北师大版高中英语必修1Unit2 学案Serena Shades Up.doc

serena shades up (by richard p)the usta brands its u.s. open series as the greatest road trip in sports. serena williams has spent the past six months spinning her wheels stuck in a self-imposed rankings pothole. but after watching williams surge past second-seeded anastasia myskina with a serve that reached a scorching 127 mph in cincinnati on tuesday night and seeing her hit harder than a demolition derby driver suffering from a severe case of road rage in last nights 6-3, 6-1 victory over bethanie mattek, opponents may soon demand the installation of speed bumps in service boxes of the blue u.s. open series courts to slow the woman who was once the driving force on the wta tour. in a commanding comeback performance, williams blew by the 11th-ranked russian as if she were a hitchhiker stranded on the side of the expressway in a 6-2, 6-2, rout that spanned just 56 minutes. i was surprised, said the 2004 french open champion, who dropped to 0-5 lifetime against williams. after six months, its pretty hard to play (ones) first match. but she was pretty pumped. serena hit the ball really hard. idling for six months, williams has returned to the wta tour revving her competitive engine in treating two opponents like road kill. the rest of the tour is already taking notice. its great to see her back and playing well, martina hingis, six months into her own comeback, told tennis week today. definitely, everyone was surprised about her easy win against myskina. it was good to see that. the serena who looked lost, outclassed, out of shape and out of sorts in her last match prior to cincinnati a 6-1, 7-6(5) setback to daniela hantuchova in the third round of januarys australian open has been supplanted by a streamlined serena who has reached the western & southern financial womens open quarterfinals looking like shes competing with her own personal map quest: she has a desired destination and the direction to reach it. in recent years, serenas concept of a pushing herself in a workout was pressing her right foot down on the accelerator of the golf cart she was driving while yelling encouragement to older sister venus during her daily runs. serenas size seem to grow faster than gas prices during her sporadic appearances on court last year. no longer on conditioning cruise control, williams sleeker, stronger shape is a result of agility drills, sprints, plyometrics and constantly hugging her new closest companion the medicine ball shes lifted more times than the title trophies she once raised during her days of dominance. i feel more in shape, williams said after beating mattek last night. ive been doing a lot of work off court. hopefully itll pay off, because i hate it. though williams says she has not stepped on a scale since she was a kid, shes clearly shed some weight, which will certainly take the strain off her surgically-repaired left knee which has periodically pained her. if she can remain committed to fitness and retain her desire to play a consistent schedule and continue improving, williams will undoubtedly be on the fast track to the upper reaches of the rankings. i definitely expected to keep improving, making leaps and bounds, to play better tennis, williams said. i think theres definitely some rust there still. im not trying to be cocky or conceited. i expect that all the time. whether i win or not, theres always ways you can improve. wait a minute, you may be thinking, weve heard all this before: williams declares her desire to commit to tennis only to disappear from tournament draws for long stretches and appear disinterested in the sport she once dominated when she did deign to grace an event with her presence. two victories in a tier iii tournament are hardly an accurate gauge of any womans level of play, particularly one who has spent less time on court in recent months than the streaker who skipped across the centre court lawn, but the 139th-ranked wild card made significant strides in answering the questions surrounding her competitive with a statement win over a former grand slam champion in myskina, who reached the wimbledon quarterfinals last month and pushed eventual champion amelie mauresmo to three sets before bowing. while williams will only truly shake off the competitive rust by playing a consistent schedule, the mere fact that shes shown up in shape for the first time since she played with guts and grits in defeating maria sharapova and lindsay davenport in succession to capture the 2005 australian open is an encouraging sign. prior to launching her comeback in cincinnati, williams said clearing her mind, confronting personal issues and regaining her resolve were crucial components in preparing for her return. i honestly just needed a mental break, williams told the media in a 20-minute conference call. i ended up going through a lot of stuff in my life beside surgery and including surgery and then it was a lot a lot that i dont think that anyone will ever understand or ever know. i was taking on a lot and then i was playing and i wasnt mentally ready to play and i think that had an affect on my knee. and i think i just needed to take some time to clear my mind, really get in shape and realize what i really like to do, which is play tennis. its what i like to do and like i said, i believe its what i do best. once i was able to do that, i was able to move forward. hingis, who like williams endured surgery and indulged her desire to explore life experiences outside of tennis, can relate to the woman who won seven of their 13 career clashes, including a 6-3, 7-6(4) victory in the 1999 u.s. open final. the former world no. 1 said the physical demands and mental strain of playing the professional circuit today sometimes requires players to pull off the road for a while and recharge in their own personal