[小威] 泰晤士報專訪

看板Williams作者VWilliams (VStarr)時間16年前 (2009/10/30 00:52)推噓5(5推 0噓 1→)

留言6則, 6人參與討論串1/1

Serena Williams: How I emerged from pit of despair after my sister’s death Matthew Syed, Sports Journalist of the Year The tract is entitled Life in a Peaceful New World and has an illustration on the cover of a mother and daughter in a green, wooded area wreathed in sunshine. Inside it reads: “All the evidence shows that we are nearing the end of man’s tragic experiment in independence from God . . . Only God’s rulership can bring peace, happiness, perfect health and everlasting life.” 有本書的標題叫做"Life in a Peaceful New World" 封面的圖是一個媽媽跟女兒在充滿陽光的一片綠色森林中裡面說"所有跡象都顯示我們越來越靠近人類的遠離上帝的可悲實驗的結尾只有上帝的主宰才可能帶來和平快樂完美的健康以及永生" Serena Williams has just pulled the leaflet from her large, purple handbag and handed it to me with a warm smile. “As Jehovah’s Witnesses, we believe it’s real important to share the Word of God,” she says. “If I am on a plane or something, I often talk to the person sitting next to me about religion and give them a tract. I always keep a few in my purse because you never know who you might run into.” I take it and promise to read it. Serena Williams帶著一個溫暖的微笑從他的紫色大包包拿了一張紙給我 "作為耶和華見證人我們相信分享上帝的話是非常重要的如果我在飛機上或其他地方我常常會跟我旁邊的人談談宗教給他們一段小短文我都會在包包裡面放一些因為你不知道你會遇到誰" 我收了起來並且保證會讀他給的紙 I am sitting with Williams on a soft couch in the Ritz-Carlton hotel, Doha. Williams is here to play in the end-of-season Sony Ericsson Championships, which start on Tuesday. 我在Doha的Ritz-Carlton飯店採訪Serena 他來這裡參加星期二開打的年終賽 As she speaks, she is the world No 1 after a year in which she has won two grand-slam singles titles, including Wimbledon, to take her overall tally to 11. But on Monday she was overtaken again by Dinara Safina, of Russia. The margin between them is so tight that whoever performs better at this week’s tournament will finish the year at the head of the rankings. 他今年拿了包括溫網的兩項大滿貫讓他的大滿貫總數達到11 但星期一他的世界排名被Dinara Safina超過他們之間的差距很小所以只要他們本週誰表現比較好誰就會拿到年終第一 I express my surprise at the importance of religion in her life. “You know, that was the No 1 thing in our lives growing up, even more important than tennis,” Williams says. “My mom is a really strong Jehovah’s Witness and my dad, although he’s not practising, made sure we went to Kingdom Hall every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. We always sat in the third row and never missed a service. Even today, it’s more important to me than anything else. My faith gives me balance and perspective.” 我向他表示了我對信仰在他生活中扮演的重要性感到訝異他說"這是我們從小到大生活中最重要的事情比網球還重要我媽是個虔誠的耶和華見證人我爸爸雖然沒做禮拜但是他會確保我們每個星期二.四.日都去Kingdom Hall做禮拜我們總是坐在第三排永遠不會錯過即使到了今天這還是我生活中最重要的事我的信仰給了我生活的平衡與展望" It has also seen her through some dark moments. Like the time she was jeered by a baying crowd of 14,000 in the final in Indian Wells in 2001, some spectators shouting “n****r” at a girl still in her teens. The reason? Her sister, Venus, had withdrawn from a semi-final against Serena because of injury. The announcement was belated and many disgruntled fans had already gathered in the stadium. By the time Serena played the final, they had not forgiven the Williams family. 