Is less more for Roger Federer? - 羅傑·費德勒 Federer

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/columns/story?columnist=tandon_
kamakshi&id=6635112


Is less more for Roger Federer?

對 Rog 而言，少即是多嗎？


It was the third set of his French Open final against Rafael Nadal, and Roger
Federer was looking pretty good. He was likely thinking that Nadal was
showing signs of tiring, while he still had some energy to burn.


法網決賽第三盤，Rog 看起來挺好的。他可能想說 Nadal 看起來有點累的樣子，而自己
還有點體力。


Not bad for a 29-year-old playing a guy who just turned 25. True, the
Spaniard had been doing more running in the match, but Federer had been
through a long and arduous four-setter with Novak Djokovic a couple of days
before.


這對一個29歲打的是剛滿25歲的人來說還不賴。不錯，Nadal 都是比賽中跑最多的，但
Rog 才在一天前跟小德打了一場艱辛的四盤大戰。



Of course, we all know what happened in the fourth set -- Nadal clawed back
from a 0-40 deficit in the first game to win six of the next seven games,
romping home to his sixth French Open title.


當然我們也知道第四盤花生了省魔術。Nadal第一局就挽救了三個破發點，並再接下來七局
裡贏了六局，也帶走了第六座法網冠軍。


Still, that third-set feeling was not something Federer expected coming into
the tournament. In the three months leading up to the French Open, he played
24 matches in six tournaments, taking part in the Dubai tournament and the
nonmandatory Monte Carlo Masters in addition to Masters events at Indian
Wells, Miami, Madrid and Rome. Last year, he played 14 matches in five events
in this period.


但第三盤那種還有體力的感覺不是 Rog 在法網開始前所期待的。法網前的三個月 Rog 打
了六個錦標、24場比賽：Rog 參加了杜拜、非強制參賽的蒙地卡羅、印地安泉、邁阿密、
馬德里跟羅馬大師賽。去年同時期 Rog 只打了五個錦標14場比賽。



"I was really tired after Rome," Federer told reporters in French after the
final in Paris on Sunday. "Sometimes after Miami I'd take ten days off in the
past, but this year I didn't.


決賽後記者會 Rog 說「打完羅馬我真的有點累。過去邁阿密後我習慣休息十天，但今年
沒有。」



"I've trained and practiced a lot after Monte Carlo. I decided to play Monte
Carlo because I was fit. I played a lot from Dubai until Rome. I didn't take
a longer break."


「蒙地卡羅後我練球練很多。我決定打蒙地卡羅是因為我覺得體力還很夠，杜拜到羅馬我
打了很多比賽，並沒有休息太多。」



He arrived in Paris feeling the effects. "I hoped I could practice more here,
but I was so tired that I said, 'OK, I'll practice just what is enough,'" he
said. "I could never hear the alarm clock in the morning ringing, I was so
tired.


抵達巴黎時他就感到有後遺症了。「我希望能在這裡再多練習一些，但我實在太累了，所
以想說『那就適可而止就好。』。」Rog 說。「早上我都聽不到鬧鐘，我很累。」



"At the beginning of the tournament, I didn't think I could manage this way,
but after two matches, I thought, OK, I feel better. I'm in the tournament."


「法網剛開始時我不覺得自己能這樣安排，但兩場比賽後我想這樣OK，我覺得好多了，
我現在進入狀況了。」



The rest was (almost) history; a reminder of what the 16-time Grand Slam
champion can still produce. And for Federer and his camp, perhaps an
encouraging sign that doing "just what is enough" remains enough.


剩下的（幾乎）都後話了。提醒你一下一位16屆大滿貫冠軍還能打。而對 Rog 跟他的團隊
來說最振奮人心的是「適可而止」還真的就夠了。



"Overall, I thought it [the final] was a very high level match," said
Federer's co-coach, Paul Annacone, in an interview with ESPN.com. "Rafa, you
have to give him credit. He did what he always does on clay. Makes you hit
one extra ball, and puts the ball [in] parts of the court where it's very
difficult to attack."


Rog 的教練 Paul Annacone 說：「總的來說決賽是場非常高水準的比賽。你必須稱讚拉
發，他打的就是他平常在紅土打的，總是讓你多打一球，把所有球都撈回去，這樣讓人
很難攻擊。」



The win over Djokovic in the semifinals was even more satisfying. "Everyone's
talking about how that's one of the highest level matches they've ever seen,"
Annacone added. "So, I feel good about it. And I think that proves he's still
there, and he's worked really hard to stay there and maintain that level, so
I don't think there's any reason why he can't keep repeating that."


