This Lavish Photo Book Celebrates The Storied Legacy Of Tennis

Rizzoli’s “The Tennis Collection” serves up Novak Djokovic’s kits, Roger Federer’s rackets, and other pieces of extraordinary tennis ephemera.

Sporting pursuits and excellence sometimes feel out of reach away from the sideline or the magic of a live match, but a new book unlocks the world of tennis—one that stretches back centuries, to boot.

The Tennis Collection: A History of Iconic Players, Their Rackets, Outfits, and Equipment (the latest from publisher Rizzoli New York) goes beyond just match points and illustrious trophies, although each are covered in fine fashion across a handsome volume.

In fact, the volume goes a step further: It boasts more than 150 “pieces of extraordinary ephemera” hailing from iconic Western culture flagship and fashion museum the Museo de la Moda in Santiago, Chile, all tracing the story of the extraordinary sport.

The museum itself, as Rizzoli notes, houses “one of the world’s largest collections of tennis memorabilia,” and this just-released tome proves that point handily.

Adaptive tennis pioneer Gustavo Fernández takes readers through a journey stretching back centuries, to the first recorded mention of the sport in the 16th century, complete with his own selection from the museum.

A competition as stylish, intense and competitive as tennis naturally covers a lot of ground, and the volume responds in kind, featuring a glimpse at tennis memorabilia, numerous original interviews and a sneak peek at legendary tennis gear.

Among the items featured? Photographs spotlighting Bill Tilden’s 1920s tennis sweater, on-court looks from Chris Evert and Virginia Wade, and tennis kits worn by the likes of Novak Djokovic and Andre Agassi.

Vintage tennis pieces that helped shape the sport also are given place of pride in The Tennis Collection, back to eighteenth-century wooden rackets and onwards to technological feats like the lightning-quick, ergonomic rackets swung by Roger Federer.

From artwork to vintage tennis magazines and accessories, an array of priceless moments across the history of tennis are covered. And if a trip to the hallowed Museo de la Moda in Chile feels out of reach at the moment, the latest volume from Rizzoli is a perfectly exceptional replacement in the meantime: Game, set, match.