Golden era of Andy Murray and Novak Dj - 網球 Tennis

Golden era of Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic starts at Australian Open

What has been whispered in tennis for a little while could emerge as a loud
statement of fact at the Australian Open starting here on Sunday: the game's
new rivalry is between Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic.

Djokovic is reaching for his third straight Australian title, a feat not
accomplished since Roy Emerson completed his run of five championships 46
years ago. Murray is trying to become the first player in the Open era to add
a second slam title to his record immediately after winning his first, last
achieved by another Australian legend, Lew Hoad, who claimed a hat-trick of
championships in his opening run, in the black-and-white days of 1956.

Those statistics underscore where they stand in a game that has moved on
considerably not just over the past half-century but in recent months. As
reluctant as Murray was to embrace the notion that he and Djokovic are in the
process of cementing a rivalry to supersede that which dominated the first
decade of the millennium – between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal – the
evidence mounts by the tournament.

Murray, who lost to Djokovic in last year's semi-finals and beat him to win
the US Open, both titanic struggles, said: "I have no idea, it's not worth
making predictions [of a new rivalry] but, when I play him, it's a match I
enjoy. If I get to play Novak here, that would mean it would be in the final
– but I know how hard it is to get to the latter stages of these events."

Murray's coach, Ivan Lendl, was more confident that Murray and Djokovic are
capable of taking over from Federer and Nadal at the top of the game. "There
are a lot of factors," he said. "Health, somebody else coming up, Roger
staying around, Rafa coming back – all those things. I am not saying it is
going to happen but I can see it happening."

While there is respect between Federer and Nadal, there has not always been
unreserved warmth. Murray and Djokovic, who were born a week apart and have
known each other since they were 11, are undeniably closer.

"We've never had any issues with each other in the whole time we've been on
the tour," Murray said. "You see it in boxing. I find it amazing watching
guys punch each other for 12 rounds, then hug each other at the end. Matches
we've played over the last year or so have been incredibly physical, tough.
It has been pretty painful at times. But our respect for one another has
grown over the last 18 months."

Murray welcomed the arrival in the tournament for the first time of his
fellow Scot Jamie Baker, who qualified by beating the American Donald Young
6-4, 1-6, 6-3. Baker, Britain's No2 but 246 in the world, has endured injury,
illness and waves of self-doubt to survive on tour and, at 26, was beginning
to wonder how long he could continue. He plays Lukas Rosol, the outsider who
beat Nadal at Wimbledon. "This gives me another year on the Tour," Baker
said. "I need to establish foundations for the future. I don't want to stop
playing at 32 or 33 with no money in the bank. I'm not a massively confident
person but this also shows me that I could have a bit of a career, not just
getting to the next tournament. I feel like I've got tennis in me that can
achieve a top 100 ranking."

Baker revealed how he suffered depression in 2008 after spending three days
in intensive care in Florida recovering from a rare blood complaint that
threatened his life. "For a couple of years I was carrying baggage of feeling
I was hard done by. I suffered quite badly from depression afterwards. Tennis
had been my whole life, and I couldn't figure out my priorities. There was a
distinct moment where I stopped thinking that. After a match in Thailand, I
came off the court and said to Keith [Reynolds, his long-time coach]: 'I feel
normal again.' It was like somebody had lifted a concrete building off my
shoulders."

2013澳網開賽在即，Murray出席了賽前記者見面會。
賽會3號種子稱讚2012賽季是目前職業生涯最難忘的一個賽季，
並直言與現世界第一Djokovic私下關係很好，兩人之間
的頂尖對抗讓他們更加尊敬彼此。
　　
“很顯然去年是我過去職業生涯中最好的一年，
”2012年，蘇格蘭小夥在美網贏得了首個大滿貫，
在溫布頓獲得奧運會金牌。當2013賽季開始時，
他對於這輝煌的一年仍舊很讚歎：“正如你知道的一樣
，我有了自己的首個溫布頓決賽，奧運會讓我相當難忘
，之後我終於有了自己第一個大滿貫。我想說，
很顯然這與納豆沒有參加比賽是有關係的。
但我以自己職業生涯的最高排名結束了這個賽季。
所以去年對於我有很多第一次，這確實很重要。”
　　
在見面會上有一位記者問及一項資料。
在公開賽時代，從未有過一位選手在贏得第一個大滿貫後，
能夠連續贏得下一個。對此，本屆澳網3號種子這樣回應：
“這個我的確不知道。但正如我之前幾個星期說的那樣，
我不知道自己在這裡會是什麼樣的比賽狀態，
我不知道自己踏上球場會是什麼樣的感覺。
我說過自己現在相當輕鬆。
但是我不知道當自己踏上第一場比賽的賽場時，
也許會有難以置信地緊張吧。”
　　
2012澳網半決賽，Murray與衛冕冠軍Djokovic大戰五盤，
最終遺憾地以3-6/6-3/7-6(4)/1-6/5-7不敵對手。
談及這種競爭相當激烈的比賽，Murray說：
“去年的半決賽讓我學到了很多。對我來說，
在我全年的競爭中那是一場相當重要的比賽。
我並沒有覺得自己遭遇了挫折，我感覺自己完成得很好。
那是我與伊萬首度合作的大滿貫。在與Djokovic的比賽前，
我們交流了很多。在一個月前，還是一個半月前，
我們討論了四巨頭間的競爭，
在與Roger Federer ,Rafael Nadal和Djokovic
比賽時我應該怎麼去完成比賽。我學著去贏得這些比賽。”
　　
最後，有記者問到：“你感受到接下來的12個月，
你和Djokovic的對抗將是這個賽季的主題嗎？
”同為87年出生的現世界第三說：“我不知道。
但我與他比賽時，我是很享受比賽的。這些比賽總是很艱難，
需要很充沛的體能。去年我們在重大賽事中有多次漂亮的對抗。
如果我要與Djokovic在這裡比賽的話，那將是決賽了，
很顯然我很希望是這樣。”本屆澳網小德作為頭號種子處於上半區，
而英國人作為3號種子則被抽到下半區，半決賽很可能遭遇費德勒。
　　
另外，Murray還特別澄清了與Djokovic場下的關係：
“事實上我們關係很好。在巡迴賽中我們之間一直沒有什麼問題。
我知道你把這看作是拳擊比賽。你知道的，
拳擊比賽中那些傢伙需要完成12回合的猛擊。
但最終他們更加尊敬彼此，他們擁抱結束了比賽。
我認為在過去18個月，我和他之間對彼此的尊敬更增加了。
但是我們之間真的沒有什麼問題。我們相遇時，
我會和他及他的團隊交談。我真得不會和他說關於網球的事，
我認為這很正常，我不會去問他，他的正手擊球感覺怎麼樣，
或者諸如此類的。我們會交流其他事。
我們確實不會交談太多關於網球的事。”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2013/jan/12/golden-era-andy-murray-novak-djokovic


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