Tennis's Heritage
Everything about tennis, except its essential rules, has changed from the way it was played 100 years ago, when balls, clothes, players and spectators all were white. Andre Agassi's baggy shorts and Serena Williams' bright, skintight halter tops are the latest fashion, far cries from the days when decorum[1] demanded pleated white trousers and ankle-length dresses.
Women routinely serve at 110 mph, rather than merely plopping[2] the ball in safely with spin. Pete Sampras serves more aces[3] in a match than turn-of-the-century players did in a season.
Middle class professionals, not upper class amateurs, rule the courts, and hundreds of thousands of dollars, not merely silver cups and platters, are at stake[4] at the majors.
The Grand Slam events, once small, provincial affairs, now boast multiple stadiums and draw tens of thousands of fans each day, along with worldwide television audiences and millions in corporate sponsorships[5].
Rackets are bigger, lighter and stronger, crafted from space-age composites rather than wood. The once ubiquitous[6] racket press, with its nuts and bolts and washers in four corners to keep wooden rackets from warping, is a curiosity found only in antique shops. Optic yellow balls made white ones obsolete 30 years ago.
Even the lawn in "lawn tennis" has disappeared, except for Wimbledon and a few other events, replaced by hardcourts and clay.
Although a few wrinkles in the rules have come along, most notably the tiebreaker, tennis still has the same quaint scoring -- love, 15, 30, 40, deuce, advantage. The dimensions of the court and the height of the net haven't budged. Faults and double-faults bedevil[7] players today as they always have.
Cyclops[8], the electronic eye, guards the service lines at the bigger tournaments, but linesmen still squat in every corner of the court and matches still are called by the umpires perched high in their chairs.
The pride of tennis, and its curse, through the century has been its heritage as a sport of the upper crust.
注釋?zhuān)?/p>
1.Decorum：
禮貌;高雅的舉止;得體的行為
2.plop：
象聲詞，是"撲通"一聲落下的意思。
3.Ace：
發(fā)球得分。
4.at stake：
瀕臨危險(xiǎn);得失攸關(guān)。
5.Sponsorships：
贊助者的地位，任務(wù)等。
6.ubiquitous：
十分普遍的
7.bedevil:
使迷惑
8.Cyclop：
獨(dú)眼，電子眼
