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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Spotlight Advanced. I'm Roger Bassek.

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<v Speaker 2>And I'm Alice Irasari. Spotlight uses a special English method

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<v Speaker 2>of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand no

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<v Speaker 2>matter where in the world they live.

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<v Speaker 1>Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic are professional tennis players.

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<v Speaker 1>Beginning in two thousand and three, for more than twenty years,

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<v Speaker 1>these men won most of the major tennis contests. They

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<v Speaker 1>are the most successful male tennis players in history. They

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<v Speaker 1>have won more championships than people ever thought possible. They

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<v Speaker 1>are considered the best of all time. They are called

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<v Speaker 1>the Big Three.

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<v Speaker 2>On today's Spotlight, we look at how these three tennis

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<v Speaker 2>players improved tennis. We see how Federer, naval and Djokovic

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<v Speaker 2>forced each other to play better. We learn about their

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<v Speaker 2>greatest games. We try to answer the biggest question of all,

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<v Speaker 2>what is next for tennis after the Big Three.

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<v Speaker 1>Tennis is a game in which one player swings a

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<v Speaker 1>racket to hit a ball. The racket has a mesh

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<v Speaker 1>face with tight strings attached to a grip. The ball

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<v Speaker 1>is rubber covered with felt. The ball must fly over

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<v Speaker 1>a net. The net stretches across the center of the

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<v Speaker 1>playing area or court. The court is shaped like a

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<v Speaker 1>long box. The other player must hit the ball back

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<v Speaker 1>before it bounces twice, otherwise he loses the point. He

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<v Speaker 1>can also lose the point if his shot hits the

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<v Speaker 1>net or if the ball lands outside the court.

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<v Speaker 2>There were excellent male tennis players before the Big Three.

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<v Speaker 2>Famous players like Rod Laver, John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg and

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<v Speaker 2>Pete Sampras won many contests, but no one won as

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<v Speaker 2>many games or as often as the Big Three.

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<v Speaker 1>The four most important contests in tennis are called Grand

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<v Speaker 1>Slam Championships. They are the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon,

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<v Speaker 1>and the US Open. Roger Federer won twenty Grand Slam contests,

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<v Speaker 1>Rafael Nadal won twenty two, Novak Djokovic won twenty four.

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<v Speaker 1>Empress won fourteen Grand slams. By two thousand and two,

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<v Speaker 1>his victories were the most by anyone other than the

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<v Speaker 1>Big Three. No one thought Sampras's record would be broken,

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<v Speaker 1>but the Big Three broke all the records of previous

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<v Speaker 1>male players.

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<v Speaker 2>The ultimate test of a tennis player is to beat

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<v Speaker 2>anyone on any surface. Not many players could do this.

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<v Speaker 2>The four Grand Slam contests used to be played only

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<v Speaker 2>on grass and clay, but the US Open and Australian

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<v Speaker 2>Open switched to hard courts in the nineteen seventies and

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<v Speaker 2>nineteen eighties.

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<v Speaker 1>Three unique surfaces make it much harder to win all

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<v Speaker 1>four Grand Slam events. Clay is the slowest surface. The

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<v Speaker 1>ball does not bounce as fast. It bounces higher with

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<v Speaker 1>more spin, players run a lot more. Players need good

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<v Speaker 1>defense on clay. Hard courts are made with an acrylic

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<v Speaker 1>coding over a concrete or asphalt base. Hard courts are

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<v Speaker 1>faster than clay courts. The ball bounce is a little

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<v Speaker 1>lower than on clay. Someone good at all areas of

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<v Speaker 1>tennis does well on hard courts. Grass is the fastest surface.

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<v Speaker 1>The ball bounce is very low. Players who hit the

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<v Speaker 1>ball hard prefer grass. The Big Three were successful on

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<v Speaker 1>all these types of courts.

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<v Speaker 2>Roger Federer is from Switzerland. He started playing professional tennis

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<v Speaker 2>before Nadal or Djokovic. He became the best player in

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<v Speaker 2>the world in just a few years. Many people loved

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<v Speaker 2>his graceful style of play. It seemed effortless. He looked

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<v Speaker 2>like he was floating on the tennis court. Writer Christopher

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<v Speaker 2>Clary said.

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<v Speaker 1>There was the beauty of his game, something closer to

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<v Speaker 1>dance than tennis. Rafael Nadal is from Spain. He started

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<v Speaker 1>winning tennis contests a few years after Federer. Nadal had

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<v Speaker 1>a different style than Federer. He is left handed and

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<v Speaker 1>Federer is right handed. Nadal hit the ball harder than Federer.

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<v Speaker 1>He spun the ball more, He ran very hard. He

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<v Speaker 1>was very powerful.

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<v Speaker 2>Some people favored Federer's graceful style, but others liked Nadal's

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<v Speaker 2>intense approach. They became the two best players in the world.

