Venus Envy

By Joel Stein

Wertheim, a SPORTS ILLUSTRATED writer, does more than deliver incredible access to the women's tennis circuit. By taking us through the entire 2000 season--when Venus finally dominated the sport--he lets you know what it feels like to be on the tour. Not just the fans, money and amazing backbiting between players, but, without ever saying it, the grueling monotony and loneliness of being an itinerant athlete. But he also fits in the drama of a play-by-play and the tension of the locker room. And he includes priceless bits of Anna-tude, like when Kournikova, at a Wimbledon press conference sponsored by Berlei bras, which endorses her, responded to a question about her engagement with "My private life is private. I'm here to talk about my bras."

--By Joel Stein