前無古人的李娜,可有後來者?

Despite all of her evident athletic talent and all of her personal sacrifices, Li Na was a late bloomer in tennis, which is one reason — but only one reason — it feels as if she retired too soon.

儘管運動天賦非凡，在個人生活中也做出了極大的犧牲，但李娜仍是屬於大器晚成的網球運動員。這是她的退役讓人感覺實在太早的原因之一，然而，這絕非唯一的原因。

In stepping away because of major knee problems at age 32 years 6 Months, she lasted longer on tour than many of the best women's players of the modern era: longer than Monica Seles or Steffi Graf; longer than Amélie Mauresmo, Kim Clijsters or Justine Henin.

在32歲零6個月的時候，李娜宣佈因膝傷退役。她已經比當代許多最優秀的女子網球選手堅持的時間更長了，比如莫妮卡·塞萊斯(Monica Seles)、施特菲·格拉芙(Steffi Graf)、阿梅莉·毛瑞斯莫(Amélie Mauresmo)、金姆·克里斯特爾斯(Kim Clijsters)和賈斯汀·海寧(Justine Henin)。

But Li had to wait to hit her peak, to shore up her once shaky forehand and confidence, to find the right blend of Eastern and Western expertise.

不過，到達巔峯之前，李娜經過了很長時間才練就了曾經時好時壞的正手球、鞏固了自己的信心，並且找到了東西方技藝的最佳組合。

To be frank, which is Li's way, she never inspired complete confidence under big-match pressure. Even when she was in full flow, gliding powerfully into the corners and generating astonishing flat pace with her strong legs and quick hands, one could never rule out an abrupt shift of focus and fortune.

老實說，李娜從未在大賽的壓力下展現出十足的信心。這就是她的風格。火力全開的時候，她能強勢覆蓋球場的每個角落，用強健的雙腿和敏捷的雙臂打出令人驚歎的低平球。但就連在這個時候，也不能排除她突然喪失注意力或運勢急轉直下的可能性。

Watching her could be both suspenseful and maddening, and one suspects that if she had chosen to wear a mood ring on court, it would have been flashing a new color with great frequency.

李娜的比賽充滿懸念，令人抓狂，觀衆不禁要懷疑，假如她戴上情緒戒指上場的話，不知上面的顏色要變換多少回。

In light of all this, she deserves only more credit for finding a way to punch through the doubts and the demons and win her first two Grand Slam singles titles after age 29, something no other woman has managed since the Open era began in 1968.

考慮到這種種情況，李娜的成就更加值得稱道。她最終找到了打消疑慮、戰勝心中雜念的方法，在滿29歲後奪得了人生中的第一個大滿貫單打頭銜，並且此後還拿到了第二個。自1968年公開賽年代開啓以來，還沒有哪個女單選手做到過這一點。

Though she saved the best for late, winning the French Open in 2011 and the Australian Open this year, her timing was still impeccable, and she became a rich woman because of it.

她在2011年贏得法國網球公開賽冠軍，又於今年舉起了澳大利亞網球公開賽的獎盃。儘管姍姍來遲，她出成績的時機卻是剛剛好，並且讓她收入頗豐。

Chinese athletes who excel in sports that the West traditionally dominates have a special place in the pantheon: See Liu Xiang in the high hurdles, Yao Ming in the N.B.A. and now Sun Yang in the Olympic swimming pool.

中國運動員在傳統上由西方人把持的體育項目中取得成就的話，會獲得特別的景仰：看看跨欄運動的劉翔、NBA裏的姚明，以及如今縱橫奧運會泳池的孫楊。

Li, once a badminton prospect, will always be the first Chinese and first Asian to win a Grand Slam singles title, and like Yao, she had a personality to which the Western world could warm.

李娜這位當年的羽毛球苗子，將作爲中國和亞洲首位大滿貫單打冠軍而爲人銘記。而且，與姚明一樣，她的個性能夠在西方世界激起共鳴。

A language barrier was no obstacle to perceiving her sense of humor and mischief even if she also could be, on the rough days, as walled off as a hutong courtyard. Like many a funny person, Li had a flip side, as when she stared down a Chinese reporter for a minute that felt like an hour at a Wimbledon news conference in 2013.

要理解她的幽默和調皮，語言並不構成障礙。不過在不順的日子裏，她也會把自己關在銅牆鐵壁之後。就像許多幽默的人那樣，李娜有發火的時候。比如2013年溫布爾登網球公開賽的一場新聞發佈會上，她盯着一名中國記者足有一分鐘，感覺卻像是過了一個小時。

"She surprised people," her agent Max Eisenbud said Friday, "because everybody has this stigma of what a Chinese athlete is or should be or should look like. And here she is with a tattoo and an earring on the top of her ear. There was a little bit of the maverick about her, and you don't really expect that. Her personality, even her feistiness, she was very real."

“她出乎所有人的意料，”李娜的經紀人馬克斯·艾森巴德(Max Eisenbud)上週五說，“因爲對於中國運動員是什麼樣的、應該怎麼樣，後者看起來應該如何，大家抱着一套成見。結果她有紋身和耳骨釘。她帶着一點桀驁不馴，超出了人們的預期。她有個性乃至脾氣，整個人非常真實。”

It was hardly a given that Li would be the first Chinese woman to become a tennis superstar. Frustrated with the rigid national training system, she retired for the first time at 20 to go to college and live unfettered with her future husband, Jiang Shan. And though she later became the first Chinese player to win a WTA singles title, ticking that box in 2004, Zheng Jie, a sturdy and smaller counterpuncher who plays on at 31, blazed a few trails of her own.

