Inside Out

Tennis
WORKSHEET A

EXERCISE A

Find five words and expressions in the table below that are not associated with tennis.

net match sticks field boots

‘Fifteen-love’ ball lose racquet points
‘Thirty-zero’ win tournaments bat smashes
game hit serves court shot

EXERCISE B

Now, using the table above to help you, can you fill the gaps in the following
sentences?

1. ‘I have to go now – I’ve got a tennis _ _ _ _ _ in 20 minutes.’

2. ‘Wouldn’t it be good to live in a house with your own private tennis _ _ _ _ _?’

3. ‘I played in four amateur tennis _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ last year and reached the final
in two of them, but didn’t _ _ _ either.’

4. ‘I was hoping to get a tennis _ _ _ _ _ _ _ as a Christmas present, but I only got a

table-tennis _ _ _.’

5. ‘Look, we can’t play on this court – the _ _ _’s broken.’

6. ‘Why does he have to play so aggressively? Every time I _ _ _ the ball high in the
air he just _ _ _ _ _ _ _ it past me. It’s no fun at all.’

7. ‘Oh, what a great _ _ _ _ by Roger Federer!’

8. ‘What’s the score now? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ - _ _ _ _, or fifteen all?’

9. ‘She _ _ _ _ _ _ the ball so hard that I can hardly ever get it back.’

10. ‘She beat me really easily. I think I only won about 20 _ _ _ _ _ _ in the whole
match.’

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 Inside Out
Tennis
WORKSHEET B

Fiona
In the last few years I’ve really started to love tennis. Recently I’ve been playing at
least twice a week, which is really helping me keep fit. On a nice summer evening
there’s nothing better than going along to my local club for a game. Most people there
are really nice, so after playing I usually stay for a drink with some of them.
I like the fact that it’s a very psychological game – you need determination and
concentration. You can’t hide when you’re out there on the court. If the match isn’t
going well you can easily get into a bad frame of mind, so you have to battle against
yourself as well as against your opponent.
Also, I love watching tennis on TV, as the players’ skill and fitness are breathtaking.
Of course they practise a lot, but it’s also about natural talent – I mean, I could
practise five hours a day for five years and I’d probably still not win a point against a
top professional like Maria Sharapova.

Dave
Tennis has got to be one of the most boring sports in the world. Watching a little ball
go backwards and forwards for two hours, while the players make ridiculous grunting
noises – you call that entertaining? Also, in Britain, I can’t stand the hype in the
media whenever one of our players has a chance of winning an important tournament.
They always lose in the end, of course. Why can’t we just accept that we’re not very
good?
As for playing tennis, it’s even worse than watching. I tried it for a while when I was
a kid, and it was one of the most frustrating things I’ve ever done. Hitting the ball and
seeing it go into the net almost every time is enough to put anyone in a bad mood. I
remember my dad said I should practise by hitting a ball against a wall. Well, I tried
it, and it was a disaster. The wall beat me every time.

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 Inside Out
WORKSHEET C
EXERCISE C
Now fill the gaps below to complete the crossword and reveal the name of the Belgian
player who is currently number one in the women’s international tennis rankings.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7

8
9
1
0
11
1
2

1. Dave certainly doesn’t ____________ tennis.

2. Fiona believes that professional tennis players have a lot of ____________ talent.
3. It seems Dave never had much ____________ as a tennis player.
4. Fiona thinks that to do well in a tennis match you have to ____________ and be
determined.
5. Fiona doesn’t think she’d win many ____________ in a tennis match against Maria
Sharapova.
6. Dave seems not to like the way some professional players ____________ when
they hit the ball.
7. Dave thinks there’s too much ____________ whenever a British tennis starts doing
well.
8. Fiona enjoys the ____________ side of playing tennis.
9. Fiona thinks that to do well in a tennis match you need to be in the right
____________ of mind.
10. Dave doesn’t think that watching tennis on TV is ____________.
11. Dave’s attempts to ____________ by hitting a ball against the wall didn’t go very
well.
12. Fiona says most of the people she plays with at her local tennis club are
____________.

This page has been downloaded from www.insideout.net.

It is photocopiable, but all copies must be complete pages. Copyright © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2007.