Swiss tennis champion Roger Federer has written his name in tennis’s history books. On Sunday he cruised to his third successive Wimbledon victory, only the third man to win three in a row in modern times. His powerful and brilliant display completely destroyed his opponent, the American Andy Roddick. At the age of 23, Federer is young enough to become one of tennis’s greatest ever players. He has all of the skills necessary to dominate men’s tennis for many years.

Sunday’s final was a display of perfect tennis. Andy Roddick could do nothing to stop the brilliance of the Swiss genius’s play. The 6-2, 7-6, 6-4 win suggests Roddick did not play well. This is untrue. He played incredibly well and fought very hard for every point. Unfortunately for him, it wasn’t good enough against the faultless Federer. Even a delay for rain didn’t break the Swiss master’s flow. He continued his blend of beautiful and destructive tennis to win in three sets.

WARM-UPS

1. SPORTS CHAMP: Imagine you have just won a major world sporting championship. People are saying you are one of the best ever. Decide what your sport is and what you have won. Walk around the class and talk to the other “sports champs” about your sport and your life as a great champion.

2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words are most interesting and which are most boring.

Switzerland / Swiss things / Swiss people / tennis / history books / Wimbledon / brilliance / rain / beauty

Have a chat about the topics you liked. For more conversation, change topics and partners frequently.

3. TENNIS: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with tennis. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

4. TENNIS OPINIONS: Talk about these opinions with your partner(s).

1. Tennis is the world’s greatest sport.
2. Women’s tennis is much more exciting and interesting than men’s tennis.
3. Only rich people can play tennis.
4. Tennis players get paid too much money.
5. Roger Federer is too young to be called one of the greatest ever players.
6. It’s unfair that men get more prize money than women in tennis tournaments.
7. Tennis players have no manners these days.
8. I’d love to be a tennis superstar.

5. SPORTING GREATS: In pairs / groups, talk about which of these sporting champions deserves to be called the best ever in their sport.

Soccer - Pele American Football – Brett Favre Baseball – Joe DiMaggio Tennis – Martina Navratilova

Boxing – Muhammad Ali Golf – Annika Sorenstam F1 – Michael Schumacher Other

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):

a.	A tennis star has broken the record for sailing around the world.	T / F
b.	A tennis ace has won Wimbledon for the third successive time.	T / F
c.	He is the only man to win three titles in a row in modern times.	T / F
d.	The tennis superstar has won all of his last twenty finals.	T / F
e.	His performance was far from perfect.	T / F
f.	The 6-2, 7-6, 6-4 result shows the opponent played very badly.	T / F
g.	A delay for rain broke the champion’s rhythm.	T / F
h.	The champ played some very bland tennis.	T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:

a.	cruised	foe
b.	successive	amazingly
c.	display	flawless
d.	opponent	consecutive
e.	dominate	magnificence
f.	perfect	eased
g.	brilliance	interruption
h.	incredibly	rule
i.	delay	mix
j.	blend	performance

3. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):

a.	written his name in	break the Swiss master’s flow
b.	his third successive	opponent
c.	win three	for many years
d.	completely destroyed his	well
e.	dominate men’s tennis	tennis’s history books
f.	a display of	and destructive tennis
g.	He played incredibly	in a row
h.	fought very hard	perfect tennis
i.	a delay for rain didn’t	Wimbledon victory
j.	his blend of beautiful	for every point

WHILE READING / LISTENING

WHOOPS: There are five incorrect words in each paragraph among those in bold. Find and circle them. Try to think of a better word.

Swiss ace Federer cruises to greatness

Swiss tennis champion Roger Federer has autographed his name in tennis’s history books. On Sunday he cruised to his third successive Wimbledon loss, only the third man to win three in a row in modern times. His powerful and brilliant display completely destroyed his opponent, the American Andy Roddick. At the old of 23, Federer is young enough to become one of tennis’s greatness ever players. He has all of the skills necessary to dominate men’s tennis for many weeks.

Sunday’s final was a display of perfect tennis. Andy Roddick could do nothing to stop the brilliant of the Swiss genius’s play. The 6-2, 7-6, 6-4 win suggests Roddick did not play well. This is untrue. He played incredibly badly and fought very hard for every point. Unfortunately for him, it wasn’t good enough against the faultless Federer. Even a delay for rain didn’t break the Swiss master’s flew. He continued his bland of beautiful and destructive tennis to win in four sets.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘history’ and ‘book’.

• Share your findings with your partners.
• Make questions using the words you found.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

• Share your questions with other classmates / groups.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

3. WHOOPS: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about any relationships between the correct and incorrect words from the activity. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?

4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

5. STUDENT TENNIS SURVEY: In pairs / groups, write down questions about tennis and champions.

• Ask other classmates your questions and note down their answers.
• Go back to your original partner / group and compare your findings.
• Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

6. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall exactly how these were used in the text:

written cruised modern destroyed age dominate

display win incredibly faultless rain beautiful

 DISCUSSION

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

1. What was your initial reaction to this headline?
2. Did the headline make you want to read the story?
3. Do you often read news on tennis?
4. Is tennis one of your favorite sports?
5. Who do you think is the greatest tennis player ever?
6. Do you prefer watching men’s or women’s tennis?
7. What kind of lifestyle do you think tennis stars have?
8. What do you think it’s like to be 23, a world champion and very rich?
9. Is it boring if one player or team dominates a sport?
10. What images do you have when you hear the name ‘Wimbledon’?

