Tennis books for Christmas

Cash shows his sensitive side and goes head-to-head with a remorseful McEnroe

Serve-and-volleying at his best, Pat Cash was one of the finest sights in tennis, and he was often at his best in adversity. Injuries that would have caused some of his peers to think twice before hitting a ball again seemed to galvanise Cash's spirit, whether he was competing on his own behalf or playing his heart out for Australia in the Davis Cup.

Outwardly rugged and aggressive, Cash turns out to be a more sensitive soul than most of us would have imagined without reading his autobiography, Uncovered (Greenwater Publishing, £17.99), written in collaboration with the British tennis journalist Barry Flatman.

Unable to take criticism, Cash avoided reading newspapers or watching televised coverage of his matches and seethed when spectators called out "Come on, Pat!", even if the voice was his father's. Cash misinterpreted words of encouragement as implications that he was not trying hard enough. He told more than one supporter to shut up and step on court if they thought he could do better.

An Australian sports psychologist, Jeff Bond, advised Cash to create an imaginary cage around the court, and this defence mechanism helped ease the player's paranoia. Cash memorably broke through his invisible cage after winning the men's singles title at Wimbledon in 1987 and clambered over rows of spectators to rejoice with his family, friends and back-up team in the players' box.

People's heads were not going to stop Cash then, and he is not averse to trampling a few egos now. Ivan Lendl, his vanquished opponent in the Wimbledon final, John Newcombe, an Australian tennis icon, and Greg Rusedski, the British No 2, whose visit to Cash's tennis academy in Queensland ended in acrimony, are among the flowers crushed between the pages of the book.

The tone of certain passages is reminiscent of Sir Alex Ferguson and Roy Keane and Cash provides fascinating material from page one until he waves his chequered headband to signal the finish.

Cash Uncovered goes head-to-head on the bookshelves with Serious, by John McEnroe with James Kaplan (Little, Brown, £17.99). Many of those entranced by McEnroe, the peerless tennis commentator, may be too young to have seen and heard the New Yorker at his best and worst on court. McEnroe's combustible mixture of talent and temperament was compelling, and he knew that as well as the tournament directors knew it.

McEnroe knew how far he could go with his bad behaviour, or at least he thought he did until he miscalculated the penalty code and was disqualified at the 1990 Australian Open. McEnroe still insists that he did not realise the procedure had been reduced to three offences instead of four. Irrespective of that, McEnroe's foul-mouthed comment to the Grand Slam supervisor was reason enough for him to be shown the door.

Then, as ever, McEnroe was remorseful. He is remorselessly remorseful, and probably more amusing than he realises as he takes readers on a retrospective tour of his life and times. It is an entertaining journey.

The Book of Tennis by Chris Bowers (JWM Publishing, £15) is a gem, a welcome and timely addition to the sport's works of reference, colourfully illustrated, informative, and fun. The author is a freelance journalist from Cheshire, and the editor is Jeff Wayne, the American musician best known for his version of "War of the Worlds". Wayne once partnered Roger Taylor at the European veterans championships and this year completed 12 seasons as Hertfordshire county men's captain. Bowers and Wayne share a passion for tennis which shows on every page. And the latest edition includes a bonus five-page update.

Wimbledon is well served as usual by John Parsons' text and the photography of Clive Brunskill, Mike Hewitt, Al Bello, Phil Cole and Warren Little of Allsport-Getty Images. They combine to make The Official Wimbledon Annual 2002 (Hazelton Publishing, £22) a splendid souvenir of The Championships, from Pete Sampras versus Martin Lee on day one to Serena Williams and Lleyton Hewitt in their Sunday best with the singles trophies as guests of honour at The Savoy.

Alan Little, honourary librarian of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum, is a meticulous custodian of the history of The Championships. His Wimbledon Compendium 2002 (All England Lawn Tennis Club, £11) is in its 12th year of publication and provides the answer to just about everything you would wish to know about the world's most prestigious tournament.