Charlie Pasarell Revisits a Remarkable Tennis Life

Charlie Pasarell has spent more than six decades helping shape tennis as a player, organizer, tournament executive and advocate for the sport. Now the International Tennis Hall of Famer is telling that story in his new autobiography, Serving First: Dreams Realized and Lessons Learned from Family, Friends, and a Life in Tennis.

Published by New Chapter Press and written with tennis historian Joel Drucker, the book traces Pasarell’s journey from the courts of Puerto Rico to some of the biggest stages and most consequential moments in tennis history.

Pasarell was the No. 1-ranked American in 1967, won NCAA singles and doubles championships at UCLA and represented the United States in Davis Cup competition. His playing career also included one of Wimbledon’s most celebrated matches, a 5-hour, 12-minute battle with Pancho Gonzales in 1969 that stood as the tournament’s longest match for more than four decades.

Photo courtesy of New Chapter Media

His influence, however, extended well beyond his own results. Pasarell was among the figures who helped establish the Association of Tennis Professionals in 1972 and, alongside Arthur Ashe and Sheridan Snyder, helped launch the National Junior Tennis League in 1969. He later became one of the driving forces behind the growth of the tournament at Indian Wells, serving as tournament director from 1981 through 2009 and helping turn it into one of the sport’s signature events.

Serving First also moves beyond Pasarell’s résumé. The book explores his family, his upbringing in Puerto Rico, his friendship with Ashe and relationships with many of the players and personalities who defined tennis during its transition from the amateur era into the modern professional game.

“I’m very happy to have had the chance in this book to celebrate so many family members and friends who have all been part of a journey filled with exciting adventures,” Pasarell said. “From Puerto Rico to UCLA to the growth of tennis in the Open era in the revolutionary ‘60s and into the 21st century, I’m happy to have been a part of it so long and loved revisiting all of these incredible moments and wonderful people.”

Photo courtesy of New Chapter Media

One chapter, simply titled “Arthur,” examines Pasarell’s lifelong friendship with Ashe. The two first competed against one another as teenagers, later became teammates at UCLA and remained close throughout Ashe’s life. The book also revisits the night before the 1975 Wimbledon final, when Pasarell, Fred McNair and Donald Dell met with Ashe and helped formulate the strategy Ashe would use to upset defending champion Jimmy Connors.

Billie Jean King, Stan Smith and Dell are among the prominent figures who endorsed the memoir. King described Pasarell as “a central figure in tennis history and a leader of the transitional generation who took tennis from amateur to professional.”

Serving First is available as a hardcover from New Chapter Press and as an ebook, with the hardcover priced at $34.95.

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By Florida Tennis Staff. Sources: New Chapter Press; International Tennis Hall of Fame; Wimbledon

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