天作之合 - 99世界十大体育新闻之三

今年发生有阿加西和格拉芙身上的新闻己经够多了，阿加西在取得一系列胜利之后令人难以置信地重回世界男网排名第一，格拉芙则在取得法网桂冠和温布尔顿亚军之后宣布退役。但真正震动世人还是二人神秘恋情的曝光。

The Perfect Pair

Steffi Graf used 1999 to make a grand exit from tennis' center stage. Andre Agassi used 1999 to display a level of sustained excellence[1] that had been absent for several years. The highlight of Graf's year was winning the French Open against No. 1 Martina Hingis. Graf turned back[2] her young opponent, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2. A glimpse[3] of Graf's pending retirement came to light when she declared following the match that she would not play in the French Open again. Agassi also claimed the French Open title to complete a career Grand Slam. In the final, he fought valiantly[4] from two sets down[5] to defeat Andrei Medvedev. A month later Graf roared into[6] the Wimbledon final, only to be turned back by Lindsay Davenport 4-6, 5-7. Agassi again followed suit[7], advancing to the Wimbledon final before losing to perennial[8] champion Pete Sampras. Graf attended the U.S. Open, but only to formally say goodbye. Agassi attended, vaulted[9] to No. 1 in the world and defeated fellow-American Todd Martin in another valiantly played final. However, for all of Agassi and Graf's on-court[10] brilliance, it was a surprising off-court[10] relationship that surfaced during the U.S. Open that may have grabbed the most headlines[11]. Both refuse to give many details of the romance, but concede that they're happy.

注释：

[1]sustained excellence:
恒久不变的辉煌，指阿加西在他的职业生涯中一直在取得骄人的战绩。

[2]turn back：阻止，挡住

[3]glimpse：
一瞥。这里指格拉芙在法国公开赛后只是简单地透露一点她想退役（不再参加法国公开赛）的想法。

[4]valiantly：
英勇地、勇猛地

[5]two sets down：
落后两局

[6]roar into：
这就是我们现在常能听到的"高歌猛进"。但用这个词来形容格拉芙是不是有点过了？

[7]follow suit：跟着做

[8]perennial：
终年的，长期的，永久的。"perennial champion"永远的冠军，这样的头衔用在桑普拉斯身上只怕不会有人有意见吧？

[9]vault：
跳过，"vault to No. 1"指阿加西从年初孙山之外的排名到此时"一越成为"世界排名第一。

[10]on-court：网球场内
off-court：网球场外

[11]grab the most headlines：
成为众多报章的头条