John McPhee’s classic, Levels of the Game, is a short book about a 1968 tennis match between Arthur Ashe and Clark Graebner. It expands from the narrative of the match into the stories of the men’s lives and their contrasting, excellent styles of tennis. Early on, McPhee notes that “it must have cost at least two hundred thousand dollars to produce this scene—to develop the two young men and to give them the equipment, the travel, and the experience necessary for a rise to this level.” Developing players of such tremendous ability costs more than most families can afford. McPhee writes: “The expense has been shared by parents, sponsors, tournament committees, the Davis Cup Team, and the United States Lawn Tennis Association, and by resort hotels, sporting-goods companies, Coca-Cola, and other interested commercial supporters.” An excellent tennis player, or a person who excels in anything, is almost always the product of support and influence from their family and from beyond it.
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