我們也曾看到他經歷一些痛苦時刻像是他2001在Indian Wells的決賽全場一萬四千名觀眾都在噓他有些甚至罵他是黑鬼他那時只是一個青少女原因只不過是他的姐姐Venus在四強賽前退賽而在觀眾進場之後賽會才宣佈當Serena進行決賽時所有觀眾都不肯原諒威家 “I still find it difficult to believe what happened,” she says. “I was just a kid going out there to play a match [against Kim Clijsters, of Belgium] and people were shouting things like, ‘Go home to Compton’ just because Venus had withdrawn. I cried into my towel on one of the change-overs in the second set and just asked God to get me through the match. I didn’t even care if I won or lost.” "我還是很難相信所有發生的事情我當時還不過只是個出場比賽的孩子但是人們對著我吼'滾回Compton吧'只不過因為Venus的退賽我在第二盤換場時捂著毛巾哭了我只希望上帝能幫助我通過這場比賽我甚至不在乎輸或贏" Was there a racist component to the abuse? “There must have been when you think of the things they were shouting. It was all so unfair,” she says. “ It really got to me. But then I thought, ‘Be tough, be strong, don’t let them destroy you’, and suddenly I had this really strong mental image of God protecting me. It was like he was out there with me, shepherding me through the rest of the match.” 有種族歧視成分嗎? "如果你聽聽他們吼的話絕對有歧視真的很不公平這些真的影響了我但我接著想'堅強點別讓他們摧毀了你' 突然間我真的在心裡感受到上帝的形象在保護著我就像他在我身邊一樣陪我撐過了這場比賽" Despite a torrid opening, Williams won in three sets. But it was what happened in the aftermath that is so deeply emblematic of this strong, passionate and extraordinary woman. 雖然開場非常糟糕他還是三盤贏下比賽這就是發生在這個堅強熱情的女人身上的事 Interviewed on court, she first thanked her family and the sprinkling of spectators who had cheered for her. Then she said: “And to those of you who didn’t support me, I love you anyway.” For a 19-year-old who had just wept on court because of the unrelenting abuse, it spoke eloquently of deep resolve and big-heartedness. “Yes, I guess it took a lot to rise above all that negativity,” she says. “But that is the strength you get when you have been through so much to get to the top.” 在場邊接受訪問時他首先感謝他的家庭還有一直支持他的球迷然後他說"對那些不支持我的人不管怎樣我也愛你們" 對於一個剛在場上哭泣的十九歲女孩而言面對這些無情的羞辱他還能說出如此寬容的話 "我想能通過所有負面的事很辛苦但這是一種當你闖過所有一切後站上高峰就能擁有的力量" Williams was brought up in the Compton area of Los Angeles, one of the most violent neighbourhoods in the United States, along with two sisters from her mother’s previous relationship and two full sisters, including Venus. She shared a single bedroom with her four siblings, but with only two bunks in the room she had no bed of her own. Serena在LA的Compton長大 Compton是美國最充滿暴力的社區之一他跟著四個姊姊長大包括Venus 五姐妹一起用同個臥室在這個兩層的房子中沒有他自己的床 “Isha and Yetunde [her two oldest sisters] had the two beds on top and Lyn and Venus the two down below. I had to sleep with a different sister each night, sort of alternating between their beds. "Isha跟Yetunde睡上舖 Lyn跟Venus睡在下舖我每天晚上都跟不同的姐姐睡擠在他們中間" “But I didn’t see it as a negative. To be honest, I felt lucky because it gave me a chance to get real close to each of my sisters.” "但我真的不覺得這是壞事我反而覺得很幸運因為這給了我很多機會跟姊姊們親近" Williams started playing tennis, along with her sisters, at the age of 3 after her dad watched a match on television and heard the commentator saying that one of the players had earned $40,000 (now about ￡24,000) in a week — more than he earned in a year. He and Oracene, Venus and Serena’s mother, decided that they would teach themselves to play so that they could nurture their daughters into champions. 在威爸從電視上看了場網球比賽聽到球評說一周內獎金就賺了四萬元比他賺的一年還多他跟威媽決定一起教女兒們打球讓他們成為網球冠軍從此之後 Serena三歲起就跟著姊姊們一起打網球 They played on the public courts at a nearby park and often had to clear broken bottles and fast-food wrappers before they could start hitting. But they never missed practice. “We played all the time,” Serena says. “We would sometimes hear guns going off from drive-by shootings in the neighbourhood, but we just kept going.” 