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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.
尽管运动天赋非凡，在个人生活中也做出了极大的牺牲，但李娜仍是属于大器晚成的网球运动员。这是她的退役让人感觉实在太早的原因之一，然而，这绝非唯一的原因。
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岁零6个月的时候，李娜宣布因膝伤退役。她已经比当代许多最优秀的女子网球选手坚持的时间更长了，比如莫妮卡·塞莱斯(Monica Seles)、施特菲·格拉芙(Steffi Graf)、阿梅莉·毛瑞斯莫(Amélie Mauresmo)、金姆·克里斯特尔斯(Kim Clijsters)和贾斯汀·海宁(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.
不过，到达巅峰之前，李娜经过了很长时间才练就了曾经时好时坏的正手球、巩固了自己的信心，并且找到了东西方技艺的最佳组合。
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.
老实说，李娜从未在大赛的压力下展现出十足的信心。这就是她的风格。火力全开的时候，她能强势覆盖球场的每个角落，用强健的双腿和敏捷的双臂打出令人惊叹的低平球。但就连在这个时候，也不能排除她突然丧失注意力或运势急转直下的可能性。
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.
李娜的比赛充满悬念，令人抓狂，观众不禁要怀疑，假如她戴上情绪戒指上场的话，不知上面的颜色要变换多少回。
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.
考虑到这种种情况，李娜的成就更加值得称道。她最终找到了打消疑虑、战胜心中杂念的方法，在满29岁后夺得了人生中的第一个大满贯单打头衔，并且此后还拿到了第二个。自1968年公开赛年代开启以来，还没有哪个女单选手做到过这一点。
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年赢得法国网球公开赛冠军，又于今年举起了澳大利亚网球公开赛的奖杯。尽管姗姗来迟，她出成绩的时机却是刚刚好，并且让她收入颇丰。
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.
中国运动员在传统上由西方人把持的体育项目中取得成就的话，会获得特别的景仰：看看跨栏运动的刘翔、NBA里的姚明，以及如今纵横奥运会泳池的孙杨。
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.
李娜这位当年的羽毛球苗子，将作为中国和亚洲首位大满贯单打冠军而为人铭记。而且，与姚明一样，她的个性能够在西方世界激起共鸣。
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.
要理解她的幽默和调皮，语言并不构成障碍。不过在不顺的日子里，她也会把自己关在铜墙铁壁之后。就像许多幽默的人那样，李娜有发火的时候。比如2013年温布尔登网球公开赛的一场新闻发布会上，她盯着一名中国记者足有一分钟，感觉却像是过了一个小时。
"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，”李娜的经纪人马克斯·艾森巴德(Max Eisenbud)上周五说，“因为对于中国运动员是什么样的、应该怎么样，后者看起来应该如何，大家抱着一套成见。结果她有纹身和耳骨钉。她带着一点桀骜不驯，超出了人们的预期。她有个性乃至脾气，整个人非常真实。”
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，李娜成为中国女子网球选手中的首位超级明星，并非那么顺理成章。出于对僵化的举国训练体制的不满，她20岁的时候第一次退役，回去上大学，并毫无顾忌地与未来的丈夫姜山生活在一起。后来，她于2004年成为首位夺得国际女子网球协会(WTA)单打头衔的中国运动员。不过身材敦实、回球犀利的郑洁也取得了几项开创性成就。郑洁现年31岁，还在球场征战。
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，郑洁与晏紫搭档，赢得澳网女双奖杯，成为中国的首对大满贯冠军。2008年，世界排名133位的郑洁凭借外卡参加温网比赛，成为打入大满贯单打四强的中国第一人。
But Li ultimately won the biggest prizes first, with the help of European coaching, and had the personality to make it doubly memorable.
不过，在欧洲教练的帮助下，率先拿下终极大奖的却是李娜。而她的个性让这一成就更加令人难以忘怀。
"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."
“我想是因为她身上的一整套东西，”艾森巴德说。“假如彭帅或者郑洁取得了相同的成绩，说实话我觉得也不会一样。”
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.
这一点是真是假，将永远不得而知。自然而然的推论是，在李娜的激励下，中国的年轻选手将很快再次举起大满贯奖杯，但这也没法打包票。德国曾经同时拥有格拉芙和鲍里斯·贝克尔(Boris Becker)，在球场和市场上叱咤风云。可是不一会儿功夫，德国网球就几乎从人们眼前消失了。姚明退役之后，中国球员也没在NBA掀起什么波澜。
"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."
“中国的网球热并不是理所当然的事情，”澳网前赛事总监保罗·麦克纳米(Paul McNamee)说。他曾协助澳网在中国和亚洲进行推广。“这需要培养和扶持。好在有李娜的人气，她也渴望继续参与。我想10年之内中国能再出大满贯冠军。”
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.
李娜的确准备留在网球界，无论是商业、慈善，还是运动项目发展方面。她正在筹备一所网球学校，而体育与媒体经纪公司IMG在所有权变更之后决定重新关注网球领域，也着眼于长期开发利用她的影响力。
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.
不过，她的被迫退役确实使得WTA巡回赛的星光又黯淡了一些，也令女子网坛再次失去了弥补其最大缺失的机会：WTA始终未能在最高层次上创造出棋逢对手的局面。塞雷娜·威廉姆斯(Serena Williams)眼看着一个又一个潜在的对手早早退役：玛蒂娜·辛吉斯(Martina Hingis)、叶连娜·德门蒂耶娃(Elena Dementieva)、迪娜拉·萨芬娜(Dinara Safina)、海宁，还有克里斯特尔斯。“按时间先后数过来，实在让人震惊，”威廉姆斯的儿时教练里克·马奇(Rick Macci)说。
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.
在与威廉姆斯的12次交锋中，李娜仅赢得了一场比赛，而且不是在大满贯赛场上。她上次输给威廉姆斯是在今年的迈阿密站决赛中，身为头两号种子的二人上演了巅峰对决。李娜当时的教练卡洛斯·罗德里格斯(Carlos Rodriguez)赛后对她进行了又一番鼓励。
" '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.' "
“'听着，'我告诉她，'你越来越进步了，'”他说。“'需要花一些时间。17年都没做到的事情，不可能一蹴而就。你必须抱有信念，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.
六个月后，大器晚成的李娜没有了时间和体能再去经历这番涅槃重生。然而，她的职业生涯一路走来，仍是相当精彩。至于这项她曾经排斥的运动，在中国及其之外的地方又会如何演变，将成为一个吸引眼球的好故事。
