Tennis
During the first 50 years of its history, tennis was largely a
pastime of (1) ______people. Its widespread popularity began 1. ______
with the growth of (2) ______This happened immediately 2. ______
after the major national championships became (3) ______ 3. ______
events. They began to accept professionals as well as amateurs.
Soon industrial firms began to (4) ______tournaments and 4. ______
offer large cash prizes. The turning point came in 1968, when
the British, with the final permission of the International Lawn
Tennis Federation, transformed their Wimbledon championships
to an open event. In the same year, they went a step further by
erasing the (5) ______between amateurs and professionals. 5. ______
Women players’ demand for (6) ______prize money gained its 6. ______
first success in the United States Open in (7) ______. With 7. ______
the introduction of (8) ______rackets, equipment for playing 8. ______
tennis needs not to be(9) ______. Other reasons for tennis’ 9. ______
rising popularity include greater media coverage and people%
increasing interest in physical (10) ______ 10. ______