Review of 'Great sporting rivals'

Great Sporting Rivals available from Amazon USA


Great Sporting Rivals available from Amazon UK

As regards tennis there are three chapters on great tennis rivals: Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe, Margaret Court and Billie Jean King and Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova.



Each chapter gives you a wealth of information and personal detail as well as reasons why they were such rivals. The author has researched each of their lives extensively. He has also made their great matches come alive.



There are 12 other great sporting rivalries written about. The sports include athletics, basketball, boxing, Formula One car racing, football, ice skating, golf and rugby. Most of the athletes are household names and my edition is up to date as of the end of 2004. You can buy later editions by clicking on the links to the right.



Great sporting rivals are characterized by their differences and their similarities. They competed many times with each other and the results were rarely one-sided. Each rival generally ended up respecting the other even if they were very different people. Some became great friends.



There are photos included and a summary of all the career achievements of each competitor. Some were just amateurs, others professional. All were great in their own fields. The country origins though are mainly , and .

They were selected though for their rivalry rather than their solitary achievements.

The author says what he thinks makes for great rivalry: top level sport, length in the sport, a contrast of styles, and a contrast of temperaments and a fluctuation of fortune. That is, one or the other is on top of the other.



It’s an easy read and if you love sport you will learn something from this book.