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【原文标题】China Goes From Australian Open Gatecrasher to Game-Changer
【中文标题】中国：从澳网的不请自来者到比赛颠覆者
【来源地址】http://www.masslive.com/sportsfl ... ml&storylist=tennis
【刊载媒体】美联社
【原文库链接】http://bbs.m4.cn/thread-220039-1-1.html
【译者】rhapsody
【声明】本文供Anti-CNN/ACCN使用，未经译者或AC同意，谢绝转载；谢谢合作。
【译文】
（澳大利亚墨尔本，1月27日）7年前一对中国的双打选手未获邀请就出现在了澳大利亚网球公开赛上，而现今中国女子正在网球赛季首项大满贯的单打比赛中创造前所未有的成功。
在成为中国第一个打进在墨尔本公园举行的（澳网）半决赛的选手后，郑洁距离决赛只差一场胜利——这比得上她2008年时在温布尔登令人惊讶的表现（同样是打进了半决赛——译注）。李娜今天击败六号种子维纳斯·威廉姆斯（也就是大威廉姆斯或“大威”）后也同她一道迈入了四强。
郑洁和李娜两位中国选手进入同一项大满贯赛事的半决赛，给这个国家树立了一个新的标杆，而后她们会尝试像比利时和塞尔维亚选手一样为国家争取大赛锦标的突破。
“这对中国来说是个大惊喜”，26岁的郑洁在战胜俄罗斯的玛利亚·基里连科后说道，闯进半决赛“有助于网球在中国的发展”。
郑洁将在星期四同获得过7次大满贯冠军的贾斯丁·海宁展开对决。海宁2003年时赢得法国公开赛冠军，成为首位在网球四大赛事中折桂的比利时选手。
而就在法国公开赛前5个月，在墨尔本，中国女双组合孙甜甜和李婷不期而至，并要求参加（澳网）女双比赛的抽签。赛事组织者没有让她们离开，而是给她们颁发了外卡。
从那以后，中国成为网球的一支新生力量。孙甜甜和李婷在2004年雅典奥运会上赢得女双金牌，这也是中国在网球项目上获得的首枚金牌。2006年，郑洁和晏紫在澳大利亚公开赛的女双比赛中登顶，为该国赢得首个大满贯冠军。那年她们还赢得了温布尔登的冠军。
“网球在中国变得越来越受欢迎了”，晏紫说道。她和搭档贝瑟妮·马泰克-桑兹在星期二的女双比赛中输给了威廉姆斯姐妹。“知道我们的人更多了，而喜欢网球的人也更多了。可能现在网球成为最热门的五个体育项目之一了。”
她们现时的表现也在家乡引起了关注。
官方的新华通讯社在其网站主页上刊登了她们俩的照片，香港的中文报纸也连日报道了李娜的晋级历程，几年来她都被称作“中国金花”。
凭借晋级半决赛，李娜将肯定超越中国选手在WTA（女子网球协会）的最佳排名——第15位，她和郑洁共同保持着这个记录；而郑洁现时排名第35位。
中国的崛起某种程度上可以归功于拥有可供挑选最有运动天赋，同时又能刻苦努力的大量人口，前世界第一、两次美国公开赛冠军特雷西·奥斯丁说道。
“你让他们通过系统训练，然后看谁能冒尖”，奥斯丁在采访中说道，“那确实是最好的方式，因为你需要有最好的天赋和强硬的精神。比赛有很多方面因素的影响，而如果你有那些东西的话，你的机会就会更大。”
在通向中国首个大满贯单打冠军的道路上，会碰到的选手包括海宁和威廉姆斯姐妹，她们一共获得过25个大满贯冠军。郑洁说在罗德·拉弗尔体育场赢得女双锦标的回忆一直鼓励着她。
“我觉得这块场地是我的福地”，郑洁说道，“我希望好运能够继续。”
英国博-彩公司立博给郑洁开出的夺冠赔率是1赔14，而李娜是1赔33——她们被认为是获胜机会甚微的选手。塞雷纳·威廉姆斯（也就是小威廉姆斯或“小威”）被认为最有希望赢得赛事，在墨尔本公园第五次捧起奖杯——她以10赔11的赔率领先于海宁的1赔2。
奥斯丁认为，尽管中国选手在1月30日的决赛中脱颖而出的希望不大，但该国仍可能在五年内赢得首个大满贯冠军。
“从我所获悉的来看，会冒出来的（选手？）太多了，因而我一点也不会感到惊奇”，她说道。
【原文】
MELBOURNE, Australia, Jan. 27-Seven years after a doubles team from their country showed up uninvited at the Australian Open, Chinese women are having unprecedented success in singles at the tennis season's opening Grand Slam.
