July is great for tennis. Each year, a relative of mine loves to settle down with a bowl of strawberries and cream and watch the Wimbledon finals. When it's not too humid, July is also a great time for playing tennis. On top of that, July 10 is the birthday of two great tennis champions: Arthur Ashe and Virginia Wade. You'll find that we have numerous books by and about Arthur Ashe, as well as some interesting information about Virginia Wade in Total tennis : the ultimate tennis encyclopedia, edited by Bud Collins. Among other things, Total Tennis has a section recording career data for many tennis players: career earnings, Grand Slam records by year, yearly ranking, number of tournaments played, won, and lost, winning percentage and more. For those more interested in the human side of the story, it also features short bios of many great players.

We also have in-depth biographies on players such as the Williams sisters (Venus Williams by Sandy Asirvatham, at Y BIOG W6768 A, and Venus envy : a sensational season inside the Women's Tour, by L. Jon Wertheim, at 796.342 W), Andre Agassi (The Agassi Story, by Dominic Cobello, at 796.342 A), John McEnroe (On being John McEnroe, by Tim Adams, at 796.342 A), and many others. Our children's collection includes several books on Serena and Venus Williams, plus information on Andy Roddick, Martina Hingis, and legends such as Martina Navratilova.

So, for those days when it's too hot for tennis, you can still enjoy the game vicariously!