然而，李娜成爲中國女子網球選手中的首位超級明星，並非那麼順理成章。出於對僵化的舉國訓練體制的不滿，她20歲的時候第一次退役，回去上大學，並毫無顧忌地與未來的丈夫姜山生活在一起。後來，她於2004年成爲首位奪得國際女子網球協會(WTA)單打頭銜的中國運動員。不過身材敦實、回球犀利的鄭潔也取得了幾項開創性成就。鄭潔現年31歲，還在球場征戰。

Zheng and Yan Zi became the first Chinese women to win a Grand Slam doubles title in 2006 at the Australian Open. And in 2008, Zheng, as a 133rd-ranked wild card at Wimbledon, became the first Chinese player to reach a Grand Slam singles semifinal.

2006年，鄭潔與晏紫搭檔，贏得澳網女雙獎盃，成爲中國的首對大滿貫冠軍。2008年，世界排名133位的鄭潔憑藉外卡參加溫網比賽，成爲打入大滿貫單打四強的中國第一人。

But Li ultimately won the biggest prizes first, with the help of European coaching, and had the personality to make it doubly memorable.

不過，在歐洲教練的幫助下，率先拿下終極大獎的卻是李娜。而她的個性讓這一成就更加令人難以忘懷。

"I think it was because of the whole package," Eisenbud said. "If Peng Shuai or Zheng Jie would have done the same thing, I honestly don't think it would have been the same."

“我想是因爲她身上的一整套東西，”艾森巴德說。“假如彭帥或者鄭潔取得了相同的成績，說實話我覺得也不會一樣。”

We will never know, and though the natural conclusion is that young Chinese players inspired by Li will soon be holding up more major trophies, there are no guarantees. Germany once ruled the tennis world and marketplace with Graf and Boris Becker only to see the sport all but disappear from the radar in a hurry. Since Yao's retirement, Chinese players are hardly taking the N.B.A. by storm.

這一點是真是假，將永遠不得而知。自然而然的推論是，在李娜的激勵下，中國的年輕選手將很快再次舉起大滿貫獎盃，但這也沒法打包票。德國曾經同時擁有格拉芙和鮑里斯·貝克爾(Boris Becker)，在球場和市場上叱吒風雲。可是不一會兒功夫，德國網球就幾乎從人們眼前消失了。姚明退役之後，中國球員也沒在NBA掀起什麼波瀾。

"The tennis boom in China is not a given," said Paul McNamee, the former Australian Open tournament director who was part of that event's push into China and Asia. "It will require nurturing and support. However, with the aura of Li Na and her desire to stay involved, I can see future Grand Slam champions from China within a decade."

“中國的網球熱並不是理所當然的事情，”澳網前賽事總監保羅·麥克納米(Paul McNamee)說。他曾協助澳網在中國和亞洲進行推廣。“這需要培養和扶持。好在有李娜的人氣，她也渴望繼續參與。我想10年之內中國能再出大滿貫冠軍。”

Li does intend to remain involved: commercially, philanthropically and developmentally, with an academy in the works and IMG, the sports and media talent agency that has recommitted to tennis under new ownership, looking to leverage her success for the long term.

李娜的確準備留在網球界，無論是商業、慈善，還是運動項目發展方面。她正在籌備一所網球學校，而體育與媒體經紀公司IMG在所有權變更之後決定重新關注網球領域，也着眼於長期開發利用她的影響力。

But her forced retirement does once again deprive the WTA Tour of more star power and the opportunity to create what it sorely lacks: a genuine rivalry at the top. Serena Williams has seen plenty of prospects exit the stage earlier than could have been expected: Martina Hingis, Elena Dementieva, Dinara Safina, Henin and Clijsters. "Put it in chronological order, it's pretty mind-boggling," said Williams's childhood coach Rick Macci.

不過，她的被迫退役確實使得WTA巡迴賽的星光又黯淡了一些，也令女子網壇再次失去了彌補其最大缺失的機會：WTA始終未能在最高層次上創造出棋逢對手的局面。塞雷娜·威廉姆斯(Serena Williams)眼看着一個又一個潛在的對手早早退役：瑪蒂娜·辛吉斯(Martina Hingis)、葉連娜·德門蒂耶娃(Elena Dementieva)、迪娜拉·薩芬娜(Dinara Safina)、海寧，還有克里斯特爾斯。“按時間先後數過來，實在讓人震驚，”威廉姆斯的兒時教練裏克·馬奇(Rick Macci)說。

Li beat Williams only once in 12 matches and never in a Grand Slam. When Li lost to her for the last time in this year's Miami final in a summit meeting between No. 1 and No. 2, Carlos Rodriguez, Li's coach at that time, gave her another pep talk.

在與威廉姆斯的12次交鋒中，李娜僅贏得了一場比賽，而且不是在大滿貫賽場上。她上次輸給威廉姆斯是在今年的邁阿密站決賽中，身爲頭兩號種子的二人上演了巔峯對決。李娜當時的教練卡洛斯·羅德里格斯(Carlos Rodriguez)賽後對她進行了又一番鼓勵。

" 'Listen,' I told her, 'You are evolving more and more,' " he said. " 'It takes time. You cannot do what you didn't do in 17 years in a hurry. You have to believe in it, and if you believe, it will work.' "

“'聽着，'我告訴她，'你越來越進步了，'”他說。“'需要花一些時間。17年都沒做到的事情，不可能一蹴而就。你必須抱有信念，有了信念，就能成功。'”

Six months later, Li, the late bloomer, has run out of time and the ability to play through the pain. But her career path was still quite an evolution, and it will be fascinating to see how the game she once rejected evolves from here: in China and beyond.

六個月後，大器晚成的李娜沒有了時間和體能再去經歷這番涅槃重生。然而，她的職業生涯一路走來，仍是相當精彩。至於這項她曾經排斥的運動，在中國及其之外的地方又會如何演變，將成爲一個吸引眼球的好故事。