http://tinyurl.com/69b89cp 内附图及影片
Nice guy Ferrer ready to run
Friday, 28 January, 2011
By Alix Ramsay
For a man who once described himself as the worst player in the world's top
100, who was once locked in a broom cupboard by his coach as punishment for
not trying hard enough and who once jacked in tennis altogether and went to
work a building site, David Ferrer is not doing badly.
做为一个曾说自己是Top100中最糟选手，还曾因为练球不努力被教练锁在扫帚厨，以及
放弃网球跑去建筑工地当搬运工的男人，David Ferrer其实干得还不错。
For the second time in his career, the likeable Spaniard is in the semifinals
of a Grand Slam and for the second time in his career, he looks a little
surprised. Then again, Ferrer always seems surprised when he wins. His game
is based on hard work - he is willing to run until the opposition drops - but
for some reason, he never seems to believe that he has talent to go along
with the work ethic. And there are times when that drives his coach, Javier
Piles, nuts.
这是这位可爱的西班牙人生涯中的第二次打进大满贯四强，他看起来有些惊讶。
又一次的，Ferrer赢球时总是看起来很惊讶。他的球风奠基于勤奋 - 他愿意一直跑动
直到对手停止回球 - 但基于某些原因，他看起来从来都不相信自己有天份可以继续
从事这项运动。有好几次这让他的教练Javier Piles忍不住吐嘈。
"We would go play a tournament and David would win a match 6-1, 6-1," Piles
recalled from Ferrer's junior days. "He would come out saying his opponent
was really good but he never valued how good he was. I would tell him that
his opponent was really good but that he had won 6-1, 6-1."
“在一项赛事中David以6-1 6-1击败对手，”Piles回忆起Ferrer青少年时期，“然后他
会说对手真是厉害，但从来不曾评价过自己有多出色，我会跟他说虽然对手很厉害，但
你6-1 6-1打赢他耶。”
It was that lack of confidence that drove Ferrer to work harder and harder on
the practice courts. Well, it did after Piles had locked him in the broom
cupboard. Like many teenagers, Ferrer needed a bit of shove to realise that
only hard work brings results so when he would turn up for training with his
mind elsewhere, Piles decided to teach him a lesson.
正因为缺乏自信，Ferrer在练习场更加勤奋练习。嗯，不过这是在Piles把他关在扫帚橱
之后的事。如同很多青少年，Ferrer需要跌一跤才知道唯有努力才能成功，因此每当他
练球心不在焉时，Piles决定好好帮他上一课。
"When he didn't want to work I would lock him up in a dark room of two by two
metres and I would put a lock on it so he couldn't get out," Piles said. "It
was the room where we would store the tennis balls. I would tell him that his
working schedule was from 9 to 12 and that if he didn't want to work he would
remain there, punished. I would give him a piece of bread and a bottle of
water through the bars of a small window. After a few minutes we would hear
David asking other trainers from the club for some help to get out but we
wouldn't pay any attention."
“当他不想练球时我会把他关在一个2-3平方公尺的黑暗小房间里，然后锁起来不让他出
来，那是储藏网球的地方，我会跟他说他得从9点练到12点，如果他不想就得被关在那
当做处罚，我会从小窗子递给他一块面包和一瓶水。几分钟后就会听到David央求俱乐部
的其他教练放他出来，我们都没理会他。”
This was tough love indeed, so much so that at the age of 17, Ferrer had had
enough - this tennis lark was not for him - so he threw in his racquet and
went off to find a real life. Unfortunately, a real life costs money so young
David had to get himself a job but all he could find was a labourer's gig on
a building site. One week of hefting bricks from morning to night soon cured
him of his aversion to tennis training and after a matter of days, he was on
the phone to Piles: would it be all right if he turned up for practise bright
and early the next morning? Since then, Piles and Ferrer have been
inseparable and the world No.7 regards his coach like one of the family.
这是多么严苛的爱，对17岁的Ferrer来说太过沉重，网球不是他想要的。所以他丢下球
拍，出去寻找真正的人生。不幸的是，过日子是要钱的，年轻的David只好去找工作，
但他唯一能找到的工作是去建筑工地当搬运工。在从早到晚扛砖头扛了一星期后，
他对网球不再反感，几天后，他打电话给Piles: 我明天早上可以回去练球吗?
从此之后，Piles和Ferrer从未分离，这位世界排名第七的选手将教练视如家人。
Ferrer, though, is not beyond giving Piles a piece of his mind during matches
but the rant directed at the players' box is not the usual "you gave me the
wrong tactics, you plank" that most coaches have to suffer; instead Ferrer is
wont to yell at his coach "what are you watching this for? I'm rubbish." It
is not quite the attitude of a bona fide tennis bully, the terror with blood
in his eye.
