Charlie Pasarell: Serving First Dreams Realized and Lessons Learned from Family, Friends and a Life in Tennis

Charlie Pasarell’ s journey began on the sunlit courts of Puerto Rico and carried him all the way to tennis’ s grandest stages, like Wimbledon’ s Centre Court. Along the way, he played record-setting matches, led history-making protests, and became part of the game’ s most defining stories. In Serving First, the Tennis Hall of Famer shares a deeply human collection of stories about the people who shaped him— his tennis-champion parents; lifelong friends like Arthur Ashe; and legends like Pancho Gonzalez, who mentored Pasarell and later faced him in a five-hour Wimbledon epic. The 1967 U.S. No. 1, NCAA champion, and a five-time Davis Cup team member, Pasarell also co-founded the ATP, launched the National Junior Tennis League, and built the tennis tournament in Indian Wells into one of the sport’ s biggest events. But this memoir is about far more than stats or titles. It’ s a story of character, purpose, and moments that leave a mark— from traveling to Vietnam during the war to time spent with Robert F. Kennedy. Woven throughout are the words of wisdom from his father and Pasarell’ s lessons from a life grounded in love— for family, friendship, and the game that gave it all meaning.

Joel Drucker is one of the world’ s preeminent tennis historians. Over the last 40 years, his stories have appeared in dozens of media outlets, including the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, HBO, CBS, Tennis Channel, Tennis.com, Racquet, and The Second Serve. Two of his pieces have been cited in the annual anthology, The Best American Sports Writing. He is also the historian-at-large for the International Tennis Hall of Fame, was inducted into the Northern California Tennis Hall of Fame in 2024, and is the author of two prior books, Jimmy Connors Saved My Life and Don’ t Bet on It. Charlie Pasarell is a celebrated athlete and visionary leader who helped shape the modern era of tennis— on and off the court. A member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame and an NCAA champion at UCLA, Pasarell was the nation’ s No. 1 ranked player in 1967 and played five years for the U.S. Davis Cup team. Off the court, Pasarell became one of tennis’ s most influential change-makers, co-founding the National Junior Tennis League and helped launch the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Pasarell transformed the modern-day BNP Paribas Open into one of tennis’ s premier events.

Table of Contents Prologue 1. The Ecstasy & the Agony 2. The Most Divine Creation 3. A Boy and His Dreams 4. What’ s an Education? 5. Off to See the World 6. The Whirlwind 7. The Love of My Life 8. A Tale of Two Wimbledons 9. The Transition Game 10. A Beautiful Moment 11. Arthur 12. Children and Parents 13. The Power of Positive Thinking 14. Tears of Joy Acknowledgments An Afterword