Marat Safin, a Definition of Success
2006 in review (from official website)
by A.Cardoso, December 2006.
薩芬﹐成功的象徵 - 2006 總回顧



In a single sentence, and in purely sportive terms, for Marat Safin the 2006 season could be summed up as negative.

Starting in January as world number 12 and ending up in December as number 26 - dropping en route during the summer to an all time low ranking of 104 since his breakthrough in 1998 - would definitely be considered as a less than good performance from a player with the talent and the potential of Marat Safin. But like everything in life there is always more than just one side to each situation, and to be able to do a fair analysis one has to take a deeper, step-by-step, look at what really happened during 2006.

如果要用一個詞﹐很單純的去形容薩芬2006 年的表現﹐就只有"糟糕"了。
2006年初以世界排名12 開始﹐中間慘跌到1998年出道顯露頭角以來最慘的104名﹐到年終再回到排名26名﹐沒有人會認同這是天賦﹑潛力兼具的薩芬該有的成績。但就像人生一樣﹐每件事總不只一個面向﹐若要仔細分析他的表現﹐我們必須要一步步深度地探索究竟2006年一整年來到底他是怎麼走過來的。


Sidelined since Wimbledon 2005 due to a torn ligament in the left knee, an injury that only allowed him to start running again in December of that year, Marat purposefully decided not to defend his 2005 Australian Open title in order to regain fitness and rhythm, even though that would mean he would loose important points which would prevent him from being seeded upon return. A calculated risk but after a too early comeback to the courts in Cincinnati in August of 2005 had, to put it in his own words, “finished him off” carefulness was a virtue he had learned to appreciate.

從05年溫網因膝蓋韌帶傷勢暫時告別網壇後﹐薩芬直到同年12月才能開始慢慢跑動﹐他刻意地放棄衛冕05澳網冠軍﹐只為調整狀態及節奏﹐即便他心裡明白這樣的決定會失掉大半積分﹐導致復出時得要辛苦地從非重子球員開始。2005年冒著風險太早復出參加八月辛辛那提大師賽﹐讓薩芬付出慘痛的代價﹐套句他自己的話 "把自己玩完了"﹐此後薩芬才體悟到 "謹慎小心"的重要性。

Tennis, like every other high competition sport demands 100% fitness, both of body and mind, and that 100% fitness can only be obtained by playing. No matter the amount of practice a player goes through nothing can prepare him fully for a real match. At 26 years of age, and after being on the tour for 8 years, Marat is more than aware of that. Despite everything, the first results could be considered as positive for someone out of play for 7 months. A 2nd round in Dubai, with a victory over Top 5 Nikolay Davydenko, a 4th round in Indian Wells, an intense 5 setter victorious match in the QF of the Davis Cup against French rising star Richard Gasquet, and a SF final in Valencia, were signs that things might pick up sooner than expected.

網球﹐跟其他競爭激烈的運動一樣﹐要求100%健康﹐包含身體與心理﹐而只有持續活躍在球場才能保證球員100%的健康﹐不管球員經過怎麼長時間的訓練﹐沒有上場去參與競賽都不足以為復出作充份準備。巡迴八年﹐已經26歲的薩芬對這個殘酷的事實再清楚不過了。其他的暫先不談﹐七個月休息復出剛開始的成績其實是不錯的﹐在迪拜第二輪擊敗世界第五達維登科; Indian Wells 晉級第四輪; 戴維斯杯八強比賽﹐5盤激烈廝殺後打敗法國新星Gasquet﹔瓦倫西亞進入四強﹐都比原先期待狀態回復的時間要短一些些。

But appearances can be deceiving. The knee still wasn’t fully healed and needed constant attention, which meant Marat couldn’t prepare himself physically to the fullest extent or practice properly. And the fear of destroying all the healing process with one bad motion, made him unconsciously favour that leg and not play his game as well as he could. Hindered by these limitations, Marat went through a string of bad losses during the Spring that hurt is still fragile confidence.

俗話說華麗的外表可能是幌子。膝傷其實並沒有完全康復且需要隨時特別小心照護﹐薩芬因此不能完全放開來作全面重量級的訓練。擔心另一個不經意的閃失會讓康復之路遙遙無期﹐薩芬不自覺地潛意識地在比賽時改變自己的移位及戰術﹐致使他漸漸失去原先進攻性的狂野風格。在這些不能自主的外在限制下﹐薩芬於春季賽事開始一連串慘敗﹐原本脆弱的自信更是因而被摧毀怠盡。

Those were the dark times, when doubt takes hold of the mind and makes you wonder if you can still do it. The game waits for no one, every player wants to win and one has to adjust quickly or face the risk of being overrun. Sitting in your hotel room, thinking that you might never get back to where you once were, that age is against you and it’s already too late, that even if you keep trying it will never be enough and you will always be compared to your past performances, are the kind of gloomy thoughts that can run through a players’ mind. And in those moments it’s easy to fall into despair, look around and start thinking that it would be better just to give up, sit back and bask in the glory of all you have already achieved.

