A Terrible Splendor: Three Extraordinary Men, A World Poised for War, and the Greatest Tennis Match Ever Played by Marshall Jon Fisher is the story of "Big" Bill Tilden, Don Budge, Baron Gottfried Von Cramm and the beginnings of professional tennis....and the beginning of World War II....and what it was like to be homosexual in Nazi Germany AND in the pre-war United States...and what it is like to play and beat a legend. Fisher tells a very engaging story with a tendency to hyperbole (just check out the title, but then this was published before the Nadal/Federer or the Roddick/Federer finals). He does however, provide a fascinating and engaging look into a past world - when tennis was dominated by talented and dedicated amateurs. It is also an interesting look into the conflict between the German aristocracy and the rise of Nazism and the impact of anti-Semitism on German sports. Von Cramm is the gracious and dedicated player, the penultimate sportsman (he argues points that his opponent should have been given), and has a Jewish lover. Bill Tilden is the consummate player, but also lives dangerously close to (and more than occasionally crosses) the edge of what was then considered acceptable behavior. Don Budge is the new guy with the astounding serve. Tilden serves as von Cramm's coach (pardon the pun) and Budge and von Cramm meet in the deciding game of the 1937 Davis Cup match (then the biggest event of the sport) between Germany and the United States. Having been caught in the Nazi machine, winning is one of the few things that can keep von Cramm out of big trouble.
Clearly tilted towards the fascinating characters of Tilden and von Cramm, Budge pretty much gets the short shrift in terms of the narrative. Between them all, but mostly falling on Tilden's shoulders, is the beginning of the professional tennis we know today. If you are into tennis, or just a pretty good story, this was quite entertaining.
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