中国网坛金花闪耀世界体坛

Eyes have been glued to television sets across the country. Here in China, I have to admit it's been nail-fighting a few hours for us, in the bureau as well. Unfortunately, Li Na put up a great fight, but she couldn't put it through against Serena Williams, but we'll all be watching intensely this next game with Zheng Jie and Justine Henin. Either way, this is huge for China. It is uNPRecedented to have not just one, but two Chinese women in the final four of a Grand Slam tournament. The mood among fans has been euphoric, of course. It is all over the papers. There they both are, Zheng Jie and Li Na, holding up a Chinese flag. Here you see Zheng Jie saying "I think I can do it this time". And here Li Na right after a major upside win against Venus Williams. And regardless of the outcome of this tournament, Li Na will now be ranked among the top ten women tennis players in the world. That is the first for any Chinese national, man or woman. Both of these women have been well-known within tennis circles for some time, but they really surprised their own Chinese fans, because partly they have essentially made history here.

They certainly have. And they are known as the 'golden flowers' in China. Now, Emily, you don't really usually tennis as a big sport in China. But what's behind this sudden breakout in Chinese women's tennis?

Well, it's interesting. Most athletes in China are monitered by a strictly controlled state system. They are identified at a very young age, put through rigorous training, and they have to give as much as 60% to 70% of their earnings back to the government. But just after the Olympics, the Chinese Tennis Association or CTA released a few of the top female players, they call them the golden flowers. As you said, among them were Li Na and Zheng Jie. They've had a lot more control over they coaching, their schedules, their training partners and they are able to take a lot more international matches. And it's really served them well.

"I think it's been very good for both of them. The first year is probably them feeling things a little bit not knowing what's going like to be on their own and then realizing we've done very well. We can do this on our own and then just building towards the next steps."

Now they only have to give about 12% of their earnings back to the government, so they've basically been able to manage their own career, pay for their own expenses and they really gain a lot more confidence from this. So I think we can expect to see a lot more great things from women's tennis in the next few years.

生词汇总：

glue: to look at something with all your attention 全神贯注地看
put up a fight: to show great determination to oppose something or get out of a difficult situation 奋勇战斗
uNPRecedented: never having happened before, or never having happened so much 前所未有的
Grand Slam tournament: 网球大满贯赛事
euphoric: feeling very happy and excited 心情愉快的;心满意足的