HOT CORNER

A consumer’s guide to the best and worst of sports media and merchandise. Ground rules: If it can be read, played, heard, observed, worn, viewed, dialed or downloaded, it’s in play here. One exception: No products will be endorsed.

What: “Tennis’s Most Wanted”

Author: Floyd Conner

Publisher: Brassey’s Inc.of Dulles, Va.

Price: $12.95

King Louis X of France died after catching a bad chill when he drank an urn of ice-cold water following a strenuous match in 1316.

It could have been worse. In those days, tennis players were sometimes killed when they were struck in the head with the hard leather balls used at the time.

These are the kind of intriguing stories Floyd Conner offers in his book, “Tennis’s Most Wanted: The Top 10 Book of Baseline Blunders, Clay Court Wonders, and Lucky Lobs.”

Besides the well-documented “Battle of the Sexes,” the numerous tirades of John McEnroe, or the achievements of Chris Evert, who won 18 Grand Slam women’s singles titles, there are hundreds of more unfamiliar stories in the 70 sections of Top 10 lists in this 304-page paperback.

After opening with an entertaining history of the game, which includes King Louis’ plight, and the fact that the modern game of lawn tennis was invented in Britain in the 1870s, Conner delves into more recent topics.

There’s the story of Renee Richards, who played in the 1955 U.S. Open as a man and--after a sex-change operation--as a woman in 1977.

There’s tidbits such as this one: Pete Sampras owns a record 13 Grand Slam men’s singles titles, but not one French Open title.

And this one: Richard Williams--no, not that Richard Williams--won U.S. singles titles in 1914 and 1916 after surviving the Titanic disaster of 1912.

Some Top 10 lists include “Teen Phenoms,” “Marathon Matches,” “Court Artists,” “Classic Collapses,” and “Love Matches,” to name a few.

“Most Wanted” books are also available on the Olympics, golf, football, baseball, and, soon to come, hockey.