VOA标准英语2009年-Serena Williams Wins Season-Ending WTA Tou

By Phillip Walter Wellman
Doha
02 November 2009

 
Serena Williams, right, holds trophy¹ after winning singles final against Venus Williams, left, in Doha, 01 Nov 2009
Serena Williams has won the WTA Championships in Doha by defeating the defending champion, her sister Venus Williams, in straight sets.

Serena Williams is truly on top of the tennis world. Not only has she won the season-ending event here in Doha, but she will also finish the year as the world's number one player.
 
Her last match of the season put her up against older sister Venus for the 22nd time in their careers, and both players came on court looking strong.

But things would soon change.

After just two games, Serena managed to break Venus' serve. Two games later she did it again and eventually went on to take the first set 6-2 with a minimal² amount of effort.

Venus picked up her play in the second set. She improved her serve and made fewer unforced errors, but could not dominate³ play. The second set went to a tiebreak. Serena worked her way to an early lead and soon found herself at match point.
 
With a winner to the back court she defeated last year's title holder⁴ and won the 2009 WTA Championship, 6-2, 7-6.

After the match Serena admitted it was not easy.

"We definitely weren't physically⁵ one hundred percent out there today, but it just shows you how much we try," she said. "Even in the second set, how hard we just both fought. Especially Venus. She was getting every ball back."
 
Venus says she will not let the loss to Serena discourage her.
 
"I'll just continue to learn from everything and, more than anything, just continue to enjoy what I do," she said.
 
This was the second year the WTA Championships were held in Doha. Qatar also will host the tournament in 2010.

The draw is made up of the top eight players in the world. This year's lineup included four women who had been number one at one point, three Grand Slam champions and four who had been to at least one major final.

Caroline Wozniacki was one of two players participating in the championships for the first time.

The 19-year-old Dane won over the crowds with her will to win, fighting off severe cramps⁶ to defeat Victoria Azarenka and Vera Zvonareva in the two longest matches of the tournament. But her body was unable to take much more and she ended up retiring in the semifinals after losing a set to Serena Williams.

Despite the loss, she says the experience was invaluable⁷.

"I learned that I'm a huge fighter and that impossible is nothing, and next time I step on the court I'll try to play even better than I did here," Wozniacki said.
 
Wozniacki was one of four women forced to withdraw from the tournament because of injuries, raising familiar concerns that the women of the WTA tour are overworked.  However, former U.S. Open champion Tracy Austin thinks the problem was more due to the location of the tournament than the WTA schedule.
 
"I think the WTA has done a wonderful job of shortening⁸ the season already," Austin said. "And I think it's going to be beneficial to the players. But I think also the heat and the humidity⁹, with two players cramping¹⁰, was a struggle because they lost so much water and it was so humid. You could just see Jankovic wring¹¹ her hair out and Dementieva wring her sweat band out and so I think that added to the issues."

Jelena Jankovic, the fourth player in the semis besides Wozniacki and the Williams sisters, admits the conditions were tough.
 
"Our dresses are completely soaked and my hair is full of sweat, so when I'm serving sweat is going all over the place," Jankovic said.

Champion Serena Williams will take home more than $1.5 million from Doha, but the fairy-tale ending to her year could all change next month.

That's when the WTA will decide on the penalty¹² she will get for apparently¹³ threatening a line judge at this year's U.S. Open in New York. A ban from next year's tournament is apparently a possibility.

1 trophy   

n.优胜旗，奖品，奖杯，战胜品，纪念品

参考例句：

• The cup is a cherished trophy of the company.那只奖杯是该公司很珍惜的奖品。
• He hung the lion's head as a trophy.他把那狮子头挂起来作为狩猎纪念品。

2 minimal   

adj.尽可能少的，最小的

参考例句：

• They referred to this kind of art as minimal art.他们把这种艺术叫微型艺术。
• I stayed with friends, so my expenses were minimal.我住在朋友家，所以我的花费很小。

3 dominate   

v.支配，统治，高出，俯视，在...中占首地位

参考例句：

• They had the ambition to dominate this small country.他们有控制这个小国的野心。
• The strong usually dominate over the weak.强者常常支配弱者。

4 holder   

n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物

参考例句：

• The holder of the office of chairman is reponsible for arranging meetings.担任主席职位的人负责安排会议。
• That runner is the holder of the world record for the hundred-yard dash.那位运动员是一百码赛跑世界纪录的保持者。

5 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

6 cramps   

n. 抽筋, 腹部绞痛, 铁箍 adj. 狭窄的, 难解的 v. 使...抽筋, 以铁箍扣紧, 束缚

参考例句：

• If he cramps again let the line cut him off. 要是它再抽筋，就让这钓索把它勒断吧。
• "I have no cramps." he said. “我没抽筋，"他说。

7 invaluable   

adj.无价的，非常宝贵的，极为贵重的

参考例句：

• A computer would have been invaluable for this job.一台计算机对这个工作的作用会是无法估计的。
• This information was invaluable to him.这个消息对他来说是非常宝贵的。

8 shortening   

n.缩针，简写；酥油/雪白奶油v.弄短，缩短( shorten的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Instead, sarcomere shortening occurs when the thin filaments'slide" by the thick filaments. 此外，肌节的缩短发生于细肌丝沿粗肌丝“滑行”之际。 来自辞典例句
• Use peanut or safflower oil or solid vegetable shortening for frying. 用花生或红花油，或者食用油来起酥。 来自互联网

9 humidity   

n.湿度，潮湿，湿气

参考例句：

• The house is not comfortable tonight ,because of the high humidity.由于湿度高，今晚屋子里不舒服。
• It's difficult to work because of the humidity.由于空气潮湿，工作很困难。

10 cramping   

图像压缩

参考例句：

• The bleeding may keep my left hand from cramping. 淌血会叫我的左手不抽筋。
• This loss of sodium can cause dehydration and cramping. 钠流失会造成脱水和抽筋。

11 wring   

n.扭绞；v.拧，绞出，扭

参考例句：

• My socks were so wet that I had to wring them.我的袜子很湿，我不得不拧干它们。
• I'll wring your neck if you don't behave!你要是不规矩，我就拧断你的脖子。

12 penalty   

n.处罚，刑罚，罚款

参考例句：

• If you knock the ball with your hand in football,you will suffer a penalty.如果在踢足球时你用手碰到球，你将受到处罚。
• One of those arrested could face the death penalty.被捕的那些人中有一人可能被判死刑。

13 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。