Despite being among the wealthiest athletes in the world, Wimbledon's biggest names all clamour over the same must-have freebie at Wimbledon: the tournament towel.

尽管参加温网的选手都属世界上最富有的运动员之列，但他们却都钟情于相同的比赛必备用品：那就是比赛用的毛巾。

At least 4,000 towels go missing each year as players - including the likes of Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams - stash¹ away as many as they can fit in their holdalls.

每年都会有至少4000条毛巾在赛后无法收回，因为很多诸如安迪•穆雷、诺瓦克•德约科维奇和小威廉姆斯这样的运动员会把很多毛巾私藏进网球包里带走。

However, this year the All England Club has come up with a new ploy² to put off younger players from joining the craze - by offering them plain white towels, instead of the senior players' brightly-coloured versions.

对此，全英网球俱乐部今年想出新的对策，他们为年轻选手提供的不再是老选手那种色彩鲜亮的毛巾，而是普通的白毛巾，以防止他们跟风效仿，赛后顺走毛巾。

George Spring, Wimbledon's Court Attending Manager, told how he has come to expect that the club will only get back three quarters of the 6,000 towels they produce for the tournament each year.

温布尔登网球场主管乔治•斯普林告诉记者，每年他们都会为比赛准备6000条毛巾，但最后预计能收回的只有四分之三。

He said: "The juniors for many years I believe were having a competition to see how many they can get. But our policy now is that if they do ask for another towel we will give them a white towel and they soon don't ask for another when that happens.

斯普林说：“我觉得年轻选手之间这么多年来一直存在一种攀比现象，他们会比赛看谁拿到的毛巾最多。所以我们现在规定，如果他们想索要第二条毛巾，我们只为其提供普通白毛巾，这样他们很快就不会再索求更多的毛巾了。

"We are trying to break in the next generation of towel connoisseurs³."

“我们正想方设法阻止顺毛巾这一不良风气在年轻一代中蔓延。”

The biggest towel fiend of all is Serena, Mr Spring, now on his 16th championship, added. "Serena is a legend as far as towels go and she would have to buy a second house... The towel thing has always been a little bit kept in secrecy⁴."

参与了16届温网赛事的斯普林先生补充说，小威廉姆斯可以说是顺毛巾的一把好手。“小威廉姆斯可以算是顺毛巾的‘传奇’，她得再买套房子（来装毛巾）……但对于拿毛巾一事温网组委会通常表示默许。”

He said there was no limit on how many towels a player could ask for and that both the Williams sisters had "a reputation" when it came to walking away with towels.

斯普林先生说，以前运动员索要毛巾的数量是没有限制的，威廉姆斯姐妹都经常索要毛巾。

"Imagine Serena Williams, if the chair umpire⁵ said Serena, that's your limit, that would make headlines."

“设想一下，如果主裁判对小威廉姆斯说，你不能再拿毛巾了，她保证可以上第二天的头条。”

The players make no secret of their appetite for the towels.

运动员们倒是对他们顺毛巾的事毫不避讳。

Murray said on Saturday that he picked up towels for his wife and friends, adding: "I got one for her in the first round. Gave one to my physio."

穆雷周六说他拿了毛巾给他的妻子和朋友们，“在打第一轮的时候我就拿了一条给我的妻子，另外一条给了队医。”

"I normally take one each day and give it to someone on my team. I don't keep them. But my wife likes them. I think they're quite good quality towels."

“我通常每天都会拿一条毛巾给我队里的其他人。我不会把它们占为己有，但我的妻子很喜欢这些毛巾，我想是因为这些毛巾质量很不错。”

Meanwhile, Djokovic said: “I kind of plan in advance space in half of a bag or an entire new bag for the towels that I take from Wimbledon."

同时德约科维奇也说：“我会提前腾出半个包或者拿个新包来装温网的毛巾。”

Serena's sister Venus also admitted: "Well, I've got a lot at home. Got some since '97. Got some men's towels, too. You can do a barter⁶ program, trade 'em up. Black market on towels."

大威廉姆斯也承认说：“恩，我也拿了很多带回家，从1997年开始我就这么干了。我也拿过男士毛巾。你可以拿它作为交换，或者拿去卖。黑市上有很多交易温网毛巾的。”

Mr Spring, now on his 16th championship, said that some players were taking as many as eight towels a game and although in the past it may have been frowned upon this means they now "go all around the world to advertise this wonderful tournament".

斯普林先生如今参与了16届温网赛，他表示，一些运动员在一场比赛后会拿走大约八条毛巾。虽然在过去人们对这一行为感到不满，但现在这意味着他们会通过“带着毛巾走遍世界来宣传温网这一精彩赛事”。

The towels that are not taken are laundered⁷ and sold to charity.

而那些留下的毛巾会在洗涤后卖给慈善机构。