中國網球名將李娜的新開端

This year started with a bang for Chinese tennis star Li Na. In January, she won the Australian Open, climbing to a career-high of world number two. She celebrated in typically wisecracking fashion, thanking her agent — “[He] made me rich” — before training her sights on her husband: “[He] fixes my drink, fixes my racket . . . so thanks a lot — you’re a nice guy . . . And also, you’re so lucky [to] find me.”

對於中國網球名將李娜來說，今年的開端是令人振奮的。1月，她贏得了澳網公開賽，世界排名上升到第二位，創下職業生涯新高點。李娜以一貫的幽默風格慶祝了此次勝利，先是感謝她的經紀人“讓我變得富有”，然後將目光投向她先生，感謝他“爲我倒飲料，爲我修球拍……所以非常感謝你，你是個好人……而且你也很幸運（能）找到我”。

China felt pretty lucky too. Li had become a national hero when she won the French Open in 2011, gaining millions of fans with her dominance on court and distinctive personality. But by this September, it was all over. After struggling to recover from knee surgery, Li was forced to retire. She broke it to her millions of social media followers in a Facebook post: “My body kept telling me that, at 32, I will not be able to compete at the top level ever again.”

中國也感到非常幸運。2011年李娜贏得法網公開賽時，她已然成了民族英雄，她在球場上的掌控力以及鮮明的個性爲她俘獲了數以百萬計的球迷。然而到了今年9月，這一切都結束了。由於無法從膝蓋手術後恢復，李娜被迫退役。她在自己的Facebook上向上千萬名關注者公佈了這一消息：“我的身體一直告訴我，32歲的我無法再次承受最高水平的競技。”

Li was known for her heavy groundstrokes, especially her forehand, which marked her out as an opponent able to excel in new-style power tennis. In an interview with the FT over email, she notes that her injuries merely added to the pride she takes in her achievements: “I am proud that I was able to overcome many obstacles, including my knee issues. People don’t realise how hard it is to play at the highest levels when you are injured. I am proud of my fighting spirit.”

李娜以強力的落地球——尤其是正拍——著稱，這讓她在更追求力量的新式網球中脫穎而出。在接受英國《金融時報》電郵採訪時，她表示傷病只會令她對自己所取得的成績更加自豪：“我爲自己能克服這麼多障礙，包括膝傷。人們不知道受傷後還要保持高水平發揮有多麼困難。我爲自己的奮鬥精神感到自豪。”

But it was Li’s individuality that won her adoration in a country where athletes raised in the state-run sports machine often seem like automata. These nonconformist tendencies revealed themselves early. When she violated the strict norms of the state sports academy by falling in love with her partner in mixed doubles, Jiang Shan, now her husband. The academy forced the pair to stop playing together. Shortly afterwards, Li abruptly informed the school in a letter that she was giving up tennis. She spent two years studying journalism before a trusted coach persuaded her to return to the fold.

中國的運動員在舉國體制中長大，常常被看做機器人，李娜的獨特個性爲她贏得了人們的喜愛。她的不墨守成規在早期就已經顯現出來。她違反國家隊的嚴格規定，與混雙搭檔姜山（她現在的丈夫）談戀愛。國家隊拆散了這對組合，阻止他們一起打球。不久以後，李娜給國家隊寫了封信，說她要放棄網球。她在大學修了兩年的新聞學，然後在一位信賴的教練的說服下重返球場。

Her legacy has been to help turn her homeland into a tennis-loving nation. She now plans to build on that with her own training academy. “Right now, we are in the very early stages of building and creating my academy,” she explains. The aim, she adds, is not just to train players, “but to give them a road map to playing professional tennis. I want to teach them everything I’ve learnt in my 15-year career.”

李娜出色的成績讓她的祖國變成了一個熱愛網球的國度。她現在正計劃以此爲契機成立自己的網球學校。她解釋說：“目前我的網球學校仍處於創建初期階段。”她還說自己的目標不僅是爲了訓練球員，“還是爲了幫他們規劃職業網球道路。我想把自己15年職業生涯所學到的一切都教給他們。”

In 2008 Li and a handful of other promising players were released from the state system and allowed to choose their own coaches and support teams. They were also allowed to keep more of their winnings, with the proportion remitted to the Chinese Tennis Association reduced from 65 per cent to 12 per cent.

2008年李娜和其他一些有前途的球員脫離了舉國體制，被允許自己選擇教練和支持團隊。這些球員還被允許保留更多獎金，交給中國網球協會的金額比例從65%減到12%。

Today, Li acknowledges she benefited from having the best of both worlds in her tennis development. This will influence her approach to training others. “The Chinese system did so many great things for me: it gave me the foundation of my game, taught me the best work ethic and made me mentally strong,” she says. “The exposure to some of the top western coaches allowed me to take my game to another level, so this combination was critical and I will try to bring [those] methods [and] experiences to my academy.”

如今，李娜承認她在自己的網球職業發展過程中享受到了中西不同體制的好處。這將影響她培訓其他人的方法。她說：“中國的體制讓我獲得如此多好處：爲我打下了紮實的網球基礎，教會我最好的職業道德，讓我在精神上變得強大。而接受一些西方頂級教練的指導則讓我的競技水平提高到新的水平。因此，中西結合非常重要，我將努力把（這些）不同的方法（和）經驗帶到自己的學校裏。”

Li’s career has often been narrated as a clash between China’s enduring paternalistic habits and the individuality of the country’s younger generations — symbolised by a tattoo on her chest that she used to cover up with tape but eventually stopped bothering to. Li has 23 million followers on Weibo, the Chinese microblogging site. “I’ve enjoyed doing social media and connecting with my fans that way. It has been a very helpful way of controlling the message,” she says.

李娜的職業生涯通常會被描述爲中國長期的家長式管理習慣與年青一代追求張揚個性之間的衝突——李娜曾試圖用膠帶遮蓋自己胸前的紋身，但最終懶得再費這個事。李娜在微博上有2300萬粉絲，“我喜歡上社交媒體，並通過它與我的粉絲交流，它非常有助於控制（不實）消息”。

Yet Li is nothing if not patriotic. “Every time I step on the court and it says China next to my name, I have such great pride,” she says. “When I am travelling the world and hear the Chinese fans cheer me on, it is just an amazing feeling — something I will really miss. It’s hard to explain what it feels like, but it fills my heart with the utmost joy.”

不過，李娜非常愛國。她表示：“每當我踏上球場，我的名字旁邊標着我來自中國的時候，我都感到非常驕傲。當我在世界各地打比賽的時候，總能聽到中國球迷爲我加油，這種奇妙的感覺真的讓我非常懷念。很難具體形容，但它讓我的心充滿了至高無上的快樂。”

Individualism still has its place, however, especially when it comes to technique. When asked if her academy will be advocating the heavy topspin and “extreme western” forehand grips that have become popular, she says she doesn’t intend to recommend a specific style for all. “One of the great things about tennis is the individuality. We need to find the best style for each player and help them develop their own style . . . I am very confident the next generation of players from China will be better than mine.”

然而，個性仍然有其一席之地，尤其就技術而言。當被問到她的網校是否會提倡現在流行的強力上旋打法和“極爲西方的”正拍握拍方式時，李娜表示她不打算爲所有學員推薦一個特定的風格，“網球一個美妙之處就在於它的個性，我們需要爲每個球員找到最好的方式，幫助他們發展自己的風格……我堅信，下一代的中國球員將會做得比我更好。”