This book was practically written about me - certainly for me. My technique is anything but orthodox; I serve with my right but rally with my left. I've trademarked a two-handed tomahawk-chop volley at the net. All while using my mental game and athleticism (albeit fading with age) to beat guys that have much better technique. And this book has equipped me with a whole arsenal of strategy, tactics, and tips that produced immediate results and consistent improvement. Combine this book with Gallwey's Inner Game of Tennis & you'll be a force to be reckoned with at any age or skill level.

Useful! If you play tennis and are prepared to shell out money on coaching, reading this book (whether purchased or from the library) is excellent value. Also enjoyed reading the author's memories of some of the matches he played against 1980s/90s male tennis titans. Appreciated Gilbert's self-depricating tone.

As a huge fan of Andre Agassi and his autobiography Open, I was interested in the ideas from a coach that was a major contributor to Agassi’s assurgent tennis career from talented bad boy to bonafide champion. This isn’t the most engaging or personal book, but it isn’t meant to be. If any of his tips help you win 5% more of the points that you play, it’s worth the time.

Brad Gilbert is giving sports anime protagonist in this book. He has innate talent, but he's constantly up against genetic freaks. And for every opponent/episode, Brad uses his wicked analytics to come up with some wild strategy to beat these people that, for all intents and purposes, should beat him. Hard work and consistency comes out against innate talent almost every time.

I do think that Gilbert's insane analytics is why he's built for coaching, and that brain next to Andre Agassi's hemotional agression (I said what I said) really made a dream team. I'm bummed to hear him and Coco split, but maybe he can find another hothead to temper.

It's a damn shame this book didn't come out later, though they did try to rectify that by adding a foreward to this book adressing how tennis has evolved recently. It isn't Gilbert's fault that he was retiring on the eve of the best tennis we've ever seen, but I do wish there was another Gilbert book that analyzed the big four's and Serena's games.

The tennis tips didn't help me much, but I could take away some of the sports realted psychology tips being in an individual sport myself. The rest of it I'll use to watch pro's games more clinically.

I find the dynamics of the retired tennis players so fucking wierd. These people had such shitty interactions with eachother while they were competing back in the 80's, and they're still here thirty years later at the same tournaments, coaching against eachother or in the booth commentating. I almost want a sports anime featuring retired-players-turned-coaches trying to outwit eachother through their respective players from the boxes on the sidelines. Some real L and Light bullshit.

well its cold and i dont want to pay for indoor tennis so instead im studying theory in the wintertime
also my flight back got delayed and i missed my connection so now im waiting for the redeye and i am first on the waiting list fingers crossed!!

"Winning Ugly..." is Brad Gilbert's approach to the game of tennis. Brad Gilbert show examples of his "mental" approach with his success over the games greats including John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors and Boris Becker. Gilbert emphasizes the need for a specific plan which exploits your strengths, minimize risks and attack your opponents weaknesses. Where among other things, he also emphasizes the importance of a strong warm up period and a specific game plan depending on your opponent.

This is an autobiography written by Brad Gilbert, a former professional tennis player from the US, outlining the key to success as an athlete. My dad made me read this in high school because he thought that it would be great to acknowledge the importance of mental toughness needed to be a great tennis player. Initially, I was hesitant to read it, but I soon realized that this was the best book for any athlete to read.

Good tips

It's a good book and most of the tips will help any competitive player. I felt the anecdotal connections to Gilbert's matches are too dated. I really craved some insight into current players like Kyrgios or Medvedev. We barely get references to Djokovic or Federer (recently retired) or Nadal. In short, take his advice on mental prep for competition and staying focused, but the pro game is played much differently than how Michael Chang (one slam wonder) and Ivan Lendl played it in the 80s. There's a lot of discussion if these two in the book.

Not exactly a typical read for me and the book cover's as ugly as the title. Brad Gilbert's shaded mug and the yellow type face can make you feel a bit queasy after lunch. But should you be a competitive type who'd like to do better at tennis (on an amateur level) this is the book for you. And I love the insights and gossip into how he beat some of the greats and got McEnroe into a rage (not difficult I guess).

Winning Ugly is the best tennis book out there. It taught great strategies before, during, and after matches. The book taught me lots of great things which actually improved my game. It taught me the accurate stretches before a match. This book was an informational genre book. Usually, books from this genre are boring and I never read them. This one was the best one so far it taught me in-game strategies that I used to improve my game and won more matches. If you want to improve your tennis game then I would definitely recommend this book.

Very repetitive. Tbh I was looking more for the psychological warfare element and this book was less of that than I anticipated but there are some interesting anecdotes in here and overall a great reminder that there’s no need to be the sexiest at something as long as ur effective

Fun read, still relevant in today’s tennis

I’m a player 4.5 area but I tend to not think enough in a match. No plan, no analysis, just see what happens as long as my forehand doesn’t fail. There’s this guy many look up to and we play often. 8 out of 10 times he beats me but I did manage to win twice or at least grab a set or 2. I have the skill but not the thought process to win. Brad’s analytical approach is helping me figure out how I win when I do or why not. It’s fun to apply at club player level