Double Fault

Overview

Author Biography

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Press Releases

How many professional athletes have to be extradited back to the United States to face an international arrest warrant?
In the 1970s, millions of tennis players around the world wanted to be Roscoe Tanner. But by the summer of 2003, he was simply a wanted man-wanted on an international warrant that resulted in his arrest and incarceration in a German jail before being extradited back to the United States to face charges. He would eventually serve a 10-month prison term.

Double Fault: My Rise and Fall, and My Road Back by Roscoe Tanner with Mike Yorkey is a confessional story that reads like fiction; but this is his true story and one that he hopes will provide a warning to anyone-not just an athlete-who thinks \"That can\'t happen to me.\"

How did Tanner go from being ranked No. 4 in the world, dueling the greatest tennis players to ever live on the sport\'s biggest stages-Wimbledon, the U.S. Open-to lying to police in several countries to avoid jail?

It\'s a complicated story and not easily summed up in a simple press release, but it includes: years of one-night stands with groupies, a private fortune amassed and then lost, multiple failed marriages/relationships, multiple alimonies/child support payments that couldn\'t be paid, multiple business plans that fizzled, a failed disco, cocaine, a pregnant \"escort\" in New York, a $39,000 boat, a bad check, working for $35 per tennis lesson, fleeing to Europe for a last chance, the pounding on the door by two German detectives that led to an involuntary stay in the Karlsruhe jail and the Rev. Robert Schuller.

It was a long fall for the former Wimbledon finalist. But he swore to get his life back on track and to make amends for what he has done to many people.

Double Fault is Tanner\'s story-arrests, cons, lies, and all-and he wants to share it with others to prove that when you hit bottom you can still pick yourself up, dust yourself off and keep moving forward.
About the Authors

Roscoe Tanner was one of professional tennis\'s strongest left-handed players during his years on the men\'s professional circuit from 1972-84. The two highlights of his career were winning a Grand Slam singles championship at the Australian Open in 1977 and losing to Bjorn Borg in the first \"Breakfast at Wimbledon\" final in 1979. After his professional career ended, Tanner played briefly on the senior tour before becoming a tennis instructor for the next generation of players.
Mike Yorkey has authored, coauthored, or collaborated on 50 books, including Holding Serve by Michael Chang; In His Court by Betsy Nagelsen McCormack; and Up, Up, and Away with Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. He lives in the San Diego area.