Double Fault: My Rise and Fall, and My Road Back

by Mike Yorkey, Stan Smith, Roscoe Tanner

Book Overview

A confessional story that reads like fiction, this is the true story of a famed tennis star who went from being ranked fourth in the world, dueling the sport's greatest players to lying to police in... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1572437790
• ISBN13: 9781572437791
• Release Date: September 2005
• Publisher: Triumph Books (IL)
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.4" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Tanner ain't so great

It was surprising to learn what Tanner had to say about himself. He isn't what I perceived him to be and not what he seemed like many years ago. If you remember watching him in the 1970's you'll be interested in the book. Even if you weren't a fan of his it is still worth reading. This is a book with experiences to learn from. Take a look at a man's trials and think about how they relate to yourself.

What Was He Thinking!

As a tennis fan, I enjoyed this book. Is it great literature or life altering? No. But if you want a quick summary of Roscoe's life and enjoyable times in the opening era of professional tennis, it's all here. Raised in an upper middle class background in the South, Roscoe quickly summarizes his early life and influences and how he fell into tennis. Given the incredible amount of work required today to be a professional, it's almost laughable how a talented individual such as Roscoe could stumble into a professional career given that it wasn't the focus of his life as required to survive in today's tennis world. One of the first interesting facts learned was Tanner's recruitment at Stanford. After signing with Tennessee, he eventually goes to Stanford and is considered by some as the most important recruit at the university as at that time UCLA and USC were clearly the best teams in the Pac-8 and the nation. Roscoe and subsequent teammates like Sandy Mayer changed all of that. From a stellar college career Roscoe moves on to the pros with a wife in tow and the thrills of the road overcome his marriage. Ironically, he divorces his wife over a Colorado girlfriend who immediately clarifies that this was only a fling for her, poetic justice at its best. The book becomes somewhat of a whitewash of his extracurricular activity outside of marriage including in passing a call girl encounter that leads to a child. One can only think that this wasn't the first time that the book seems to imply. From there it's a quick downward spiral in to poor investments and dishonesty that end with him in jail and deeply in debt. His stories of jail bring home how this wealthy child/adult could have fallen so far. With a quick credit to religion, Tanner presents a happy ending that one can only roll your eyes at. I wish him the best but it's easier to present your side in a book than actually live it. I did however, recently hit with a pro in Orange County that talked of Roscoe and had nothing but good things to say about his current commitment. I hope that ends up being the case. The most interesting part of the book to this tennis fan was Tanner's description of life on the tour with the other pros. While close to his age, I wasn't aware that Tanner was doubles partner with Arthur Ashe. This brings up many interesting stories and Tanner actually does a better job describing Ashe's personality than he does his own. In closing I would say I really enjoyed this book. Mainly because the subject is of extreme interest. Did the book go into enough depth on Roscoe? Absolutely not and that would be my main disappointment. But it is an enjoyable read of a tennis legend and for me that was enough.