他們在附近公園的公共球場打球常常得清理周圍的破瓶子或是速食垃圾才能開始練習但是他們從來不會錯過練習時間 "我們一直都在打我們有時甚至聽的到槍聲但還是繼續打球" Was it tough to play so much tennis as a young child? “Sometimes it was a grind, but mostly it was fun,” she says. “Dad was so clever at turning the practice sessions into things we enjoyed, introducing competitive elements and stuff. He also helped us to understand that there is no short cut to success and that you have to work super-hard if you are going to make it. 在年紀這麼小就要打這麼多球很困難嗎? "有時候是種折磨但大多時間都很開心我爸很聰明他都會把訓練弄得很好玩像是加入競爭的元素他也幫助我們了解成功沒有捷徑要超級努力才可以達到目標" “It also helped having Venus as an older sister. She was such a great player and a fantastic role model and I was in her shadow a whole lot growing up. The Bible talks of two kinds of jealousy, a good jealousy and a bad jealousy. I think I had a healthy jealousy of Venus. I wanted what she had, but I didn’t want to take it away from her. I just wanted to work hard to reach the place she had reached.” "有Venus這樣的姊姊幫助也很大他是個偉大的球員也是很棒的榜樣小時候我總是生活在他的陰影聖經上有談到兩種嫉妒好的嫉妒跟壞的嫉妒我想我對Venus的嫉妒是健康的我想要有他擁有的但我並不想從她身邊搶走我只想努力達到他的地位" Williams, 28, is an enchanting mixture of earnestness, frivolity and warmth. Her eyes are wide and welcoming and her boundless humanity shines through in every answer. Every now and again, she bursts into a fit of giggles, her eyes watering with mirth, and then, moments later, when the conversation has moved on, she takes on a look of almost comical seriousness. She is at once innocent and savvy; a fighter and a pushover; sexual and coy. Serena已經二十八歲是個迷人的認真.率性.溫暖的混合體他的眼神廣闊且熱情他無邊無際的人格特質也在每個答案中閃爍著接下來他有各式各樣的反應喀喀的笑或是笑出了淚接下來的對話他看起來非常的認真 The watershed moment in her life occurred on September 14, 2003, when Yetunde, her eldest sister, was murdered in Los Angeles. It happened when Williams was in Toronto for a television show and would eventually plunge her into deep depression. Waking in despair each day, she plummeted down the rankings, reaching a low of 140, a personal and emotional nadir that makes her renaissance all the more extraordinary. 有個充滿淚水的事件發生在2003年九月十四日他的姐姐Yetunde在LA遇害當時Serena在多倫多拍攝電視劇接下來這個事件讓她陷入悲傷他的排名也逐漸下滑甚至跌到140名那是他個人的最低潮讓他的重生看起來如此可貴 “I still find it difficult to talk about what happened with Tunde,” Williams says. “She was nine years older than me and was like a second mother. She called me ‘kid’ and took me clothes shopping and stuff. I could be kind of naughty growing up, but she was always so forgiving, just smiling and putting her arm around me. Even after we moved to Florida we saw each other a lot. She was personal assistant to Venus and me for a time.” "我還是覺得要談Tunde的事情很困難他比我年長九歲就像另一個媽媽一樣他總是叫我kid 帶我去買衣服之類的我小時候很淘氣但他總是會原諒我他總是微笑雙手抱著我在我們搬到佛州之後我們常常見面他那時候還是我跟Venus的私人助理" Yetunde was killed in a drive-by shooting of the kind that Serena had heard reverberating around the neighbourhood when playing on those public courts in Compton. Her sister had been out with her new boyfriend, a gang member, when someone started firing into the car. The bullets were meant for him. Yetunde was 31. Yetunde是在開車時被槍殺的就像Serena所回憶的公共球場所聽到的槍聲他的姐姐當時跟她男朋友出去後來有人開始打他們的車子彈本來是對著她男友的最後打中了他他才31歲 “I was sharing a room with Lyn [her sister] in Toronto when I found out,” Williams says. “We just couldn’t take it in. I had been talking to Tunde on the phone earlier that day and she had been real excited about what was going on in her life, and mine. I just couldn’t make sense of it. It was like something out of a dream. "我聽到消息的當下跟Lyn住在同間房間我們完全不能接受我稍早才剛剛跟Tunde聊拓他對於接下來的生活這麼興奮我真的不能接受那種感覺像是個夢一樣" “I took a little time off from tennis, but then I threw myself back into it. I think that happens when people face tragedy: either they plunge themselves into their jobs to take their minds off what has happened, or they grieve properly. I didn’t grieve properly.” 