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Marat’s not a poor thing Russian tennis player Marat Safin keeps trying to come back to his former level
Aleksander Erastov
11-AUG-2006

He himself wants to be the first one in the world, at least to be on the same level with the top players. Still one should admit that even if he makes that great come back, rushes into the ATP top he will not be able to stay there for a long period. It doesn’t suit him at all. Consistency is simply not his cup of tea. To stay in the top 10 for a considerable time is not in his character.
他渴望成為世界第一﹐起碼能跟其他頂尖高手相抗衡。不過﹐殘酷的是即便復出成功﹐快速回到ATP 頂端﹐他就是不能一直維持狀態﹐因為這實在太不像他了﹐薩芬的字典裡沒有"穩定"二字。長時間保持前十名實非薩芬扮演的角色。

Once again to challenge the fate
再一次挑戰命運
On Monday 26 years old Marat Safin will get another the 32th in this season chance to challenge his fate. He’ll come on court to win. The Russian tries to find his game after missing the second part of the last season because of the serious knee injury. In the year 2006 he leads in his rivalry with himself, the score is 17: 14. His best results so far are semis in Valencia and Washington. By the way, thanks to the Washington achievements Safin has significantly improved his position in the ATP rankings (he was in the top 95 as far as I remember). His current result is number 77 and it means that he is not only out of the seeded players list but also out of the main draw of some tournaments. There’s still opportunity either to receive a WC from the organizers or get an easy draw….or finally find the game.
星期一﹐薩芬在此賽季將再第32次挑戰自己的命運﹐他要爭取勝利。去年後半賽季因嚴重膝傷而缺席﹐俄羅斯人試著找回自己的狀態。2006年薩芬的戰績為17勝14負﹐最好的成續僅在VALENCIA 和 WASHINGTON進入四強﹐而也因為WASHINGTON 的突破﹐薩芬ATP 排名得以顯著提昇 (在這之前好像只有95名)。現在他的排名是77﹐意味著他不在種子球員名單內﹐很多球賽也無資格進入簽表。當然﹐他仍有機會跟主辦單位要求外卡﹐或者他最終恢復原來的水平。

Charisma is still here
非凡的領導魅力不減
It’s strange, but whatever Marat’s deeds are he’s still the number one in the people’s hearts. Do you remember Safin having got to the extreme of courage pulled his shorts down on court, or crashing racquets by dozens, or swearing loud on court, or ignoring post match press-conferences, or not giving hand to the umpire and finally keeping screwing the matches up! And crowds still love him. They say he has charisma, peculiar magnetism. God must have possibly given it to him. After all the word “charisma” is being translated from Greek as "Grace", "God’s gift". It’s interesting to know that journalists have defined Marat as one of the greatest tennis charismatic personalities. There are not only the Grand Slams winners and unbelievable records owners as Sampras of the USA or Borg of Sweden.
很奇怪﹐不管薩芬現狀是怎樣﹐在人們心目中他始終是第一。你記得薩芬瘋狂到脫褲慶祝精彩的一分吧﹑或者任性地摔壞拍子﹑場上大聲自我咒罵﹑不記後果缺席賽後記者會﹑甚至不跟主審握手搞砸了球賽 !! 然而﹐大家就是愛他。人們說﹐他有著非凡的魔力﹐神奇地吸引著球迷﹐一切一定是上帝天生賦予給他的。畢竟﹐"charisma"(非凡的領導魅力) 的希臘語原意是"恩賜"﹐"上帝的禮物"。有趣的是﹐許多記者也認為薩芬是網球史上最具領導魔力的人物之一﹐並不是大滿貫高手山普拉斯或者瑞典的BORG 才有這樣的封號。