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<v Speaker 2>Their followers were very supportive. He loved watching the two

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<v Speaker 2>battle each other.

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<v Speaker 1>Federer and Nadal were incredibly popular. Everyone wanted to see

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<v Speaker 1>them win. Novak Djokovic was not as popular when he

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<v Speaker 1>started playing. Many tennis followers did not want him to

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<v Speaker 1>beat Federer or Nadal. Djokovic's style was unusual. He never

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<v Speaker 1>seemed to get tired. He raced all over the court.

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<v Speaker 1>It was difficult for his opponent to hit the ball

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<v Speaker 1>past him. Djokovic started beating Nadal and Federer. Djokovic soon

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<v Speaker 1>became the top player in the world.

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<v Speaker 2>Before he started winning, it would have been easy for

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<v Speaker 2>Djokovic to feel it was too difficult to compete. He

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<v Speaker 2>was an unknown player from Serbia. Nadal and Federer were

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<v Speaker 2>already so good they were extremely popular. No one wanted

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<v Speaker 2>Djokovic to beat them, but Djokovic refused to give up.

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<v Speaker 2>He worked harder to become as good as Nadal and Federer.

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<v Speaker 2>Finally he started to beat them. After a few years,

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<v Speaker 2>he defeated them regularly.

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<v Speaker 1>Djokovic said about playing Federer and Nadal, they.

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<v Speaker 3>Were so good in their craft. They were so mentally

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<v Speaker 3>strong and so steady. They forced me to get as

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<v Speaker 3>good as them.

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<v Speaker 2>Each member of the Big three challenged the others to

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<v Speaker 2>play better. If they did not improve, they lost. Nadal

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<v Speaker 2>had to get better to beat Federer, Djokovic had to

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<v Speaker 2>improve to beat both. They played tough games against each other.

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<v Speaker 2>In two thousand and eight, Nadal played Federer in the

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<v Speaker 2>final match of Wimbledon. It lasted almost five hours. The

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<v Speaker 2>tennis was wonderful. Finally Naval won. It is one of

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<v Speaker 2>the longest matches in Wimbledon history. In twenty twelve, Naval

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<v Speaker 2>played Djokovic in the Australian Open final. It lasted almost

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<v Speaker 2>six hours. Both players fought as hard as they could.

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<v Speaker 2>It was a test of strength and will. Djokovic won

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<v Speaker 2>a close victory.

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<v Speaker 1>There are only a few tennis players in history who

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<v Speaker 1>have won all four Grand Slam tournaments, but only Andre

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<v Speaker 1>Agassy and the Big Three have won all four Grand

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<v Speaker 1>Slam contests on different surfaces. Djokovic and Nadal won all

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<v Speaker 1>four Grand Slam titles at least twice. Djokovic is the

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<v Speaker 1>only male player to win all four Grand Slam tournaments

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<v Speaker 1>at least three times.

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<v Speaker 2>Gran Ivanisovich, Djokovic's coach, said.

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<v Speaker 3>He wants more and more.

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<v Speaker 1>That is why he wants everything perfect on the court

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<v Speaker 1>and in practice. That is why he has unbelievable results.

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<v Speaker 1>The greatness of Federer and Nadal forced Djokovic to make

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<v Speaker 1>himself better. He achieved things that had never been done

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<v Speaker 1>because he had to. It was as if two mountains

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<v Speaker 1>stood in his way. He had no choice but to

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<v Speaker 1>climb over them.

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<v Speaker 2>Now is a unique time in tennis history. The Big

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<v Speaker 2>Three no longer control the game. Young players who are

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<v Speaker 2>not as well known or as popular win now. Other

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<v Speaker 2>sports have gained interest. The future of tennis is uncertain.

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<v Speaker 2>It could lose some of its fi followers. It might

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<v Speaker 2>never be as popular again. But there was a time

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<v Speaker 2>of more than twenty years that the same three players

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<v Speaker 2>won all the major competitions. Almost no one else could

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<v Speaker 2>beat them. They were the best who ever played. They

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<v Speaker 2>were the Big Three.

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<v Speaker 1>Who is your favorite tennis player? Do you think tennis

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<v Speaker 1>will suffer without the Big Three? You can leave a

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<v Speaker 1>comment on our website Spotlight English dot com. You can

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<v Speaker 1>also find us on YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, and x. You

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<v Speaker 1>can also get our programs delivered directly to your Android

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<v Speaker 1>or Apple device through our free official Spotlight English app.

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<v Speaker 2>The writer of this program was Peter Anderson. The producer

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<v Speaker 2>was Dan Christman. The voices you heard were from the

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<v Speaker 2>United States. Votes were adapted for this program and voiced

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<v Speaker 2>by Spotlight. This program is called the Big Three.

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<v Speaker 1>We hope you can join us again for the next

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<v Speaker 1>Spotlight program. Goodbye,