我花了一段時間遠離網球接下來我又重新投入我想人們碰到悲劇時總會這麼做讓自己投入到工作中忘記發生的事或是讓自己深陷悲傷我沒有選擇後者 Two years later, Williams ground to a halt, the emotional trauma finally catching up with her. “I needed to take time out from tennis because I had an injury to my leg and had all sorts of emotional and spiritual wounds,” she says. “I started to see a therapist because I was in a bad place and needed to talk things through. After a while, I started getting my energy back again. God helped with that.” 兩年後 Serena暫停了腳步他內心的創傷最終戰勝了他 "我當時需要一段時間遠離網球因為我腳有傷而且還有許多情緒上精神上的創傷我開始去找諮商師因為我的處境很糟我需要談談發生的事情過了一陣子我又開始找回我的能量上帝幫助了我" So, too, did Africa. Williams took a long trip to Ghana and Senegal in 2006, taking tennis clinics and giving out polio vaccines before heading to the coast to see the slave castles. “These were where they held the slaves before shipping them to America,” she says. “It was unbelievable to think that my ancestors had endured such suffering before they even got to America and were put into bondage . . . it put things in perspective, but it also made me think. If my people could endure that kind of suffering, I could endure anything.” Serena也去了非洲他在2006去了迦納跟塞內加爾辦了一個網球營也參觀了從前關奴隸的城堡 "他們告訴我這就是要送去美國的奴隸被關的地方去想自己的祖先是承受了多少痛苦才能到美國去做奴隸讓我開始思考如果他們能忍受他們所受的痛苦我也可以忍受所有事" Energised like never before, Williams flew to Australia to play in the first grand-slam tournament of 2007. She was ranked No 81, unseeded, and many pundits had written her off, including Chris Evert, who had written an open letter in Tennis magazine criticising Williams for her outside interests, such as fashion design. “You are tarnishing your legacy,” Evert wrote. 在去澳洲參加2007澳網前 Serena感到一股前所未有的活力他排名只有81 非種子很多球評都看低她甚至是Chris Evert都寫了一封公開信指責場外興趣太多例如時裝設計 "你正在玷污你的傳奇性" Williams was also a few pounds heavier than normal, something picked up on by the Australian press. “I never really read the newspapers, but I couldn’t really avoid what they were saying about me,” she says. “One of them called me a ‘fat cow’. I was like, ‘Is this for real?’ It wasn’t easy. Serena也比之前多了幾磅重被澳洲的媒體報導 "所從來沒有真的去讀報紙但我也不能完全躲避別人對我的評論其中一家報紙說我是肥牛我心裡想'這是真的嗎?' 這對我真的很不簡單" “Even now I have days when I look in the mirror and go, ‘Wow! I need to lose weight here and I need to lose weight there.’ But I know that I am never going to be a size two. I am curvy: I have big boobs and a big butt. I guess that is attractive to some guys. But it’s tough when you read people being so personal about the way you look.” "即使現在我看鏡子有時候我還是會想'哇我還需要再減肥我這裡應該瘦那裡應該瘦' 但我知道我從來都不是二號size的人我的曲線突出我有大咪咪也有大屁股我想對某些人可能很有吸引力但是當讀到別人怎麼針對你個人的外觀評論還是很困難" True to character, Williams rose above the negativity, racing through the rounds before powering her way through Maria Sharapova 6-1, 6-2 in the final. It rates as one of the most extraordinary comebacks in the history of women’ s tennis. “It was pretty unbelievable,” she agrees, beaming. “And you know what? It felt great.” Since then, Williams has won three further grand-slam singles titles. 