Through the remarkable device of projecting

Niccolo Machiavelli s power principles onto the

game of tennis, Dr. Sianon Ramo shows the

average player how to improve his or her game

significantly. According to Machiavelli, the es-

sence of success is outthinking your opponent

and exploiting his weaknesses, and as Dr. Ramo

proves, nowhere does this philosophy work bet-

ter than on the tennis court.

Most "tenniseers" believe that emulating the

technique of top players is the sure, st route to

winning a match, but Dr. Ramo shows that this

approach leads only to disaster for the player uf

ordinary ability. He urges players to stop

attempting to ape prowess they simply don t

possess, and to cultivate instead the special

powers they do have but often fail to use

intelligence, psychological insight, and, of

course, the ability to execute the occasional

sneaky move.

This book is devoted exclusively to doubles,

because it is the only form of the game the

author considers to be within the capabilities

of ordinary players, particularly those over

thirty-five. Dr. Ramo analyzes every aspect of

the game and shows how, from the beginning

warm-up to the final volleys, une must always

be on the watch for weaknesses in an oppo-

nent s position or playing, and be able to ex-

ploit these weaknesses to win points without

great power plays or miraculous saves.