Book Review: The Master by Christopher Clarey

Wimbledon junior champion 1998. I’ve known Chris Clarey for a lot of years and closely followed his reporting on tennis in the New York Times. In my view, this biography of Roger is the best thing he has written and the most important. Yes it’s about Roger. And that in itself is enough to make it interesting. The subtitle is “The Long Run and Beautiful Game of Roger Federer.” Both true. But to me what makes this book a must is the interweaving. We see the detailed story of Roger’s development as a young player and a young person. We see the competitive moments from the juniors and the full sweep of Roger’s playing career from the inside–with the views of Roger, his coaches, and his family. We see his family dynamics, the ins and outs of his business life, and the incredible number and variety of enterprises he was and is involved with. And the ease and grace, candor and dry humor he seemed to maintain effortlessly. It’s also a snapshot history of modern tennis. Roger’s rivals, his predecessors, his coaches. With a lot of inside detail. Honestly I don’t read a lot of tennis books or tennis history…