Marat Safin’s won two Grand Slams tournaments; they are USO 2000 and AO in 2005. Still this is not the case. Safin is an unquestionable leader in the tennis pros popularity lists. Good sense of humor, ingenuousness and frankness, charming open smile... See what French Monde gives on his first round loss in the RG 2006: "Trying to get his Titan power after numerous hardships Demigod Safin will always be a magnet for the crowds’ attention unlike patient and emotionless Fernando Gonzales of Chile who’s technically won over him". Later Marat got into “Chilean trap” again.
薩芬曾拿過兩次滿貫﹐2000年美網及2005年澳網。不過﹐這不能真實反應他的獨特性。在網壇最受歡迎的球員名單中﹐他絕對是個領銜者。幽默風趣﹑率真﹑誠實﹑迷人的笑容.....聽聽法國時尚社交圈在2006年法網第一輪失利後怎麼說: 經過重重困難﹑努力找回自己強大力量﹐如神般的薩芬對群眾而言永遠是巨大票房磁石﹐跟耐心﹑沒有情緒起伏﹐打敗他的智利人Gonzalez不一樣"。之後﹐薩芬又再次栽在智利人手下。

Honesty is Safin’s prerogative
誠實是薩芬的特權
He has a reputation of the most equitable ATP player. Marat has proved many times to his opponents, umpires and crowds that if he says “the ball’s in” the ball is in, and if “it’s out” it is out. It often happens so that he umpires in favour of his opponent and never hashes up.
在ATP 圈裡﹐他享有最公正球員的美名。馬拉特在多次比賽中向對手﹑主審﹑觀眾證明﹐如果他說"球是進的"﹐球就真的是進的﹐而如果"球出界"﹐球果真出界了。他常常主動提出有利對手的證據﹐而不造成混亂。

If there’ve ever been any doubts considering this feature of the Russian they are to be eliminated with the introducing of the Hawk Eye technology in the US tournaments. Last weekend I watched Safin’s semifinal match. Marat serves, the umpire says “out”, one more serve and once again the ball is supposingly “out”. Marat seems to be fed up with that and asks for the Hawk Eye check. The ball is on the line, so the point should have been given to the Russian. And though Safin proved to be right whenever he asked for the Hawk Eye check, he’s against it. "I think it’ll ruin the game, take its tempo and dynamics. - He says. - Who is the genius that came up with this idiotic idea?"
如果有人質疑俄羅斯這個公平的人格特質﹐美網的鷹眼系統也能幫他討回公道。上周末﹐我去觀看薩芬的四強比賽。MARAT 發球﹐主審判" 出界"﹐再發一次﹐球又好像"出界" 了﹐薩芬再也受不了這些判決而要求鷹眼重播﹐球的確是壓在線上﹐這一分早應該給俄羅斯人的。即使透過鷹眼才證明自己清白﹐他還是反對鷹眼系統。"我認為它會擾亂比賽﹐節奏跟互動都受影響。"他說"哪個天才想出這麼白痴的玩意兒?"

Aborigine in Australia he is musketeer in France
澳網的原住民在法國變成持槍步兵
Being a couple of years ago in AO held Melbourne I got a new name there. Of course this name was Marat. When a taxi driver or a hotel server learnt I came from Moscow they said smiling “Oh, Marat Safin!” Although Melbourne was full of local hero Hewitt’s pictures, all what one could hear there’re conversations about Russian tennis player. Being a relaxed nation Australians are venturesome. They used to say that Marat’s Australian aborigine character, i.e. he stays cool and calm and then suddenly blows up…
幾年前澳網於墨爾本舉行時﹐我發現一個新人物﹐當然﹐這個人就是薩芬。不管是計程車司機或是旅館服務生一聽到我來自莫斯科﹐便會笑著脫口而出"喔﹐那個馬拉特薩芬" 。雖然墨爾本當地到處可見本土英雄 HEWITT 的照片﹐你也查覺到大家都在談論俄羅斯球員。在這快樂輕鬆的國度裡﹐澳洲人流著冒險的血。他們說﹐馬拉特有著澳洲原著民的特質﹐他總是靜靜地﹐酷酷地﹐卻瞬間爆發.....

In France for example people believe that Safin is named after their compatriot - famous revolutionary Marat. During recent DC matches in Pau Safin looked spectacular with his moustache, little imperial beard and reach chevelure. When Marat came to the official sortition I heard some of the local journalists whisper “d'Artagnan!” He really looked like a musketeer in the town considered being their place of origin.
法國人認為薩芬的名字是來自他們的同胞-有名的革命家馬拉特。最近一次在法國舉行的DAVIS CUP﹐薩芬看起來好偉大阿﹐留著鬍子﹑驕傲帝國味道的腮鬍﹑滿頭長髮。當馬拉特參加公開抽簽儀式時﹐我聽到當地記者耳語著"d'Artagnan (路易十六世時代步兵領袖) !!" 在步兵的發源地﹐他著實活像個步兵一樣。

