Ben Markovits

Even the greatest tennis players need to be adored

Billie Jean King demanded ‘total attention’, while Roger Federer giddily describes fans ‘shaking in disbelief’ at meeting him

Roger Federer in the first round of the Men’s Singles at Wimbledon this year. [Getty Images]
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  • All In: An Autobiography

    Billie Jean King

    Viking, pp. 384, £20

  • The Master: The Brilliant Career of Roger Federer

    Christopher Clarey

    John Murray, pp. 352, £20

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Iwas once asked by a colleague to sponsor him on an undertaking designed, he said, to raise money for a very good charitable cause. I can’t remember what the cause was – cancer, maybe, or mental kids – but I do remember the nature of the undertaking. He intended to walk a number of miles

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A blooming good offer

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