Marat Safin: Convoluted Yet Strikingly Simple
薩芬 : 迴旋無解卻是異常簡單

by John Long Silver ( columnist )

You know – there are actually very less number of people in world when they finish talking, you come away with the feeling of … ‘He really get’s it, he actually really get’s the core of it’

你知道 - 世界少有人在講完話後你會覺得 "他說得太好，充分抓住重點深得我心 "

Barack Obama provides me with such a feeling every time I hear him speak, am not American and hence I have no bias, but every time I hear him speak I come away with the feeling of, ‘Barack just understands what America is all about, he just understands the core of it all and the strength and weaknesses of America …’.
我不是美國人所以我沒有偏見，每次歐巴馬演講，我都有這樣的感覺，他太瞭解美國了，清楚問題的核心及美國的優勢與劣勢

The rationale for such a preface – Marat Safin rendered the same vibe to me, when I heard this press conference yesterday.
對於這樣的楔子，邏輯是如此的 - 馬拉特薩芬也有同樣的特質，尤其是聽了昨天的記者會。

Well documented (and discussed in my previous article) is his trouble with foot fault in R-1 of the US Open.
第一輪的腳誤事件已有詳細記錄我也在前文討論過了

I saw his reasoning and explanation in the press conference and could not agree more with each of his perspectives.
當我看他在記者會陳述的理由及解釋，我不得不說我太同意他的觀點了

As we more often than not say, no one can fathom what goes on inside that confounding complex head of his, but he is not all that complicated. For all the complexities at the periphery, at the very core is endearingly simple.
雖然大家常認為，沒有人能完全明白他那矛盾又複雜的腦子，但其實他沒有多複雜難懂的，也許一些細微支節上是如此，但是他的核心哲學卻是如此地簡單

As he said in the press conference, the particular nuance of the foot fault rule for which he was called for, is hardly applied anymore. I dont think he is entirely correct, but I see and understand his perspective.
就如他在記者會說明的，他被喊的那個腳誤規則早已很少使用。當然我並不完全同意他是對的，但是我瞭解他的看法。

After ten years of life on the tennis tour, he is at a point where his primary objective is to enjoy and savor playing the game, without any trials or tribulations. That’s powerful – once someone decides to savor the process for what it is … liberation and consummate peace with one’s own self beckons.
在職業巡迴賽裡征戰十年，他已經到達某種年齡與心境，最重要的目標是享受打球，回味球賽的點滴，不要再有什麼麻煩跟刁難。那是很強大的力量，一旦一個人決定好好享受過程，你所求的
只是自由解放及平靜的心靈。

I adore and love the way he says. ‘I just want to play a nice match and enjoy it’ … and even more when he adds, ‘win or lose … enjoy it and go home without any troubles on the court’. Indeed, craving to enjoy something is one of the most simplest, yet profound things in life.
我仰慕也欣賞他說的 "我只想上場好好打一場球，享受一切" 甚至他接著補充 "不管輸或贏，沒有無謂的麻煩，就是享受比賽然後回家休息"。確實，渴望享受某些事務是人生中最簡單也是最深刻的一年事了。

True right, as he says he does not need to play the game because he is starving, it’s at a stage where he is not in it for survival or money.
沒錯，他說他不是因為三餐不濟而打球，現在的他不是為了生存或金錢才留在球場打球的

I found myself inevitably nodding in approval when he spoke, quite intriguing how only a two minute clip can render such a profound effect. At a certain stage in life, you do things because you love to do them, and want no troubles in the process and most importantly, could not be more indifferent what people around you think of them.
我發現自己不由自主地對他的談話頻頻點頭，實在很有趣，只是幾分鐘短短的記者會影片會有如此深刻的影響力。當人到了人生的某一個階段，你從事某事只因你喜歡，你不要那些雞毛蒜皮的麻煩，而且最重要的是，別人說什麼想什麼你完全不在乎。

Safin was not created to be a Federer or Nadal, he never will be and I doubt if he ever wasted a breath more thinking about it. When asked what his sister Safina needs to do become world no.1 he responded by ‘She should do the exact opposite of whatever I did when I was in the top five’
薩芬不像Federer或Nadal，他生來不是，他也不可能變成他們，我也不認為他曾經想過要改變成那樣的球員。當被問到妹妹怎樣才能達到世界第一，他回答"凡是我還在前五時所做的她都不要重蹈覆徹就對了"

So many times in the past I have found myself to agree with his thoughts when he says, ‘I go out and play and try my best, whatever comes … comes’. As human beings that indeed the best we can expect out of ourselves, try our best and as long as you are satisfied that you’ve tried your best, that’s the only inner voice whom you need to answer to at the end of a long day.
過去好多次我聽到他的想法時我真的深有同感，他總是說 "我上場打，盡力發揮，結果如何就如何"。做為一個人，的確，我們對於自己最大的期許不過是盡心盡力，在漫長的一天過去，我們聆聽內心的聲音，回答自己，只要我已經盡了最大的努力就別無所求。

As strikingly honest as he is, he confessed before the Wimbledon semis against Federer this year, ‘I think am glad to be in the semis, but to think that I can beat Roger Federer is too much’. Count the number of players who are secure enough to say that before the game?
在今年溫網四強面對Federer 前接受訪問，他異常坦誠地說 "我很高興能打進四強，但如果想我會打敗Fereder就未免太天真過頭了"。想想當今有幾個球員在賽前能如此坦率的說出內心話?

I just understand and agree with what Safin says … beneath the self berating, deeply self critical, self doubting, self tortured, empathizing, dark cynicism that he honestly exhibits at every press conference …
....在每場記者會裡誠實展現的自我貶抑、自我批評、自我懷疑、自我虐待，黑色嘲諷的背後....我明白也同意薩芬所說的一切

As much as we might think he is intricately convoluted, at the very core … he is strikingly simple.
也許在我們想他是如此複雜地糾結，在本質上.......他其實是再簡單不過了

Salvation indeed lies within …

Good Luck Marat !
祝你幸運，馬拉特!!