We need your comebacks
我們都要你回來
Unlike Zemfira (Russian singer) singing “the last thing I need is your comeback”, we do want Safin to come back. Voluntarily or not the Russian carefully follows the “charisma rules”, i.e. if you really want to be cheered for, make the crowd get worried. Since there’s nothing more boring than consistency and predictability. During his tennis carrier Marat experienced a few impressing ups and lots of downs.
相反於俄羅斯歌手所唱"我們不願你回來"﹐我們真的希望薩芬回來。不論是有意的或者無意的﹐俄羅斯人彷佛遵照著領導人該走的路﹐亦即﹐要贏得歡呼前﹐你得先讓大家憂心忡忡﹐本來嘛﹐最無聊的事莫過於一成不變地穩定性與可預測性了。在精彩的職業生涯中﹐薩芬歷經一重重的起起伏伏﹐總是令人難以忘懷。

2003. Injuries come one after another: wrist, shoulder. Shamil Tarpischev counted then that for 8 months Safin got 7 various maladies with different gravity degree.
2003年﹐一傷接著另一傷﹐手腕﹑肩膀。DAVIS CUP 領隊 Tarpischev 算過﹐八個月內﹐薩芬被七種不同程度的傷病所困。

Then suddenly in the January 2004 came fabulous success. One by one he took out of the AO tournament Andy Roddick, Andre Agassi and lost in the finals to Roger Federer. As an answer to the question how he had managed to achieve this he joked: “Traveling, fishing in California, driving. Wine, it helps to relax. Oh, I’ve forgotten training”.
之後﹐2004年一月﹐他奇蹟似地成功復出。在澳網﹐他一一打敗 RODDICK﹐AGASSI﹐最後才於決賽負於FEDERER。當被問到他是怎麼辦到的﹐他開玩笑說"旅行阿﹐在加洲釣魚﹑開車兜風。還有喝酒﹐它可以幫忙放鬆。喔﹐我都忘了要訓練了"

In the year 2005 success found him in Melbourne. And then recession and what’s more significant - the injury. This spring Safin said "It was extremely hard for me to get into the game, to find my form, rhythm. And it is the most important thing to find your rhythm".
2005年於墨爾本﹐他成功奪冠了﹐之後﹐狀態又不斷下滑﹐最後最糟地﹐又受傷了。這個春季薩芬表示"復出實在太難了﹐找不到狀態也找不到節奏。而﹐打球最重要的莫過於找到自己的節奏"

Now Safin says: "I’m physically ready. Maybe the legs are a little bit weak, but the head’s strong, and this is the most important thing in sport. Staying this way I’ll be defiantly back in the top10.
現在薩芬說 "生理上我已經沒有問題了﹐或許腿仍稍嫌脆弱﹐可是我有強大的意志﹐那才是運動的首要元素。如果能持續這種心態﹐我必能重回前十。

He is not like he used to
他不再是以前的他
Marat’s father, Mikhail Alekseevich asked not to wait for the immediate results from his son. "Patience, - he says. – Marat is not interested in doing nothing, he works on the limits of this abilities. He just needs some time. And as far as I know he is not going to be into something but tennis".
馬拉特的父親, Mikhail Alekseevich 要求大家不要期待他兒子很快能有成果。他表示"耐心等待吧"。馬拉特對於無所事事無法忍受﹐他總在挑戰能力的極限﹐而據我瞭解﹐他不會離開網球的。

Peter Lundgren, Safin’s trainer, admitted that he’s pleased to work with Safin.
A few days ago Nikolay Davydenko said: "No doubts, Marat is the leader in our DC team. He was the world top player, won Grand Slam’s tournaments. And I’m sure he’ll come back to the top10". Then kolya added: "I think it will happen next year".
PETER LUNDGREN﹐薩芬的教練也表示﹐他很高興這個合作機會。不久前﹐DAVYDENKO 說"無庸置疑﹐薩芬是我們DAVIS CUP 的領導人。他曾經是世界第一﹐滿貫得主﹐而我深信他會回到前十的。之後﹐DAVYDENKO 說﹐我想大概就是明年吧。