虽然Ferrer也是会在比赛中向Piles表达不满，但Piles不像其他教练得承受选手那种
“你教这什么烂战略”的叫嚷，Ferrer通常是向他教练喊“你看什么看? 我就是这么
烂啦”这实在不像一个善良的网球高手的态度，几乎可以从他眼里看到恐惧。
Even when he beat Rafael Nadal to reach the semifinal, Ferrer could not help
but mention that his friend Rafa was injured, that the world No.1 was not at
his best. As Piles rolled his eyes in disbelief, his charge chatted to Jim
Courier in the post-match interview and spoke as much about Nadal's injury
problems as about his own success. That's Ferrer for you. He is one of
nature's nice guys - courteous and polite; he is a real gentle man.
就连他击败Rafael Nadal进到四强，他还是忍不住提到他的好朋友Rafa受伤了，世界第一
并没拿出最好水准。当Piles不敢相信的将视线移向他处时，Ferrer在受Jim Courier赛
后访问时，提到Nadal伤势的篇幅几乎跟提他自己的成功一样多。这就是Ferrer，纯天然
的好人 - 谦恭又有礼貌，真正的绅士。
Still, sometimes, nice guys can win. When he reached his first Grand Slam
semifinal, it was at the US Open in 2007. That set him on his way to his
first visit to the Tennis Masters Cup (now replaced by the Barclays ATP World
Tour Finals in London). Blinking in the spotlight and slightly embarrassed to
be in such exalted company, he promptly worked his way through the field to
reach the final unbeaten and it took Roger Federer to stop him once he got
there.
好人也是会出头天的。他在2007美网第一次打进大满贯四强，这也帮助他取得年终资格。
在闪光灯中眨着眼，待在这样兴奋的人群中他有些难为情，但他仍然按部就班的全胜挺进
决赛，最后是Roger Federer阻止了他的连胜。
And Ferrer's response? It was typical.
那Ferrer的反应是? 非常典型的他。
"Now I don't know if I am the worst player of the top 10 or top hundred," he
said then. "Now I want to think the next match and try to go with my best
tennis. Nothing else. I don't want to think if I the worst, if I the better
or not."
“现在我不知道我是不是top10或top100中最差的选手，我只考虑我的下一场，试着
拿出我最好表现，就这样。我不想去思考我是不是最差或最好那一个。”他说。
Now Andy Murray stands in his path to the final. Given that they are two of
the fittest men on tour, it is likely to be a long and physical match (take
plenty of sandwiches and a lolly or two) but whose fitness regime will hold
up under the pressure of a semifinal?
现在Andy Murray挡在他前往决赛的道路上，做为赛事中状态最好的两个选手，这场比赛
可能会是漫长的体能战(可能得吃掉很多三明治跟棒棒糖)，究竟谁的状态能够挺住四强
的压力呢?
Piles loves running - he just completed a marathon in less than three hours -
and Ferrer has obviously caught the bug. He can run one kilometre in 3 mins
25 seconds and clocks 36 minutes for 10 kilometres - not only is he fast but
he keeps on going like the Energiser Bunny. This year, though, he varied his
routine during the off season and tried mountain biking. Clearly, he took to
that, too, and racked up 90k a day when he was not running himself ragged
playing soccer. Somewhere in amongst this eye-watering schedule, he found
time to squeeze in two weeks' worth of holiday time so now he feels fresh,
relaxed and as fit as a flea.
Piles喜欢跑动，他才刚刚达成在3小时内跑完一次马拉松，Ferrer显然是有得到真传。
他可以3分25秒跑完一公里，以及36分钟内跑完10公里，这不只是最高纪录而是常态，
就像金顶电池的兔子一样。今年休季他也尝试了山路自行车，显然这对他不是问题，
只要他没先为了踢足球耗掉体力，他可以一天骑90公里。在这会让人想哭的训练行程表
里，他还是找到的两星期的时间渡个假，所以现在他觉得新鲜放松，精神饱满。
Just to make sure that his slight frame is as strong as it can be, Ferrer
practises with Basque racquets during December. These are heavy wooden bats
used for playing pelota and its many variants so, basically, Ferrer's
off-season training involves playing tennis with a lump of wood the size of a
cricket bat. That builds muscle on his racquet arm but in order to make sure
that his body is in perfect balance, he finishes every practise session by
playing left handed (but with a normal racquet) for five or 10 minutes. A
chap does not want to be lop-sided if he is chasing a major title.
(本段重点就是他放假时也打巴斯克回力球做为训练，一种介于板球跟壁球间的运动，
赶时间省略翻译。)
So, in theory, Ferrer is six sets away from a Grand Slam title; in practise,
he is two of the biggest matches of his career away from achieving a
lifetime's ambition. And if he achieves it, perhaps he might then - and only
then - believe that he is not half bad as a tennis player. Then again, I
would not put your money on it.
所以，理论上，Ferrer距离大满贯冠军还有六盘，但实际上他和完成自己生涯目标的距离
，是他职业生涯中最重大的两场比赛。如果他完成了，或许那时 - 只有那时而已 - 他会
相信自己不是那么差的网球选手。但在那之后我可不敢保证。