接下來Serena從所有負面中再度挺起一輪一輪的闖過最後在決賽6-1 6-2打敗Maria Sharapova 被評為女網史上最驚人的復出之一 "我覺得真的真很不可思議感覺真是棒透了" 接下來他又拿了三個大滿貫 Her only serious recent setback occurred at this year’s US Open, when she was foot-faulted on a second serve when two points from defeat in her semi-final against Clijsters. Williams exploded in a fit of rage, cursing at the lineswoman and being penalised a point, handing the match to her opponent. 他最近發生的嚴重事件是今年美網他在距離輸球兩分的時候在二發被判腳誤 Serena情緒爆炸了甚至詛咒線審最後被罰分送給對手勝利 “It was out of character and I really regret it,” she says. “I am a passionate person and I just lost it because it was an iffy call at a key moment. I wrote the line judge a really long letter of apology and she understood.” "我那時候脫軌了我真的很後悔我是一個很情緒化的人因為關鍵時刻的一個不確定的判決所以我失控了我後來寫了一封很長的道歉信給線審而他也表示理解了" I ask about her love life. Do you have a boyfriend? “I always say I am dating my racket because I spend so much time playing tennis that I don’t have much time for anything else,” she says, giggling. “Besides, I am a psycho when it comes to dating. Like if a guy doesn’t call me when he says he is going to call me, I get all emotional. I guess that is because of what happened with So and So.” 關於他的私生活他有男朋友嗎? "我總是跟別人說我正在跟我的球拍約會因為我花了好多時間打網球我沒有什麼時間做其他事除此之外約會的時候我也像個精神病患一樣例如如果他說要打給我但是沒打來我就會開始情緒反應很大我想都是因為跟某某某之前的經歷" So and So? That’s Williams’s name for her first boyfriend — she refuses to say his real name because a friend told her that it is easier to get through a bad break-up if you don’t speak your ex’s name. 某某某? 這是Serena稱呼她初戀男友的名字他不肯說出真名因為他的朋友跟他說不要講出前男友的名字這樣會比較好從失戀中療傷 An American footballer, So and So finished their budding relationship in 2001 when he simply stopped taking her calls. They had just spent two weeks in each other’s company after 9/11 and Williams had fallen deeply in love, but he pulled the plug without even bothering to explain why. 一個足球選手跟他在2001結束關係他停止跟他通話他們在911後花了兩個禮拜在一起 Serena覺得自己已經身陷愛中但他中斷了他們的關係甚至不願意解釋為什麼 “I suffered a lot when that happened,” she says. “I just couldn’t understand why he was so cruel. I think my run of grand-slam titles [she won four in a row between 2002 and 2003] was partly about showing him that I didn ’t need him to get on with my life.” Are you over him now? “Oh, God yeah. But I think it is because of what happened with him that I still have trust issues with guys.” "發生這件事情的時候我覺得很難受我不能理解為什麼他這麼殘忍我想我連續在大滿貫的奪冠某部份來說是為了給他看我不需要他也可以活的很好" 完全復元了嗎? "噢我想因為跟他發生的事讓我現在對男人還是有信賴方面的問題" After the interview, we play a friendly game of table tennis. Williams takes to it fast and shows her competitive edge, refusing to stop until she has returned one of my spin serves. After the session she leans forward to kiss my cheek and offer a hug. 訪問過後我們打了場桌球 Serena很快就贏了展現他其他的競爭力直到他回了我一個很旋的發球才肯停止之後我們吻頰並擁抱 “You want to know my message to people?” she says. “If you want to achieve your dreams, you gotta work real hard. There’s no lottery ticket to success. Sure, sometimes you fall down — and I have fallen an awful lot. "你想知道我想告訴人們的話嗎? 如果你想要達到你的夢想你得真的很努力成功沒有樂透彩券有時候你會遇到低潮像我就曾經落到一個痛苦的境地" “But then you have to live the words of Muhammad Ali: ‘Being a champion isn ’t about what you do when you are on top; it’s about what you do when you are knocked down.’ ” "但就像Muhammad Ali說的 '做一個冠軍不在於你巔峰時期你能做的多好而是在你面對谷底的時候能做什麼'" -- -- ※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 140.120.231.132