勝利與失敗：回顧沉思Pete Sampras(二)

看板Sampras作者Seles (Monica)時間21年前 (2003/08/30 05:05)推噓0(0推 0噓 0→)

留言0則, 0人參與討論串1/1

Sampras seemed blessed from the moment at 18 months when his Greek father took him out back and watched him repeatedly kick a football straight through some uprights that he had rigged up.Soterios (Sam) Sampras eventually pushed Pete into tennis, then entrusted his son's training to a doctor sporting an IQ of 200 but absolutely no background in coaching tennis. Dr. Pete Fischer was a pediatric endocrinologist who had mad scientist designs to "create" the perfect tennis player. He plucked his malleable student in front of old 18-millimeter films of Rod Laver and told Sampras that some day he would be better than the "greatest player ever." All this before the kid could hit a decent backhand passing shot. Sampras似乎是在一歲半時就展露了他的天分，當他的希臘裔父親Sam Sampras帶他出外，然後看到他重覆地擊打一顆足球垂直水平地來回，任意地操弄著。Sam最後把Sampras 帶向網球，然後將他兒子的訓練交給了一個智商200的醫生但在網球教練上卻是絕對沒有什麼背景。Dr.Pete Fishcher是一個小兒科內分泌學者，他對於創造設計一個完美的網球選手相當狂熱。他拉著他富有可塑性的學生去看18厘米的Rod Laver老舊的影片，並告訴Sampras：有一天他會比這位「史上最佳球員」更為優秀。這就是這孩子能夠打出優雅的反拍穿越之前的全部。 But the talent was there. Even when he was losing plenty of tennis matches as a junior player, observers gushed."When they were passing out talent," USTA junior development coach Greg Patton told me in 1987 when I was writing about Sampras for Tennis Magazine, "they not only dumped it on Pete Sampras, they not only sanded down Pete Sampras and put a layer of paint on him, they put 12 different coats of high-premium paint all over this kid. He is a piece of art." Fischer dismissed all concerns about Sampras' lack of success in the juniors as irrelevant in his preparation for the pros. "The goal has always been Wimbledon," Fischer said, "The competition has always been Rod Laver." At Sampras' first four Grand Slam tournaments, he didn't get past the second round. But at the 1990 U.S. Open, Sampras strung together the hottest two weeks of tennis in his fledgling career-a "premature blip," he now calls it. He won the event at age 19 to become the youngest men's champion in the tournament's history. Along the way, he beat four former and future No. 1 players: Thomas Muster, Ivan Lendl, John McEnroe and Andre Agassi. Sports Illustrated put him on its cover under the slug line: "A Star is Born." 但真正的天賦正在這兒。即使當他是青少年球員時輸掉了很多的比賽，即使觀察者對此有過度的言行批評。USTA的青少年培訓教練Greg Patton曾在我1987年時報導Sampras 告訴我：「當他們為天賦暈炫，他們不只會把它傾倒、把沙子填滿到Sampras身上，他們還會將顏料厚厚地塗在他身上好幾層，他們還會把12件塗上不同顏料的高級外套全套在這孩子身上。」Fischer無視其他人對Sampras青少年時期差勁成績的注目，而且把它當成是不恰當的，當Sampras為進入職業準備的時期。Fischer說：「目標總是要放在溫布頓，而競爭對手一直是Rod Laver」。Sampras第一次參加四大公開賽時，他沒有一次進入到第二輪。但1990年美網他控制了他初出職業網壇茅盧的兩個星期 --他稱它為不成熟的發光。他以19歲的年齡贏得這個賽事，成了有史以來最年輕的冠軍。一路上他擊敗了四位前世界第一與未來的世界第一：Thomas Muster, Ivan Lendl, JohnMcEnroe 及 Andre Agassi. 體育報章在介紹他時，把他放在加框的鉛字頭條上-- "巨星誕生"。 Then he fell back down to earth. 然後他又跌到地面上。 In 1991, losses piled up, the media and fan attention drained him of energy and Sampras quickly retreated back into his former shell.The low point occurred at the 1991 U.S. Open. After falling in the quarterfinals to Jim Courier, at the time a rising young American, Sampras admitted that the pressure of defending his title was a "bag of bricks." When his comments were relayed to Jimmy Connors, in the midst of his crowd-pleasing run to the semifinals at age 39, the veteran ripped into Sampras. "That's the biggest crock of #%#@," Connors said. "Being the U.S. Open champ is what I lived for. If he's relieved at losing, something is wrong with the game… and wrong with him!" 在1991年，失敗接踵而來，媒體與球迷的注意耗盡了他的精力。Sampras很快地又縮回去他從前的殼子裡面。低潮發生在1991年美網。在八強輸給了Courier之後，一個正在上升的年輕美國選手-Sampras，承認衛冕的壓力如同「一袋磚塊」(譯注：快把他壓死了？:P) 。他的評論傳到Connors的耳中，當時他以39歲的高齡，在他的支持者的簇擁下打進四強，這位老練的資深球員激烈地攻擊Sampras：「這是最扯的胡說八道。成為美網冠軍是我之所以在這兒的原因。假如他因失敗而感到安慰，那一定是某些事情不對勁了…比賽和他本人！」 