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

1. Did you like reading this article?
2. What did you think about what you read?
3. Do you think Roger Federer is one of the greatest ever?
4. Do you like tennis?
5. When was the last time you played tennis?
6. Do you think tennis is a rich person’s sport?
7. Why aren’t there many famous tennis players from developing countries?
8. Do tennis stars get paid too much?
9. Do you think tennis is a tough sport?
10. Did you like this discussion?

AFTER DISCUSSION: Join another partner / group and tell them what you talked about.

1. What question would you like to ask about this topic?
2. What was the most interesting thing you heard?
3. Was there a question you didn’t like?
4. Was there something you totally disagreed with?
5. What did you like talking about?
6. Do you want to know how anyone else answered the questions?
7. Which was the most difficult question?

SPEAKING

INTERVIEW:

Students A are Roger Federer’s public relations agents. You are responsible for making sure Roger’s image stays perfectly clean. He has a press conference tomorrow. You have the questions he’ll be asked. In pairs / groups, think of the perfect answers to make sure Roger’s international image remains perfect.

Students B are scandal-hungry journalists. You are desperate to make Roger say something that will create headlines. He has a press conference tomorrow. The questions you will ask are below. Think of how you can use these questions to make Roger say something that will give you a juicy headline.

QUESTIONS FOR ROGER FEDERER:

1. Why are 95% of top tennis stars white?
2. Is there any racism in tennis?
3. Do you think top tennis stars get paid too much?
4. Will tennis become boring if you keep winning?
5. What do you think when people say you are the greatest ever?
6. Do you think you are unbeatable?
7. What goes through your mind when you prepare for a final?
8. Do you think women’s tennis isn’t as good as men’s tennis?
9. Do you think tennis players should be traditional and always wear white?
10. How tough is playing tennis?
11. Do you have an easy life?
12. Your question ________________________________________________?

Change partners. Role play the interview between the super-clean Roger and the scandal-hungry journalists.

Change partners (find a new Roger / journalist) and repeat the role play.

After you have finished, talk about the role plays and what you thought of each other’s questions and answers.

LISTENING

Listen and fill in the spaces.

Swiss ace Federer cruises to greatness

Swiss tennis champion Roger Federer has written his name in _______ _______ _____. On Sunday he cruised to his _____ __________ Wimbledon victory, only the third man to win _____ __ __ ____ in modern times. His powerful and brilliant display completely _________ ___ ________, the American Andy Roddick. At the age of 23, Federer is young enough to become ____ __ ________ greatest ever players. He has all of the skills necessary to ________ ____ ______ for many years.

Sunday’s final was a _______ __ _______ tennis. Andy Roddick could do nothing to ____ ___ _________ of the Swiss genius’s play. The 6-2, 7-6, 6-4 win suggests Roddick did not play well. This is untrue. He played ________ ___ and fought very hard for every point. _____________ ___ ___, it wasn’t good enough against the faultless Federer. Even __ _____ ____ _____ didn’t break the Swiss _______ ____. He continued his blend of beautiful and destructive tennis to win __ _____ ____.

HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find more information on Roger Federer. Share your findings with your class in the next lesson.

3. THE GREATEST: Create a poster on who you think is the greatest ever sports person. Show your posters to your classmates in your next lesson. Did anyone agree on who is the greatest ever sports person?

4. LETTER: Write a letter to Wimbledon tennis champion Roger Federer. Tell him what you think of his winning Wimbledon for the third successive time. Ask him for advice on how to be a winner. Read your letter to your classmates in your next lesson. Did you all write about similar things?

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a. F

b. T

c. F

d. T

e. F

f. F

g. F

h. F

SYNONYM MATCH:

a.	cruised	eased
b.	successive	consecutive
c.	display	performance
d.	opponent	foe
e.	dominate	rule
f.	perfect	flawless
g.	brilliance	magnificence
h.	incredibly	amazingly
i.	delay	interruption
j.	blend	mix

PHRASE MATCH:

a.	written his name in	tennis’s history books
b.	his third successive	Wimbledon victory
c.	win three	in a row
d.	completely destroyed his	opponent
e.	dominate men’s tennis	for many years
f.	a display of	perfect tennis
g.	He played incredibly	well
h.	fought very hard	for every point
i.	a delay for rain didn’t	break the Swiss master’s flow
j.	his blend of beautiful	and destructive tennis

WHOOPS:

Swiss ace Federer cruises to greatness

Swiss tennis champion Roger Federer has written his name in tennis’s history books. On Sunday he cruised to his third successive Wimbledon victory, only the third man to win three in a row in modern times. His powerful and brilliant display completely destroyed his opponent, the American Andy Roddick. At the age of 23, Federer is young enough to become one of tennis’s greatest ever players. He has all of the skills necessary to dominate men’s tennis for many years.

Sunday’s final was a display of perfect tennis. Andy Roddick could do nothing to stop the brilliance of the Swiss genius’s play. The 6-2, 7-6, 6-4 win suggests Roddick did not play well. This is untrue. He played incredibly well and fought very hard for every point. Unfortunately for him, it wasn’t good enough against the faultless Federer. Even a delay for rain didn’t break the Swiss master’s flow. He continued his blend of beautiful and destructive tennis to win in three sets.

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