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Tennis

Serena WIlliams, wearing a black tennis minidress, tosses a ball high in the air before serving at the US Open.
Posted inCuration, Nonfiction, Top 5

The Top 5 Longreads of the Week

by Longreads September 9, 2022October 19, 2022

This week, our editors recommend stories by Carla Ciccone, Lex Pryor, Bhavya Dore, Michelle Cyca, and Casey Lyons.

Posted inEditor's Pick

Serena Williams Refused to Bend. She Bent Tennis Instead.

by Peter Rubin September 8, 2022October 19, 2022

A stunner of an ode to Serena, who came into the game on the heels of her older sister, but leaves it having changed it irrevocably. An exacting portrait of an unprecedented competitor. Part of Serena’s genius—competitively, personally—is that she never can quite be anything but herself when she’s desperate. And she’s desperate every time […]

Posted inNonfiction, Sports, Story

Say Goodbye to Volleywood

by Longreads September 4, 2019October 19, 2022

Twenty-five years ago, tennis lost Saint Vitas.

Posted inCurrent Events, Nonfiction, Sports, Story, Unapologetic Women

Wimbledon: Where Women Wait

by Ben Rothenberg July 12, 2019October 19, 2022

Women still aren’t treated equally at Wimbledon.

Posted inEditor's Pick

Serena Williams Poses Unretouched

by Sari Botton July 10, 2019October 19, 2022

To accompany her unretouched cover photo on the August, 2019 issue of Harper’s Bazaar, tennis star Serena Williams writes a moving personal essay about the harsh, sexist way she was penalized at the 2018 U.S. Open for defending herself to a judge, the apology she sent to her opponent that day, Naomi Osaka, and why […]

Posted inEssays & Criticism, Feature, Featured, Sports, Story, Uncategorized

An Audience of Athletes: The Rise and Fall of Feminist Sports

by Britni de la Cretaz May 22, 2019October 19, 2022

Billie Jean King once tried to find a sustainable business model for feminist sports coverage. Then women’s fitness tried to revive the swimsuit model.

Posted inArts & Culture, Nonfiction, Sports, Story

It’s Tennis, Charlie Brown

by Patrick Sauer April 16, 2019October 19, 2022

An obscure character was a stand-in for the creator of Peanuts when he fell in love with tennis during the sport’s boom in the 1970s.

Posted inNonfiction, Profiles & Interviews, Sports, Story

Benoit Paire, Tennis Solitaire

by Longreads January 23, 2019January 25, 2023

Thessaly La Force hangs out with the lonesome, racquet-smashing Frenchman.

Posted inBlog Post, Commentary, Nonfiction, Sports

Naomi Osaka Deserves to Have Her Moment

by mikedang September 9, 2018October 19, 2022

Much is being written about the contentious U.S. Open women’s final match, but this moment belongs to Naomi Osaka.

Posted inNonfiction, Sports, Story

Losers’ Lunch

by Ben Rothenberg September 3, 2018October 19, 2022

Dining out with courtsiders, a rogue, impish species in the tennis ecosystem.

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