Sampras, the child prodigy, soon found Tim Gullikson, the former lunch-bucket pro.They were the Odd Couple. When the two first started working together, Gullikson was reading a book on Tao; I'm not convinced Pete has even read a book since perusing The Catcher in the Rye in high school. Sampras，這個奇才很快地找到了Tim Gullikson，前職業划船手。他們成了老搭擋。當兩個第一開始一起合作，當時Gullikson正在閱讀一棖投資的書：我不會強迫Pete甚至不強迫他閱讀一本書，自從在高中時期細讀了「麥田捕手」。 Gullikson's friends nicknamed him Mr. Intensity;Courier dubbed Sampras "The Sweet One" for his effortless, casual approach to life. Gullikson would want to lose weight, so he'd start running 10 miles a day, seven days a week. Conversely, the serene Sampras expected positive results more than he wanted to work for them. Lendl once had taken Sampras under his wing for a week but declared the time together a waste. "He doesn't know what it takes," Lendl said. "He isn't willing to do what he needs." Gullikson的朋友叫他「Mr. Intensity」；而Courier為Sampras取了「The Sweet One」的綽號-因為他以輕鬆、隨意的方式去面對生活。Gullikson想要減重，所以他會每天跑 10 miles，一週七天。相反地，穩重的Sampras期望有肯定的結果勝過他要付出的努力。 Lendl曾經帶領Pete一個星期，但他宣稱這段時間是一種浪費：「他不知道它帶來什麼，他沒有意願去作他所需要作的。」 Sampras already had dispatched a host of coaches when he hired Gullikson.An acrimonious split with Fischer soured him on "mentors," and he had little respect for what someone else could teach him. Gullikson was once ranked No. 18, Sampras calculated, and never even played during the final weekend of a Grand Slam tournament. What does he know about becoming World No.1? But their partnership worked until Gullikson's untimely passing. "Pete validated me, " Gullikson said just prior to his death. "It's funny. I feel like I belong now." 當Sampras雇用Gullikson任命他總教練一職時，有個惡毒的挑撥離間他與Fishcher，說他厭倦於教導Pete，而且他對於新教練並不尊敬。Gullikson曾經排名世界第18位， Sampras依賴他，但起初從未打進到大滿貫賽事的最後一個週末--決賽。他知道什麼呢？有關如何變成世界第一？但是他們的伙伴情誼一直持續到Gullikson英年早逝。Gullikson 在他快要過逝之前曾說：「Pete認同我，有點好笑又奇妙，現在我覺得那像是我的歸屬。」.. Certainly Sampras belongs on a list of the greatest athletes of the 21st century, an accolade earned in large part under the wise and inevitably under-appreciated direction of Paul Annacone.Sampras was the ATP World No. 1 for a record-breaking six consecutive years, an achievement that many of us consider even more untouchable than his Grand Slam titles record. His career prize money earnings exceed $43 million, nearly double rival Andre Agassi's, a testament not only to his ability to deliver during prime time-14 Grand Slam titles, 11 Tennis Masters Series titles and five year-end championships-but also his relentless, steady pursuit of perfection throughout his 15-year career. 毫無疑問地，Sampras是21世紀最偉大的運動選手之一，在睿智的教練Paul Annacone以賞識鑑賞的方式帶領下。Sampras是ATP有史以來破記錄的連續六年年終排名世界第一、並且擁有我們想到想不到、無法碰觸得到的大滿貫冠軍記錄。他職業生涯的獎金累計有 4300萬美金，幾乎是競爭對手Agassi的雙倍，另一個證明就是他不只獲得最多的14座大滿貫冠軍，11個名人賽冠軍及五座年終賽-還有持續不停地追球完美15年的職業生涯。 The aforementioned quote on the Wimbledon Centre Court entry reflects the essence of Pete Sampras the Tennis Player.But it's the entire verse by Kipling that more accurately reflects his spirit, and guides him as he now steps toward a new life as husband and father: 先前提到的溫布頓中央球場入口所引述的格言，正反映出Pete Sampras這位網球選手的本質。但是這入口的詩句是更精確地反映出他的靈魂與精神，並帶領現在的他邁向一個新的人生階段--作為一個丈夫與父親。 "If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two imposters just the same. If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, Or walk with Kings-nor lose the common touch. Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it, And-which is more-you'll be a Man, my son!" 「如果你能夠面對成功和失敗，並把這兩者視為同等重要如果你能夠與群眾對話，同時保持你的正直與美德或者能與國王並肩行走，卻不失去與一般人的接觸你所擁有的是全世界的人們，每一件事物都存在其中甚至更多-你將是一個驚奇與喜悅，my son！」 David Higdon, ATP Vice President Corporate Communications and Editor-At-Large for the ATP's DEUCE Magazine, previously worked as an editor and writer at Tennis Magazine. He can be reached at dhigdon@atptennis.com . -- ※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.csie.ntu.edu.tw) ◆ From: 61.64.168.5 -- ※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.csie.ntu.edu.tw) ◆ From: 61.64.168.5 ※ 編輯: Seles 來自: 61.64.168.5 (08/30 05:26) ※ 編輯: Seles 來自: 61.64.168.5 (09/03 18:26) ※ 編輯: Seles 來自: 61.64.168.5 (09/03 18:26)