BBC隨身英語:英國網球選手

How Good Are They? 他們的水平到底怎樣？

The Wimbledon Tennis Championships are famous around the world, with players from many different countries taking part. China’s most successful women’s international players at the moment, Zheng Jie and Li Na, will be playing in the tournament.

So, what about the British players? The last time a British player won the tournament was in 1977 when Virginia Wade won the Women’s Singles title. However, in 2006, there are no high-profile British women tennis players. It’s the men who are the most successful.

There are three major British male players playing at an international level at the moment. The most successful in the past has been Tim Henman. He has reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon four times, but he has failed to make the next step to the finals. In 2002 he was seeded fourth in the world.

Unfortunately for Tim though, he has been unable to regain his form to this high level. He has received a lot of criticism in the press for being unable to win any tournaments, in spite of his high ranking internationally.

In recent years Tim has slipped to 62 in the world rankings. He is also 31 years old so he is no longer as young or as fit as he used be. But as long as he continues to play, the British people will always get behind him and hope that he can succeed at Wimbledon.

Greg Rusedski is another famous British men’s singles player. He was born in Canada but his mother is British, so he has chosen to be a British citizen and represent Britain in the tennis. He was also seeded fourth back in 1997 and has only ever reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon. He is currently the highest ranking British player, but he has never really been a contender for the Wimbledon title.

Britain’s biggest tennis hope is 19-year-old Andrew Murray from Scotland. He hasn’t been playing for very long, and he has had a few injuries which might have held him back, but he is currently ranked 45th, above Tim Henman. He has played well in tournaments in other countries over the past year and he is probably Britain’s biggest hope to succeed at Wimbledon sometime soon. Come on Andrew!

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GLOSSARY 詞滙表

Wimbledon Tennis Championships 溫佈爾登網球公開賽

Women's Singles 女子單打

high-profile 知名度高的

semi-finals 半決賽

to regain his form 恢複狀態

ranking 排名

get behind 落後

quarter-finals 四分之一決賽

Britain's biggest tennis hope 英國網球希望之星

held him back 阻止(他)

tournament 比賽, 錦標賽

title 頭啣, 冠軍

major 主要的

seeded 種子(選手)

criticism 批評

slipped 下滑

British citizen 英國公民

contender 競爭者；角逐者

injuries 傷病

come on! 加油