The Cruelest Game

Praise for The Cruelest Game

“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

“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

“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

“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)