Project 45 No Longer a Secret: Kei Nishikori
11月號DEUCE雜誌有錦織圭的專訪﹕
http://www.atptennis.com/5/en/deuce/november2008/nishikori.asp
裡面提到的Porject 45是指要超越前輩松岡修造生涯最高排名第46位的計劃。
以下節錄文中一些重點﹕(這篇很值得圭迷一看！)
"When I was 12, I was picked through a Bollettieri selection process in
Tokyo," recalled Nishikori. "I first went on a three-week trial and I enjoyed
it very much. I played tennis all the time – alongside around 800 other
children – and although it was hard work, the top players that train at the
Academy really showed me just how hard I needed to work to become a
professional player."
Gabe Jaramillo, who has worked as Director of Tennis and Head Coach at the
IMG/Bollettieri Tennis Academy since 1981, remembers, "Kei showed himself as
a player of great potential. The trial also showed the coaches at the Academy
that he could compete in different situations and adjust to the American
lifestyle. His forehand was explosive, but his volleying was poor and his
service technique was that of a beginner."
Bollettieri總教練營覺得錦織圭剛進營時正手已相當具爆發力，但網前球和發球很爛。
"I have always aimed to break Shuzo's career-high ranking of No. 46,"
admitted Nishikori. "When I moved to Bradenton in 2004, even though I
couldn't speak a word of English, I didn't feel homesick. I was too busy
developing my game. I have always been blessed with a powerful forehand but
had to work on my service motion and footwork around the court. I would make
too many mistakes in my attempts to hit winners off every stroke."
"The Academy's coaches found it very difficult to get Kei to open up
initially. He didn't have any confidence, his mind was low key and he didn't
give us much feedback, but we found he liked straight forward coaching
techniques. The first couple of years we kept a tight schedule and set to
work on Kei's service and throwing motion, asking him to throw hundreds of
American footballs and baseballs in order to develop the basics."
"While many teenagers [aged 12 to 16] come to the Academy with plenty of
talent, many never work hard enough to realise their potential," admits
Jaramillo, who has worked with the likes of Andre Agassi, Jim Courier and
Pete Sampras during his career. "From day one, Kei was never like that. If we
asked him to turn up at 7 a.m. for a training session on the court, he would
be there at 6:45 a.m. ensuring his racquets were gripped correctly and his
shoelaces tied tightly. That way we were hitting balls bang on 7 a.m."
Jaramillo has since assembled a 14-man team involved in Nishikori's career.
He said: "Nick Bollettieri is in charge of strokes, Red Ayme for daily
practices, Glenn Weiner as his traveling coach, Sybil Ayme, his yoga teacher,
Dr. Angus Mugford for mental conditioning, Steve Shembaum for media training,
Sally Parsonage is in charge of nutrition, Kevin Murdock for physiotherapy,
agents van Lindonk and Ben Crandell, Sato Nakajima liaison with the family,
Juan Herrera biomechanics and Yutaka Nakamura physical conditioning."
上面那段提到有14人小組在經營小圭的職業生涯，各人負責不同的工作，
看到這段再想想小盧。><"
Two weeks after losing in the third round of qualification for an ATP
Challenger circuit event at Dallas, Texas, in late January, Nishikori freely
admitted: "My confidence was shot, but my coaches told me I must go to Delray
Beach. It will be a week I will never forget." Jamarillo added, "He was
thinking of ways to get out of playing. He wanted to compete at a $10,000 ITF
Futures tournament, but we urged him to reconsider as it was very important
he competed."
Nishikori arrived at the Delray Beach Stadium and Tennis Center with nothing
to lose. As a result he played without inhibition, storming through three
matches in qualifying, coming back from a set down in three of his five main
draw matches – including saving four match points against No. 3 seed Sam
Querrey in the semifinals – before beating World No. 12 James Blake 3-6,
6-1, 6-4 to become the first Japanese player to win a title since Matsuoka in
1992. At 18 years, one month and 19 days old, Nishikori was the youngest
player to win an ATP title since Lleyton Hewitt (16 years, 10 months, 18
days) in Adelaide on January 11, 1998.
提到他在Delray Beach奪冠那週，本來只想要參加一項10k的比賽來重建信心，
但後來被教練說服了，誰想到就這樣從會外賽晉級摘下生涯第一冠，
成為近十年最年輕的ATP賽單打冠軍。
Indications are that Nishikori will surpass that mark and begin tapping into
the substantial marketing possibilities. He has already signed major deals
with the Sony Corporation, Wilson and adidas. Van Lindonk, his IMG manager,
said: "IMG is attempting to build a platform for Kei and lift the entire game
of tennis in Japan. He has aggressive goals [which include reaching the Top
10] and the improvements he has made this season alone are very significant."
In September, Nishikori became the first Japanese player to reach the US Open
fourth round since Jiro Yamagishi in 1937, but his season ended early due to
a knee injury at the If Stockholm Open in October, when he reached the
semifinals (l. to Soderling). "This year has taken its toll on me and in
Stockholm my knee started to hurt," explained Nishikori, who amassed a 16-12
match record and rose from No. 289 to No. 64 in the South African Airways ATP
Rankings in 2008. "An MRI scan has indicated that the problem is nothing
serious, but it does mean my year is over."
成為近70年來首位晉級美網第四輪的日本球員，
排名從年初的第289位上升至第64位，可惜在10月因膝傷退賽結束08年的賽季。
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