtime tennis writer Futterman leverages his access to lay out an inside view of what it takes to reach the elite levels of the sport, profiling stars and hopefuls alike in this wide-ranging, behind-the-scenes study of success.”
—Sports Business Insider

“Futterman, a sports journalist at the Athletic, makes a very good case that the world of professional tennis is just as interesting as the matches. With exceptional access to the players, Futterman digs into the psychology of the game, its vast and vicious ecosystem, and the ineffable secret sauce that propels a player to the very top.”
—Bloomberg

“This book is quite simply a complete knockout. No one ‘gets’ tennis and writes about tennis better than Matthew Futterman. All today’s players are here, intimately here—their battles, heartbreaks, triumphs, the sheer work and near madness that goes into wanting to be the best. Yes, pro tennis is the cruelest game, but, in Matt Futterman’s hands, utterly riveting.”
—Delia Ephron, bestselling author of Left on Tenth

“Though, inevitably, it will be filed under ‘sports,’ Matt Futterman’s The Cruelest Game is a masterfully-executed work of psychology writing. Born of keen eye and ear, Futterman’s reportage exposes professional tennis for what it is: a bottomlessly diverse, rich cast of exquisite athletes, navigating the torture of hitting a ball with both power and accuracy… fighting opponents and also their own worst instincts… yielding success but also failure, fear, and doubt. Fans of all intensity levels will read this and emerge with a greater understanding and appreciation for the world’s most mentally demanding sport.”
—Jon Wertheim, Sports Illustrated senior writer and author of Strokes of Genius

“As rowdy as a Nadal forehand, as precise as a Federer backhand, as irresistible as an Alcaraz drop shot—Matthew Futterman’s The Cruelest Game is a rollicking account of a turning point in tennis, essential to fans and casual followers of any age. Futterman doesn’t just write thrillingly about tennis—he probes and challenges its history, its characters, its future. The Cruelest Game is a clear-eyed, wildly fun inside portrait of a beloved but stubborn sport the author knows better than anyone.”
—Jason Gay, Wall Street Journal columnist and author of the New York Times bestseller Little Victories

“To read Matthew Futterman’s masterful account of the lives and inner struggles of the world’s tennis elite is to gain V.I.P. access to stars of the game, present and past. We sit courtside with Federer. We walk through a Melbourne park with Alcarez and chat with Bjorn Borg who picks up the phone on vacation in Ibiza. Naomi Osaka welcomes us into her California compound. The shoe leather that Futterman expends to meet and observe the best of the best is evidenced on every page. His frequent flyer miles—to France and Australia and across the United States—are ours to cash in as we turn the pages. All these greats get their turn on the couch as Futterman dissects why tennis is so beloved to spectators, yet often so lonely and torturous for those striving to reach the top.”
—Thomas Fuller, New York Times correspondent and author of the award-winning The Boys of Riverside

“The Cruelest Game is a vivid snapshot of a uniquely fascinating moment in tennis history, but perhaps more importantly, it is a timeless rendering of a sport that reveals and erodes an athlete’s soul. Matt Futterman approaches tennis with unmatched curiosity, compassion and humanity. There is no one better qualified or equipped to depict tennis’ heady concoction of brutality and beauty. This book will change how you watch the game, and force you to reckon with the true price of excellence.”
—Catherine Whitaker, co-host of “The Tennis Podcast” (Time Magazine Top 100 Podcasts of All Time)

“It may be the cruelest game, but Matt Futterman uses his insider’s insight of this damn sport to lift the struggles, obstacles, work and doubt into a realm of understanding, empathy, and grace. This is an intimate and fascinating look inside the game and the athletes who give their lives to turn the cruelty into victory.”
—Mary Carillo, NBC tennis sportscaster and former professional player

“Unprecedented inside access…. A breathtaking exposé of professional tennis. Featuring interviews with major stars, this comprehensive book looks at everything from private practice courts to the mental and physical strain of a demanding game.”
—BookBub

“Even the most casual sports fan understands that tennis is among the most punishing of athletic pursuits…. Long-time tennis journalist Matthew Futterman uses unprecedented access to explore how the sport’s biggest stars overcome (and occasionally succumb to) the unavoidable stress of playing big-time tennis.”
—LitHub

“[Futterman’s] evocative prose has lined the pages of the New York Times for close to a decade…. Futterman has spent years migrating through tennisʼs grueling year-round circuit, speaking to players, coaches, family, and agents about what makes players tick—and what makes them fall apart. The overarching theme of Futtermanʼs book is the career-long search for what he calls “the codes”: the hidden tricks, which few ever unlock, that lead to pure mastery of the sport.”
—The Dispatch

“Enthralling…. Mixing entertaining reportage with convincing psychoanalysis, Futterman reveals the inner lives of premier athletes. Tennis fans will be gripped.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred)

“This is can’t-miss writing on one of the world’s most mentally taxing sports…. Tremendous insight throughout on the sport’s punishing realities. Superb reporting on the mental and physical cauldron of professional tennis.”
—Kirkus Reviews (starred)

MATTHEW FUTTERMAN is an award-winning veteran sports journalist and the author of two previous books, Running to the Edge: A Band of Misfits and the Guru Who Unlocked the Secrets of Speed and Players: How Sports Became a Business. He has worked for The Athletic, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Star-Ledger of New Jersey, and The Philadelphia Inquirer.

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