Zheng Jie is one win away from playing for the championship after becoming the first Chinese player to reach the semifinals at Melbourne Park, matching her surprise run at Wimbledon in 2008. Li Na can join her in the final four today by beating sixth-seeded Venus Williams.
After setting a new national standard by giving China two quarterfinalists at the same Grand Slam, Zheng and Li are trying to join players from Belgium and Serbia in securing their country's breakthrough major title.
"It's a big surprise for China," Zheng, 26, said after beating Russia's Maria Kirilenko 6-1, 6-3 Tuesday. Getting to the semifinal "will help tennis go up in China."
Zheng will play Thursday against seven-time Grand Slam champion Justine Henin, who became the first Belgian to win one of the sport's four majors when she took the 2003 French Open.
Five months earlier, Sun Tian Tian and Li Ting of China turned up in Melbourne unannounced and asked to be included in the women's doubles draw. Tournament organizers arranged a wild- card entry rather than send them away.
Since then, China has become a growing tennis force. Sun and Li won the women's doubles gold medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, the first gold medal for China in tennis. In 2006, Zheng and Yan Zi won the Australian Open women's doubles title for the country's its first Grand Slam championship. They also won Wimbledon that year.
"Tennis is getting more popular in China," Yan said Tuesday after she and partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the U.S. were ousted from the women's doubles by Venus and Serena Williams. "More people know us and more people like tennis. Maybe it's now a top-five sport."
The unseeded Zheng and 16th-seeded Li had already made their mark in Grand Slam singles at Wimbledon, where Li became the first Chinese player to reach the quarterfinals of a major in 2006. Zheng went one match further two years later.
Their current run has attracted attention back home.
The official Xinhua News Agency had both their photos on the home page of its Web site Tuesday, while Li's progress is being watched daily in Hong Kong's Chinese-language newspapers, who have for years referred to her as "China's golden flower."
By reaching the quarterfinals, Li is guaranteed to surpass the career-best WTA Tour ranking for a Chinese player of 15th, which she shares with Zheng, who is currently ranked 35th.
China's rise can partly be attributed to having a large population from which to pick the best athletic talent and a strong work ethic, according to former No. 1 player and two-time U.S. Open champion Tracy Austin.
"You work them through the system and see who comes out," Austin said in an interview. "That's really the best way because you need the talent and you need the mental toughness. There's so many dimensions to the game, and if you do that, your chances are better."
Among the players standing in the way of China's first Grand Slam singles championship are Henin and the Williams sisters, with 25 major titles among them. Zheng said memories of winning the doubles title at Rod Laver Arena are helping her along.
"I feel the court is lucky for me," Zheng said. "I hope it can continue."
Zheng, at 14-1 and Li, at 33-1, are rated the outsiders to take the title by British bookmaker Ladbrokes. Serena Williams is the 11-10 favorite to win her fifth title at Melbourne Park, ahead of Henin at 2-1.
While a Chinese winner in the women's final on Jan. 30 is a longshot, the country may get its first Grand Slam champion within five years, Austin said.
"From what I've heard, there's so many coming along the pipe that it wouldn't shock me at all," she said.
P.S. 虽然个人感觉她们打进决赛的希望不大，但不管怎样也已经创造了历史，祝她们好运。愿如文中所说的能涌现出更多的网球运动员。 |
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