English Language & Usage Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
I wonder what does the word hopeful mean in the following context
After Agnieszka Radwanska defeated Belarusian hopeful Olga Govortsova in straight sets during the second round of the Australian Open.'
I guess that the phrase to defeat sb in straight set means to win a game without losing a single set. Am I right?
It may not be obvious, but hopeful is actually being used as a noun here rather than as an adjective; the name that comes afterward states which "hopeful" was defeated, rather than being the noun to which an adjective is applied.
As seen at theFreeDictionary.com, hopeful when used as a noun in this manner means
A person who aspires to success or who shows promise of succeeding
or
a person considered to be on the brink of success
And yes, to win in straight sets means to win every set that was played.
Yes on the second count. A hopeful is someone likely or hoping to succeed.
In that article, the author describes Govortsova as a "hopeful" because she is an underdog in the Australian Open tennis tournament. She is ranked #98 in the world, while Radwanska is ranked #5.
And yes, to win in straight sets means to win a match without losing a set.
