夜半驚喜

深夜巴著電視看美國網球公開賽 live 轉播，莊佳容、詹詠然戰戰兢兢終於辛苦拿下第二盤搶七獲勝，取得進入決賽的門票！拍手叫好之後，想說再混一陣，可以繼續來看大聯盟現場直播……

沒想到突然來了個頗猛的地震，晃得跟搖巨型呼拉圈一樣，本來想說應該不會搖太久還鎮定地坐在沙發繼續看電視，但我媽在地震出現四秒後就擔心得衝去客廳玻璃櫃旁擋著，害我也不得不跟過去撐住玻璃櫃的門 ── 而且想到天花板還在漏水，很怕地震一搖漏得更厲害了【註】。

地震晃完後急忙轉到新聞台，可是每台都在重播，連跑字幕的快報都沒有，只有 NHK 隨即就有地震速報，但我也只看到什麼與那國一帶震度六點多級，就恢復到正常新聞報導。唉，這個半夜還真是有喜又有驚，戲劇性十足啊！

註：樓上鄰居彷彿失蹤，電話沒人接，晚上沒人在，難道是全家潛逃嗎？

Celebrate the first Grand Slam trophy won by Taiwanese players!

看網球賽這麼多年來，頭一回見證台灣選手在大滿貫賽事得到獎牌，果真是歷史一刻。沒拿到冠軍當然很可惜，可是前面兩盤打得難分難解，看得我超緊張。尤其第二盤的纏鬥，總令我想起公共電視即將推出關於台灣的歷史重建片 title：打拼。

兩位將生命投注在網球的女孩，以及她們的家人，一路走來的艱苦，得到迄今最好的回報，真心希望「努力就有好結果」這句話仍能在她們未來的生涯繼續實現。

Doubles joy for Black and Huber
by Aaron Lawton
Friday, 26 January, 2007

Zimbabwe's Cara Black and South Africa's Liezel Huber have claimed the Australian Open women's doubles crown at Melbourne Park with a 6-4 6-7(4) 6-1 victory over rising talents Yung-Jan Chan and Chia-Jung Chuang of Chinese Taipei.

After winning the 2005 Wimbledon doubles title and falling in the final of Roland Garros in the same year, the African pair marked their return to the winners' circle in emphatic fashion.

And despite the pair being taken to three sets before winning the Australian Open title, Black, speaking at the post-match press conference, said it was simply pleasing to win.

"I think a lot of expectation was on us. We were the No.3 seeds and really we didn't know what to expect of them," she said. "You never know playing them for the first time."

"We regrouped and stuck together and I think that was the major part of today."

Huber, meanwhile, admitted the pair had been nervous midway through the match before overcoming the Chinese Taipei combination.

"Because it is a final, that's why we were so tight," said Huber. "By far, if you had seen any of our other matches this was the tightest that we played."

"It doesn't matter if it was ugly like it was today, that is what we are here for."

Chan and Chuang, the first Chinese Taipei pair to make a Grand Slam final said they were disappointed not to have been able to climb the final hurdle.

"I think they changed in the third set and put us under pressure," said Chan. "We are a little bit disappointed."

"We just did our best."

Squaring off on the sun-drenched Rod Laver Arena on Australia Day, the No.3 seeds looked ominous from the outset.

Taking the first set in 39 minutes, Black and Huber edged ahead after capitalising on two service breaks to Chan and Chuang's one.

Hitting only one unforced error in the first set, the African pair proved too good, winning 36 points to gain the ascendancy.

Then, after an even start to the second set, it was again Black and Huber who strode out to a 4-2 lead on the back of an early service break.

However, despite squandering a spate of break-points in response, Chan and Chuang finally had something to celebrate about when they squared proceedings up shortly after, before taking a 5-4 lead.

But just as things looked heading toward a deciding third set, Black and Huber exacted another service break to grasp the contest by the horns.

Up 6-5 and serving for the match, the African pair, though, was broken and Chan and Chuang, mounting a stellar comeback, went on to claim the second set with their second set point in the ensuing tiebreaker.

Serving first in the third set and clearly reeling after dropping the second, Black and Huber easily held their own service game and then broke Chan and Chuang to race to a 2-0 lead.

Further compounding the Chinese Taipei pair's increasing woes, Black and Huber firmly wrestled control of the match in the subsequent games with another service break to take a 4-0 lead.

Finally, while trailing 0-5 in the final set, Chan and Chuang managed to thwart a championship point and hold serve to delay the imminent victory for their opponents, albeit briefly.

But moments later and serving for the match, the African pair made no mistake with their second championship point to claim the title in two hours and 10 minutes.

圖片來源：yahoo sports（photo page）

Good News！

之前提到阿民的報導，為了避免剽竊嫌疑，我都儘量用連結。可是新聞連結時間久了就會消失，曾有人在我 msn spaces 那邊詢問如何尋找一則距今將近半年前的英文報導，結果找不到就是找不到。這次為了避免將來產生類似遺憾，就將澳洲公開賽官網的新聞內容貼上來。

Chan and Chuang stun champs

by Bren O'Brien　
Thursday, 25 January, 2007

Yung-Jan Chan and Chia-Jun Chuang have powered their way into the final of the women's doubles at Australian Open 2007 with a 6-3 6-4 win over Chinese No.2 seeds Yan Zi and Zheng Jie.

Yan and Zheng were the defending champions, but their hopes of becoming the first women's pair to defend their title in 13 years were dashed by an excellent performance from their unseeded rivals.

Chan, 17, and Chuang, 22, got the only break in the opening set, putting their rivals on the back foot and taking a one-set advantage in 37 minutes.

In a tight and tense second set, both teams had breaks before the Taipai pair got a decisive advantage. They wrapped up the win after another 46 minutes and now play Cara Black and Liezel Huber in the final on Day 12.

Adios ! The good old 1990s

阿格西（Adnre Agassi）也宣布要退休了
看樣子，我也該向美好的九Ｏ年代告別……

那是美國網壇的黃金時代吧
阿格西、山普拉斯（Pete Sampras），還有華裔的張德培（Michael Chang）活躍的時代
張德培於1989年以最年輕的法國公開賽冠軍震驚世界
可惜之後怎麼闖關，都沒再拿到 grand slam 的冠軍
最佳的紀錄，是1996年美國公開賽輸給山普拉斯，得到亞軍

希臘裔的山普拉斯頂著深褐鬈髮，有時邊跑邊吐舌頭的表情很有趣
有別於張德培以底線抽球為主，還常常搞到五盤大戰反敗為勝的辛勞
山普拉斯最厲害的是 powerful 的發球上網，以及跑步中揮拍回擊的強技
當然他的意志力也超堅強，有一年美國公開賽甚至打到吐也只喊了一下暫停
而拿下七屆溫布頓冠軍，可以說是無人能及的記錄！

因為四大賽中我最喜歡的就是草地球場的溫布頓
所以去英國旅行時，特地跑去朝聖
還記得時值非球賽的五月
門口的電子看板卻顯示前一年 P. Sampras vs M. Philippoussis 的成績
光看到這個就讓我高興得跟見到山普拉斯一樣哩
【阿，我果然很像小學生 ^^ " 】
儘管阿山哥的大滿貫記錄十分風光，但唯一的遺憾就是沒拿過法國公開賽冠軍

冠軍 title 最神的當屬光頭阿格西
不但四大公開賽都拿過冠軍，甚至還有1996奧運金牌～
從收藏獎牌的角度，加上他真是能撐，直到現在2006才宣布退休
怎麼說，阿格西都是最大贏家！