编者按：在本文见报后不久，李娜在1月29日举行的澳大利亚网球公开赛决赛中，1:2不敌比利时选手克里斯特尔斯，获得亚军。
在打入周六的澳大利亚网球公开赛决赛、并由此成为中国最成功网球运动员之前，李娜就已因她的文身而在中国名声大噪。
她文在胸上的一小朵穿心玫瑰也许在女子网球巡回赛上算不上扎眼，但在文身并不普遍的中国，这却是十足的张扬个性。以前，李娜还会用胶带把文身遮起来，但现在再也不用费这个麻烦了。
李娜在今年首项大满贯赛事中的表现，已引起人们对她另一种反叛行为的关注，而这种行为可能对中国体育的未来产生更重大的影响：两年前，李娜等四名女网运动员脱离了中国僵化的体育体制，获准自主经营职业。
“年轻时，教练和领导让我做什么我就做什么，”李娜表示。“现在我为自己打球。”
有关中国体育体制未来的争论，象征着中国社会追求张扬个性的年青一代与目前仍盛行的家长式作风之间一种更普遍的矛盾。
“我们的领导也好，媒体也好，都喜欢那种听话的、没性格的、八面玲珑的、温良恭简让的人，而李娜显然不是，”诗人赵丽华在微博中如此表示。“（我）喜欢她的随性……喜欢她的一意孤行和独孤求败。”
中国的苏联式体育体制在2008年北京奥运会时达到了顶峰——主办国在金牌榜上位居榜首。有前途的孩子在小小年纪就被挑选出来，去接受全日制训练。教练控制着运动员职业发展的方方面面，从几点起床到打什么比赛，而运动员赢得的奖金有一半以上被上层领导拿走了。
但自从2002年姚明赴美国打球以来，这一体制就一直面临着压力。不仅一些高奖金项目的运动员想留存更多的奖金收入，而且在一些运动中，遵循当前体制的结果只会令人失望。
当姚明刚到美国打球时，教练让他用扣篮来震慑对手。“他当时非常不情愿，因为扣篮被当作一种个人主义，在中国是不被认可的，”布鲁克•拉尔默(Brook Larmer)这样表示。拉尔默曾撰写过一本讲述姚明的书。后来，姚明每次拒绝扣篮后，教练就让他的队友在场内跑圈，他终于妥协了。
李娜承认，如果没有领导们的压力，她年轻时不会去打网球。但她也曾因为对中国僵化的体制不抱幻想，而告别体坛两年。
2008年，当她和另外三名顶级球员获准脱离体制、并可留存逾90%的奖金收入时，体制内的批评声音四起，尤其是一开始她们的成绩都不甚理想。
高级体育官员蔡振华当时曾表示：“从目前来看，金花们单飞之后的表现并不理想。至少我个人认为，单飞目前不适合继续推广。”
但在今年在澳网取得如此骄人的成绩之前，李娜去年就和队友郑洁用双双杀入澳网半决赛回敬了批评者。她们的成功还导致中国人——尤其是富裕的都市人——对网球运动的兴趣急剧升温。
译者/何黎
http://www.ftchinese.com/story/001036772
Before she became the country’s most successful tennis player by reaching Saturday’s final of the Australian Open, Li Na was almost as well-known in China for her tattoo.
The small rose and heart on her chest might not seem racy on the women’s tennis circuit, but it was a strong statement of individuality in a country where tattoos are not popular. She used to cover it up with tape, but no longer bothers.
Ms Li’s performance in this year’s first grand slam event has called attention to another act of rebellion that could have bigger ramifications for the future of sport in China. Two years ago she was one of four female tennis players who were released from the rigid structure of the Chinese sports system and allowed to manage their own careers.
“When I was young, I did what the coaches and leaders told me to do,” she says. “Now I am playing for myself.”
The tussle over the future of the sports system has become emblematic of a wider tension in Chinese society between individualistic younger generations and the paternalistic habits that still pervade.
“Our leaders and media like those who are obedient and lack character, but Li Na is definitely not like that,” poet Zhao Lihua said in a blog posting. “I like her spontaneity. I like her recklessness. I like her being so cool.”
China’s Soviet-style sports system achieved its high point at the Beijing Olympics when the host country topped the gold medal table. Promising kids are identified at an early age and funnelled into full-time training. Coaches control every aspect of an athlete’s career, from when they wake up to which matches they play, and bureaucrats take more than half the winnings.
Yet, the system has been coming under pressure since Yao Ming moved to play basketball in the US in 2002. Not only did athletes in big-money sports want to retain more of their income, but the conformity of the Chinese system was found wanting in some sports.
When Mr Yao first played in the US, his coach wanted him to intimidate opponents by slam-dunking the ball. “He was very reluctant because slam-dunking was frowned upon in China as a sign of individualism,” says Brook Larmer, author of a book about the player. He eventually relented after the coach made his teammates run laps of the court each time he refused.
Ms Li has admitted she would not have played tennis when younger without pressure from administrators, but she also left the sport for two years because of her disillusionment with the rigidity of the Chinese system.
When she and three other top players were allowed to leave the system in 2008 and retain more than 90 per cent of their earnings, there was a flurry of criticism from parts of the establishment, especially after early results disappointed.
“The players flying independent have not had an ideal performance,” Cai Zhenhua, a senior sports official said at the time. “At least so far, it is not suitable for more to break out from the system.”
But even before this year’s success in Australia, Ms Li and colleague Zheng Jie started to silence critics by both reaching the semi-finals in Melbourne last year. They have also helped galvanise rapidly growing interest in tennis, especially among well-off urbanites.
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