rest areas before deciding what professional path to pursue. i think it just really drains you, hingis said. it takes a lot out of you the whole year playing tournaments. everyone expects you to do well when youre a number one you could see (staying on top is tough): after me it was like one year venus, one year jennifer, one year serena, one year lindsay. its just hard to maintain the top level the entire time because your body and everything just wears out. just playing the matches in tournaments to the end of the week, you play a lot of tennis. i think sometimes it is the combination of a lot of things. if you can last long enough over the years, then thats already a huge success. williams will to win once shes actually on court has seldom been in doubt; it is her ability to remain fit, focused and interested enough in tennis play for sustained stretches that has been questioned. there is the perception she treats tennis as a pit-stop en route to a different career track and her habit of withdrawing from tournament after tournament did little to alter that perception. the fact is, even when she was at her peak, williams seldom played an extensive schedule. the designing diva who dominated tennis in winning five of the six grand slam tournaments she entered from 2002-2003, entered only 20 tournaments in that two-year span of superiority. granted, her 2003 season was cut short by surgery she underwent on her left knee on august 1, 2003, but williams has never played more than 13 tournaments in a single season and she reached that mark just once: in 2002 when she registered a career-best 56-5 record. since shes never shown the inclination to play a full schedule, its ludicrous to expect that trend to change at this stage of her career. williams will always be a player driven to perform her best in major matches on the games greatest stages; grinding through an entire season is as exciting to her as the prospect of dating a crash test dummy. while you can argue williams may be at her best playing 12 to 14 tournaments a year, its inarguable that her absence for sustained stretches diminishes the exposure for a tour that requires her star power and cross-over appeal to continue the growth wta tour ceo larry scott has charted. whether you love her or loath her, theres no ignoring the fact williams one of tennis top draws. williams win over davenport in the 2005 australian open final remains espn2s most highly-viewed match, reaching an estimated 1.35 million homes. in a recent harris poll, venus and serena occupied the top two sports in the top 10 list of americas favorite female sports stars. williams herself has remarked when casual tennis fans approach her on in public they sometimes operate on the mistaken assumption shes still no. 1 in the world. the dilemma the tour faces is the future hall of famer has just not always been interested in playing much tennis. the seven-time grand slam champion has played five matches this year after producing a 21-7 record in 2005. since she beat davenport to win the 2005 australian open, serena has posted a 17-8 record over the past 17 months; her inactivity has prompted her ranking to plummet to no. 139. fifteen americans are now ranked higher than williams, including her quarterfinal opponent tonight, 56th-ranked amy frazier. so why should you believe williams is on track to make it back to the top 10? because at her best, shes still capable of being the worlds best player maybe not for an entire season but certainly when it matters most: in the two-week trek that is a grand slam tournament. williams inactivity means she has less mileage on her body than other top players, she still owns the best serve in the sport the shot that fueled her ferocious attack by enabling her to rip returns without conscience or concern of losing her own serve and when shes sharp there is no other woman who plays as big and as bold. the question is: has she rediscovered the desire that once made her the worlds best player. for the best gauge of williams desire watch her wheels. while her power and strength have always been distinguishing features of a formidable game, williams court coverage has long been one of the key components to her success. prior to the williams sisters bursting onto the wta tour there were women who hit groundstrokes just as hard as they did monica seles, lindsay davenport and mary pierce to name a few but the sisters were the first women to combine power and speed into an explosive package. the game plan against davenport, pierce and seles was to make them hit on the run and exploit their movement, but in their prime, the williams sisters sometimes hit even more penetrating shots and more acute angles when striking the ball on the move. for all the emphasis on the importance of power in womens tennis, speed is an essential element in the success of the top three women in the world: amelie mauresmo, kim clijsters and justine henin-hardenne. williams is well aware that regaining her quickness is the key to igniting her return to prominence on the tour. i think i can still be faster not necessarily faster but quicker, williams said. i feel theres some (room for) improvement there. interestingly, at age 24, williams is three years younger than mauresmo, the same age as henin-hardenne and a year older than clijsters. but williams owns more grand slam titles than all three of the top three. in fact, williams seven career major championships matches henin-hardenne (five), mauresmo (two), and clijsters (one) combined career output. mauresmo is just starting to hit her stride, clijsters is considering retiring within two years, henin-hardenne has repeatedly discussed the need to scale back her schedule to save her strength for the majors, maria sharapova has not reached a major final since she dethroned williams in the 2004 wimbledon