TENNIS


A Choose the best word to fill each gap in this article:

     1. a, strangest                b, most exciting       c, funniest

     2. a, unknown                 b, recent                  c, unimportant

     3. a, passionate              b, emotional            c, irrational

     4. a, training session      b, tournament          c, race

     5. a, failing                      b, giving                   c, losing

     6. a, sign                         b, signature             c, mark

     7. a, beat                         b, defeat                  c, fault


Hingis Beaten by Girl Wonder From Down Under

     Wimbledon witnessed one of the _________(1) events in its 122-year history after top seed and
world number one Martina Hingis was defeated in her opening game by the ________(2) Australian
player Jelena Dokic, ranked 129^th in the world.

     Dokic, who is of Serbian origin, said after her victory: “I still can´t believe I´ve beaten
her. It´s a big win for me, especially in the first round, coming from qualifying, but I thought I
played quite well and I´m happy that I´ve won.” Moments after her defeat, Hingis revealed that she
was playing under the _________(3) strain and pressure and indicated that she needed a break from
the game.

      Hingis also revealed that she had decided to attend Wimbledon without her mother and coach
Melanie Molitor because they needed some time apart from each other, after the tension of the last
few weeks. Yesterday´s match was the first time that the Swiss player´s mother was not present at a
________(4) where her daughter was playing.

     Hingis, aged 18, who has earned around $ 10m during her career, said: “I think I need to take
some time off. Take a break and recover again.”

     Martina was criticised by the public and fellow players for her behaviour at the French Open,
where she stopped playing when ______(5) a match to Steffi Graf. She commented on the event: “I was
probably too nervous, not much believing what I can do or not. “… “I want to try it by myself here
(at Wimbledon) and she (my mother) wanted to do her things. We decided to have a little bit of
distance, as I said before, and probably work a bit more on our private lives.” News of the
separation is seen as a ________(6) of Hingis´s emotional problems.

     Many like Hingis have known little else other than tennis throughout their lives and are under
constant pressure from their pushy parents and coaches to compete at tournaments and win. Martina
began playing tennis at the age of seven and was the youngest-ever player to win a grand slam
tournament when she became the Australian Open champion at the age of 16.

     Despite the _______(7), Hingis said, she didn´t want to break off all professional links with
her mother and find a new coach: “We are going to talk about it and then we will make some more
decisions. But right now, I need a break.”


B  Answer these questions:

1.    Where was Hingis beaten by Jelena Dokic?

2.    Why did she lose the match?

3.    Why was she criticised after the French Open?

4.    What kind of relationship does she have with her mother?

5.    How are they going to solve their problem?



C Explain the meaning of the following expressions:

     Top seed       strain       to indicate       to reveal        pushy