External links
- Levels of the Game at John McPhee's web site
- Reviews
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Levels of the Game is a 1969 book by John McPhee, nominally about tennis and tennis players, but exploring deeper issues as well.
The book is structured around a description of the semi-final match in the 1968 U.S. Open Championship at Forest Hills, played between Clark Graebner and Arthur Ashe; Ashe won, and went on to win the Championship, becoming the only amateur to win it in the Open era. It alternates between sections which describe the match, and profiles of the two contestants, who had come to tennis from completely different environments. Both 25 at the time, they had known one another for half their lives. This was a concept that interested McPhee, who wanted to explore how such long interaction, and the dissimilar backgrounds of the two, shaped the encounter between them.
Robert Lipsyte of The New York Times , in his review of the book, wrote that it "may be the high point of American sports journalism".
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Björn Rune Borg is a Swedish former world No. 1 tennis player widely considered to be one of the greatest players in the history of the sport. Between 1974 and 1981 he became the first man in the Open Era to win 11 Grand Slam singles titles, although he was never able to win the US Open in four finals appearances. He also won three year-end championships and 16 Grand Prix Super Series titles. Overall, he set numerous records that still stand. Borg was the first player to win six French Open singles titles. surpassed by only Nadal 12 FO titles and was undefeated in 6 French Open finals again surpassed only by Nadal 12-0 record in FO Finals. He is considered to be the No. 1 player in the world for 1977, 1978,1979 and 1980.
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Rodney George Laver, better known as Rod Laver, is an Australian former tennis player. He was the No. 1 ranked professional from 1964 to 1970, spanning four years before and three years after the start of the Open Era in 1968. He also was the No. 1 ranked amateur in 1961–62.
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