As an amateur tennis player, this was quite helpful to read. I like books like these, but I also feel like the passion and emotions are overdone in most sports auto-biographies. Like, yeah I find tennis fun, but would I travel to the ends of this earth to find the most treasured tennis racket there is, just to be my opponent? No. I guess that's what professionalism does to athletes. Or maybe it's just my opinion. Probably the latter.

First off, I found the author's personality and writing style to be extremely grating. If you can tolerate the author's tone you might find his anecdotes and repetitive advice to be entertaining.

There are lots of good advice in this book but I didn't find anything especially insightful. If you care about winning at all costs, I can see this book being a good checklist of strategies to gain an advantage over your opponent. I think the downside of this approach is that it can be a recipe for overthinking on the court. Even Gilbert himself admits that he had to delegate scouting to his coaches because it got in his head.

I personally think most rec players would benefit more from Inner Game of Tennis than Winning Ugly. I find most players don't really care about winning as much as wanting to play close to their full potential and having a good time.

In summary, I don't think there's anything in this book that you can't get from reading up on high percentage tennis and developing game plans. Unless you want to build your entire tennis identity around winning.

Livro que aborda a preparação e a vertente psicológica anterior e durante um jogo profissional de ténis e as estratégias para maximizar as qualidades e minimizar as fraquezas. O que gostei no livro é que são conselhos (aparentemente) básicos que se podem transpor para qualquer desporto em que haja adversários. O defeito que lhe aponto, que nem é propriamente do livro mas, neste caso meu, enquanto leitor, é que apenas recomendaria este livro a desportistas no mínimo intermediários e com um possível caminho profissional, já que quase todas as mais valias e estratégias que se retiram desta leitura, supõem um nível alto e um adversário de nível semelhante (seja qual for o desporto) e um jogo potencialmente renhido.

A must read for tennis players on all levels.

Helps you really understand the Game of tennis and to have a purpose when you get into the court, not just aiming to hit the ball nicelly.

It helped me achieve a new tier in my game and improved my mental strength in competition.

Libro semplice , scorrevole ed efficace - e da qui meriterebbe anche 4 stelle - non fosse un esclusivo vademecum per chi gioca a tennis, a differenza di Open che era un romanzo di più ampio respiro e ben strutturato e meno raffinato di the Inner Games of Tennis che ricoprivano comunque altri scopi.

Ad ogni modo come guida per i tennisti amatoriali assolutamente da leggere

Whether you’re playing on an overly sunny day, what to pack in your bag, how to handle gamesmanship, what to do when you come up against specific types of players, this book covers a lot of ground. It does feel a bit repetitive at times though if you are attempting to learn from the book repetition is probably helpful to get this stuff ingrained in your brain so you can put it in action without overthinking on the court.

If like me you’re reading this strictly as a tennis fan/fan of Brad Gilbert’s analysis on ESPN, not someone who actually plays, then you’ll already be familiar with much of the philosophy behind these tips and strategies and that, along with the repetition I mentioned does get a little tedious if you picked this book up as a pleasure read rather than as the tutorial it’s intended to be. But fortunately those of us who came to this book only for the entertainment value, you’re rewarded with quite a few anecdotes about Gilbert’s career and matches against legends like Connors, McEnroe, and Lendl, an era which I wasn’t lucky enough to see but it sure is riveting to read about.

This book would definitely be of most use to those who play, but for those of us who just watch tennis there’s still quite a bit to hold your interest, too, and if you’re new to watching the sport, it will likely give you a better understanding of it, too.

Fazia tempo que eu não lia um livro menos de um mês, em meio ao semestre letivo. A leitura é leve como se fosse um bate-papo com o BG e muito útil para o jogo de todos os níveis e compreensão do jogo.
Também é muito interessante para quem não conhece tanto a história do esporte ter um pouco mais de contato com o que fizeram alguns dos grandes nomes que moldaram o esporte que conhecemos atualmente.

It helped my game by a long shot

Winning Ugly is a biography written by Olympic gold medalist and ESPN analyst Brad Gilbert. Gilbert uses his high tennis IQ and experience to evaluate current stars such as Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal showing readers how to beat better players without playing better tennis.

First of all, this book was without a doubt the most informative tennis book I have ever read. Brad Gilbert really pointed out some essential tips and tactics that all tennis players need but aren’t that educated on. Secondly, I enjoyed many parts of the book when Brad would talk about his experiences on tour and the ways he beat some of the all time greats like Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi. Finally, the book wasn't too difficult to comprehend in my opinion but at the same time it wasn't basic at all, I would say just right to even upgrade and improve one’s vocabulary.

Many coaches told me to read this book claiming it was the “Bible of tennis”, I never understood why until I read it myself and now I totally agree. This is the bible of tennis and I recommend this book to every single tennis player who wants to get better without spending extra time on the court.

Det enda med nerver som stör mig är att jag andas dåligt och således blir trött och gör dåliga val. När man är nervös andas man snabbt och korta andetag. Andas istället som du har astma. Andas djupt och tungt. Börja redan innan match. Nu börjar pusselbitarna komma samman i mitt spel. Jag börjar bli ett vapen på båda vingar.

Som Magnus Norman sade en gång: bra spelare missar inte. Jag är en idiot. Ska man inte missa? Jaha... Gilbert påstår att 30% av poäng kommer från vinnare och 70% från unforced. Är inte säker på siffrorna men det är sant att misstag är vanligare. Så varför ska man försöka slå vinnare hela tiden och riskera en miss?

Jag har tidigare aldrig tänkt när jag spelar. Jag bara slår och hoppas på det bästa. Jag bara slår hej vilt och hoppas på vinnare. För bövelen, så spelar man ju inte! Jag har lärt mig att slå backhand (efter 14 år!) och lärt mig strategi.

Gilberts huvudpoänger som jag tar med är att analysera både motståndarens och ditt eget spel under matchen, spela dina styrkor mot deras svagheter. Analysera matchen och förstå vad som händer. Recognize, analyze and act. Något sånt, säger Gilbert. Var kommer poängen ifrån? Är det du som missar din backhand? Motståndaren som äter din andra serve till frukost? Eller slår du högt och kort med forehand? Gör något åt problemet.

Backhand fungerar inte? Utmana motståndaren genom att stå längre ut och öppna upp för forehand. Andra serven är dålig? Höj procent på förstaserven.

Det finns alltså mer till skitsporten än att bara slå och hoppas på det bästa. Tänk till lite och var tålmodig. I höst blir det farligt...

4.5 stars. The kind of analytical approach with tactical breakdowns that I appreciate, written for the recreational tennis player. Feels thorough but there's a part of me that holds back from getting too sucked into "taking the sport too seriously." I'm not there yet, I don't know if I wanna be there, but secretly I DO. Crying at every episode of Netflix's Break Point. Anyway. Learned about this book from the Intuitive Tennis YouTube channel. First audiobook from Spotify that I listened to. Sucks (no timestamp notetaking available). I ended up finding a paperback copy of this for ~$5. Good deal. I have a lot to go back and review.

- pre-game warmup mental checklist of questions
- game plan
- questions to ask re: opponent
- never retire until *after* a match
- let opponent believe I am never giving up
- somewhere minute 26:00 is a part that explains (to me) why Tashi Duncan helped coach Patrick near the end of Challengers, lol—GREAT TENNIS
- ~18:50 a checklist of things to pack in tennis bag
- ch. 3 stretching for success

Wish I had read this years ago, and i probably should read it again in a few years. I just wish that there was more useful help in the section about dealing with mental games being played by the opponent in un-refereed matches.