※ [本文转录自 Sampras 看板] 作者: Seles (Monica) 看板: Sampras 标题: 胜利与失败：回顾沉思Pete Sampras(二) 时间: Sat Aug 30 05:06:07 2003 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似乎是在一岁半时就展露了他的天分，当他的希腊裔父亲Sam Sampras带他出外 ，然後看到他重覆地击打一颗足球垂直水平地来回，任意地操弄着。Sam最後把Sampras 带向网球，然後将他儿子的训练交给了一个智商200的医生但在网球教练上却是绝对 没 有什麽背景。Dr.Pete Fishcher是一个小儿科内分泌学者，他对於创造设计一个完美的 网球选手相当狂热。他拉着他富有可塑性的学生去看18厘米的Rod Laver老旧的影片 ， 并告诉Sampras：有一天他会比这位「史上最佳球员」更为优秀。这就是这孩子能够 打 出优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." 但真正的天赋正在这儿。即使当他是青少年球员时输掉了很多的比赛，即使观察者对 此有过度的言行批评。USTA的青少年培训教练Greg Patton曾在我1987年时报导Sampras 告诉我：「当他们为天赋晕炫，他们不只会把它倾倒、把沙子填满到Sampras身上， 他 们还会将颜料厚厚地涂在他身上好几层，他们还会把12件涂上不同颜料的高级 外 套全套在这孩子身上。」Fischer无视其他人对Sampras青少年时期差劲成绩的注目， 而且把它当成是不恰当的，当Sampras为进入职业准备的时期。Fischer说：「目标总 是要放在温布顿，而竞争对手一直是Rod Laver」。Sampras第一次参加四大公开赛时 ，他没有一次进入到第二轮。但1990年美网他控制了他初出职业网坛茅卢的两个星期 --他称它为不成熟的发光。他以19岁的年龄赢得这个赛事，成了有史以来最年轻的冠 军。一路上他击败了四位前世界第一与未来的世界第一：Thomas Muster, Ivan Lendl, JohnMcEnroe 及 Andre Agassi. 体育报章在介绍他时，把他放在加框的铅字头条上-- "巨星诞生"。 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，失败接踵而来，媒体与球迷的注意耗尽了他的精力。Sampras很快地又缩回去 他从前的壳子里面。低潮发生在1991年美网。在八强输给了Courier之後，一个正在上升 的年轻美国选手-Sampras，承认卫冕的压力如同「一袋砖块」(译注：快把他压死了？:P) 。他的评论传到Connors的耳中，当时他以39岁的高龄，在他的支持者的簇拥下打进四强 ，这位老练的资深球员激烈地攻击Sampras：「这是最扯的胡说八道。成为美网冠军是我 之所以在这儿的原因。假如他因失败而感到安慰，那一定是某些事情不对劲了…比赛 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，这个奇才很快地找到了Tim Gullikson，前职业划船手。他们成了老搭挡。当 两个第一开始一起合作，当时Gullikson正在阅读一枨投资的书：我不会强迫Pete甚 至 不 强迫他阅读一本书，自从在高中时期细读了「麦田捕手」。 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为Sampras取了「The Sweet One」 的绰号-因为他以轻松、随意的方式去面对生活。Gullikson想要减重，所以他会每天跑 10 miles，一周七天。相反地，稳重的Sampras期望有肯定的结果胜过他要付出的努力。 Lendl曾经带领Pete一个星期，但他宣称这段时间是一种浪费：「他不知道它带来什麽， 他没有意愿去作他所需要作的。」 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." 当Sampras雇用Gullikson任命他总教练一职时，有个恶毒的挑拨离间他与Fishcher， 说 他厌倦於教导Pete，而且他对於新教练并不尊敬。Gullikson曾经排名世界第18位， Sampras依赖他，但起初从未打进到大满贯赛事的最後一个周末--决赛。他知道什麽呢？ 有关如何变成世界第一？但是他们的伙伴情谊一直持续到Gullikson英年早逝。Gullikson 在他快要过逝之前曾说：「Pete认同我，有点好笑又奇妙，我觉得现在那像是我的归属。 」.. 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. 毫无疑问地，Sampras是21世纪最伟大的运动选手之一，在睿智的教练Paul Annacone以 赏识监赏的方式带领下。Sampras是ATP有史以来破记录的连续六年年终排名世界第一、 并且拥有我们想到想不到、无法碰触得到的大满贯冠军记录。他职业生涯的奖金累计有 4300万美金，几乎是竞争对手Agassi的双倍，另一个证明就是他不只获得最多的14座大 满贯冠军，11个名人赛冠军及五座年终赛-还有持续不停地追球完美15年的职业生涯。 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: 先前提到的温布顿中央球场入口所引述的格言，正反映出Pete Sampras这位网球选手的 本质。但是这入口的诗句是更精确地反映出他的灵魂与精神，并带领现在的他迈向一个 新的人生阶段--作为一个丈夫与父亲。 "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!" 「如果你能够面对成功和失败，并把这两者视为同等重要 如果你能够与群众对话，同时保持你的正直与美德 或者能与国王并肩行走，却不失去与一般人的接触 你所拥有的是全世界的人们，每一件事物都存在其中 甚至更多-你将是一个惊奇与喜悦，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 [email protected] . --

※ 发信站: 批踢踢实业坊(ptt.csie.ntu.edu.tw) ◆ From: 61.64.168.5 --

※ 发信站: 批踢踢实业坊(ptt.csie.ntu.edu.tw) ◆ From: 61.64.168.5 ※ 编辑: Seles 来自: 61.64.168.5 (08/30 05:12) ※ 编辑: Seles 来自: 61.64.168.5 (08/30 05:22)