Tennis is a sport that stimulates the senses; both for players and spectators. There’s the smell and feel of precise, freshly cut grass; the taste of strawberries and cream washed down with a deceptively heady cup of Pimm’s; the pleasing “thwack” of a tennis ball as it enters a nail-biting volley between two world-class players. And a new coffee-table book from celebrated New York-based publisher Rizzoli explores the “sight” of tennis through a whole new lens.
Courtship: For the Love of Tennis is a new tome dedicated to the sport; spotlighting beautiful and unique courts around the world and delving into the history, fashion and enduring appeal of the game. Profiled venues range from simple community courts in the coastal village of Ballycotton, Ireland, to Monaco’s slick and glamorous Monte-Carlo Country Club which overlooks superyachts gliding across the Mediterranean.
In rainy London, the Barbican Lawn Tennis Club stands in the looming shadow of the Brutalist masterpiece, while in Rome, at the Sant’ Agnese Tennis Club, players work on their serve next to the ancient ruins of the Basilica of Sant’Agnese fuori le Mura, which dates back to the 7th century.
British writer and model Laura Bailey teamed up with ‘longtime creative collaborator’, filmmaker and photographer Mark Arrigo to produce Courtship, a ‘tennis love story’ that pays homage to one of the great global sports and the duo’s shared passion for it. From the wilds of Loch Lomond to the peaks of the Swiss Alps, no stone – or racquet – was left unturned in search of the world’s most alluring courts.
‘We travelled in search of the rare and the beautiful, but also those courts that anchor a community and have a story to tell,’ writes Bailey in the book’s introduction. ‘…We climbed trees and scrambled across rooftops and clifftops and waded into the sea.’
Courtship also includes tennis-related contributions and anecdotes from celebrity players and devotees alike. These include Eddie Redmayne, Minnie Driver, Billie Jean King and David Beckham, the latter of whom describes football as his first passion, but tennis as a sport that has always held an appeal: ‘The characters, the style, the drama of the great matches… we would watch it on television as a family and enjoy the spectacle of the big tournaments.’
As well as being a photographic ode to tennis, Courtship also aims to spread the joy of the sport through its charitable partnership with the LTA Tennis Foundation, which provides grassroots access to tennis for young people across the UK.
A love letter in print, Courtship serves as a stylish and timeless reminder that tennis will always be more than just a game.
Courtship: For the Love of Tennisby Laura Bailey and Mark Arrigo is available now; rizzoliusa.com
Gemma Billington is a writer and editor based in London