四強對小德的勝利更是令人滿足。「大家都在說這是他們所看過水準最高的比賽。」
Annacone提到。「所以我感覺挺不錯的，而且我認為這證明他還是在那，而且他非常努力
地維持這種水準。所以我想不到任何理由他不能再如法炮製。」


The well-respected coach, who also saw Pete Sampras through the late stages
of his career, challenges the assumption that Federer's age spells physical
decline. "I think a lot of that is a fallacy, too," he said."The strength and
conditioning people, if you talk to [them] -- at 29 years old, he can still
do it. There's no question."


這位備受敬重的教練，也曾陪伴 Sampras 度過他的職業晚期，挑戰Rog年紀大體力就變差
的這個假設。「我想很大一部分這也是個謬誤。有在打球、作訓練的人29歲還是可以的，
這無庸置疑的。」


But, he added, "I think it's harder to do it for 40 weeks, over 11 months.


但他又說到「我想比較難的是40個禮拜、超過11個月都維持著高水平。」



"The idea is to structure your schedule so you're playing your best tennis
here, and in Wimbledon, New York, and you know, if you do that, things will
go just right. So, it's a matter of trying to manage all that stuff, which he
does really well."


「重點是安排自己的行程，所以才能在這裡、溫布頓、紐約拿出最佳狀態，然後一切就會
對了。所以就是試著把所有都安排好，這點 Rog 做得非常好。」



Grand Slams also pose different challenges from regular tournaments because
the matches are longer -- best-of-five sets rather than best-of-three -- but
players get days off between matches because the event lasts two weeks
instead of one. Recovery, not endurance, is often the biggest issue for
players as they get older.


大滿貫的難度比一盤巡迴賽高，因為比賽比較長是五盤三勝制，而非三盤兩勝，但球員在
每輪間有一天休息時間。所以對老球員來說恢復比續航力還重要。


"It's better for the body to recover, but it's three out of five sets. So,
it's a longer workload over a longer period of time," Annacone said of the
Slams. "But it's always nice to have a day off."


「最好讓身體恢復，但要贏三盤，所以這是長時間工作量也比較大。」Annacone是這樣說
大滿貫的。「但多一天休息總是好的。」


Even with the day off and his comments about feeling physically good in the
final, Federer felt his French Open campaign took enough of a toll for him to
pull out of his regular grass-court event in Halle, Germany, this week. "My
body and especially my groin need a rest after the French Open," he said in a
statement. "After talking with my team this morning, I feel that it is too
big a risk to take a chance and aggravate it before Wimbledon."


雖然有多休一天，Rog也說決賽體力還不錯，但 Rog 感覺法網真是讓他累壞了所以要退出
草地熱身賽。



In an interview with Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper last month,
Federer also indicated that he might pare down his schedule next season.
After saying he opts to play nearly all the Masters events instead of more
smaller events because "it's good for tennis," he added, "But I wonder if
I'll be back at Indian Wells next year or go directly to Miami."


上月跟 Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 的訪問 Rog有暗示下個賽季他可能削減自己
的賽程。他說他選擇都打大師賽而非小比賽，因為這樣對網球比較好。「但我懷疑自己是
否明年會打印地安泉或就直接去打邁阿密。」


Federer, whose twin daughters are now almost 2, later continued, "I see
myself mentally capable of playing for many years. … For me, it's just
important to keep a balance between training, matches, holidays, family life."


Rog的雙胞胎今年快滿兩歲了。「我覺得自己心態上還可打好幾年，就我來說重要的是保
持訓練、比賽、休假與家庭生活間的平衡。」


With the ascendancy of Nadal and now Djokovic, Federer's mindset is also
changing. For perhaps the first time since he became a top-flight player,
Federer went into his semifinal against Djokovic saying he didn't have much
to lose. "Sure, I'd love to be again in the Grand Slam final because I
haven't achieved that in a few slams," he said. "But nothing major for me as
long as I keep on giving myself chances."


隨著 Nadal 與 小德的崛起，Rog 的心態也在改變。也許自曾為頂尖球員以來，Rog 第一
次帶著沒啥好輸的心情去跟小德打半決賽。「我當然想再進入大滿貫決賽一次，因為之前
幾次叩關都失敗。但沒什麼比我給自己機會重要了。」Rog 說。


This more selective and opportunistic approach means the tennis world might
be seeing less of the Swiss maestro in the seasons to come. But, as at the
French Open, less could turn out to be more.


Rog 更選擇性打比賽意味著我們之後看到他的機會就更少了。但在法網，少即是多囉～



PS 翻完才發現通篇都是明擺著的廢話 XD
但提醒大家真的要衝現場的要快了
大概只有大滿貫跟 Basel 是必打的
其他我看不出沒有退出的理由 XDDD



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