當疑慮籠罩自己的心靈﹐你開始對於自己的能力充滿迷惑﹐那時真是一段黑暗不堪的日子。比賽是無情的﹐每個人都想贏﹐你不是快速調整自己不然就等著被淘汰。獨自呆坐在旅館房間時﹐想到自己或許再也不能重從前的風采﹑歲月催人老﹐一切彷彿已太遲﹐就算你一再咬牙嘗試﹐似乎什麼都嫌不夠﹐而且自己總難免拿過去的表現與現在比較﹐已歷盡滄桑的球員心中只有更添心酸。這種不堪回首的時刻裡﹐任何人都可能隨時崩潰﹐環顧周糟人事皆非的情景﹐不免開始考慮也許是該放棄的時候了﹐停下來吧﹐擁抱昨日的光環就行了。

Not many players have managed to come back from severe injuries at the peak of their careers. And certainly even less have done it more than once. It takes a lot of will power to be able to do that. The same will power and strength of mind that makes one go out to play with fever, wake up early every single day to attend physiotherapy, and take the hard decision to split with the coach, whom you respect and admire as a friend and person, but that because the circumstances have changed, can no longer help you in the way he has before.

很少有球員在顛峰時期不幸經歷嚴重傷病後還能成功的復出﹐更別說這樣的慘況不只一次。如果沒有堅強的意志力﹐那是絕對辦不到的﹔也就是這樣如鋼鐵般的意志和力量﹐薩芬即使發著高燒也去比賽﹐每天早早起床去作復健治療﹐忍痛與自己敬愛﹑亦師亦友的教練分道揚鑣﹐只因為情況已大大改變﹐教練無法再給予自己需要的幫助了。


It’s sheer determination that makes a player decide to risk it alone on the road, play for 8 months in a row in 23 tournaments, overcome painful losses, set an objective and stick to it until he exhausts all the possible ways to get there, including adapting his game to his physical status and the environmental circumstances of each tournament.

對一個球員來說﹐冒險決定自己單獨巡迴是艱峻的決定﹐連續八個月馬不停蹄參加23個比賽﹐自己啃噬失敗的苦果﹐告訴自己什麼困難﹐嘗試各種方法都要達成設定的目標﹐不斷地因應自己的生理狀態及不同賽事的環境來調整自己的戰略。

We sometimes tend to think that all tennis “stars” have it easy simply because they have talent, money and fame. But like I’ve said before, what we see on the outside is most of the time just a distorted reflection of reality. Fame is not a golden pill that eases everything. On the contrary, fame puts your life under a microscope and if you don’t have a strong notion of who you really are and what you really want to do, it will swallow you in no time. And no one can be a high performing sportsman, or pull up a return from injury as Marat has done this year on talent alone. It takes a lot of hard work, a total focus on the game and a steely determination to succeed.

我們常常以為網球"明星"一切都來的容易﹐因為他們是天之驕子﹐擁有天份﹑財富和名氣。但如我之前就提過﹐我們看到的表面往往是現實被嚴重扭曲的幻象。名氣不是萬能藥﹐相反地﹐它讓你活在顯微鏡下總被赤裸地檢視著﹐假如你自己沖昏了頭﹐不知自己是誰﹐自己要什麼﹐早晚會自毀前程的。而沒有任何一個運動員﹐從嚴重傷病後復出﹐光靠著天賦﹐就能像薩芬今年一樣﹐在不順利接踵而至﹐再次重振旗鼓﹐最終重生。這是辛苦訓練﹑專注比賽﹑及堅定決心後才豐收的勝利果實。

Even though we tend to see as successful only those who get the trophies, and they are indeed victorious, to me there is also another type of success. One without which the trophies and the titles aren’t possible. Success is the victory you achieve when you fight back and resist all the hardships until you finally reach the goal you have set yourself to; success is the triumph that happens when you believe in yourself and in your capabilities, when you know that you still have more to conquer.

雖然我們總難免認為只有捧起獎杯的才是成功﹐他們的確是勝者﹐但對我而言﹐還有另外一種可貴的勝利﹐沒有獎杯﹑頭銜的勝利。成功代表著﹐你始終不斷地奮鬥﹐頑強對抗艱苦的處境﹐至到達成你設定的目標﹔成功也在當你相信自己的能力﹑瞭解自己仍能通過更多關卡的時候到來。

In two months Marat rose from 104 in the rankings to number 26, achieving his objective of being seeded for the 2007 Australian Open. In the process he also reached a 4th round in the US Open, the Final of the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, a SF in Bangkok, and made it to two QF in the last two Master Series tournaments of the season. Last, but definitely not least, he helped his country win the Davis Cup, clinching the decisive point for Russia in an epic 5th rubber against the Argentinean José Acasuso. The year may have been hard to go through, but it ended with the certainty that the bad days are definitely over.

在兩個月之內﹐MARAT 從104名排昇至26名﹐完成自己2007年成為澳網種子球員的心願﹐在這期間﹐他於美網進入第四輪﹐克杯打進決賽﹐曼谷四強﹐冬季兩個大師杯都晉級八強﹔最後﹐絕對不能忽略地﹐他為國家出戰阿根廷ACASUSO贏得戴維斯第五場決定性的比賽﹐贏得戴維斯杯。這一年或許太艱辛了﹐不過﹐年終畫下美好的句點﹐也意味著最痛苦的日子已經過去了。

2006 is at its end; the New Year of 2007 is just around the corner and with it comes the promise of more fabulous tennis matches, lots of excitement and many other victories to remember. For that, for the inspiration of courage and determination you have given us, for being always kind to all the fans who kept coming to see you play all over the world, and for the certainty of a thrilling new season, we thank you Marat!

2006年即將接近尾聲﹔2007年就要到來﹐届時肯定會有更精彩的球賽﹑更多的驚奇及勝利等著我們去回味。因為這一切﹐因為你的勇氣﹑決心所帶給我們的激勵鼓舞﹐因為你總是對千里迢迢看你比賽的球迷如此親切﹐也因為你在一個驚心動魄的賽季後給我們的安定感﹐我們要真心的謝謝你﹐MARAT !