babble.
Sampras pushed open the door of the locker room, and he could see Gao Wen sitting on the bench in the middle.
His upper body leaned forward slightly, supported his knees with his hands, lowered his gaze, and stared at the ground, as if he was carefully counting the patterns of the tiles on the floor.
Some ecstasy.
Sampras glanced around. In fact, Gawain had finished his bath and packed his luggage. He could leave at any time, but he didn't.
"...Gao Wen."
Sampras's throat was a little itchy, and he called out, breaking the silence in the locker room, and then swallowed a mouthful of saliva to suppress the urge to cough.
Gawain raised his head, and after noticing who was coming, he showed a smile, "Pete."
Then Gao Wen realized that he was in a daze in the locker room and hadn't left for a long time, so he quickly apologized.
"Sorry sorry, I can leave..."
Seeing that Gawain stood up, picked up the equipment bag, and was about to leave, Sampras hurriedly stepped forward to stop Gawain.
"let's talk."
After the words were spoken, Sampras was a little embarrassed. This kind of beginning was not what he expected. Sure enough, he was a stupid one.
Sampras sat down beside Gawain, and watched Gawain sit down again, but he didn't dare to look Gawain directly in the eyes, but thought for a while in silence.
Gawain probably knew what Sampras wanted to say, and his mood was mixed, but seeing Sampras's bewildered appearance, he couldn't help but feel a sense of joy:
want to laugh.
Sampras finally spoke before Gawain raised his mouth.
"The night before the 2002 US Open final, I had severe insomnia."
However, Gawain raised his head at the first sentence, and looked at Sampras in surprise, completely unaware of the content of the conversation.
"I know I've won many, many games, over 700 in my career, and God, I don't even know how I did it."
"I also lost many, many games, there should be more than 200 games. Winning and losing are common in my career."
"Even the Grand Slams are no exception."
"I thought I was able to face the victory and defeat calmly, but that night, I was very afraid. The fear of failure swallowed me up. I felt very small, helpless and useless. If Andre saw me, He should have laughed at me mercilessly."
"After that final, I never played any games again, because I couldn't bear the process of the myth of 'Pete Sampras' slowly disintegrating. My arrogance and pride would not allow it."
A little bit of self-mockery made the corners of Gao Wen's mouth rise a little, but he could taste the complexity and depth of Sampras' words.
Once upon a time, Sampras stood on the top of the world, reached the top of the world at the end of the year for six years, and wrote countless legends and countless records. At that time, it seemed that there was no record that could be surpassed or broken. He had everything. In professional tennis Here, he is the existence that everyone needs to look up to.
However, competitive sports are cruel, even the "god" is no exception, Michael - Jordan is so, Pete - Sampras is also.
Injuries, age, and years have taken away their aura bit by bit, watching the times change as the waves behind them push forward the waves ahead, and facing the sadness and bitterness of a hero's twilight. When I was young, failure made me angry, but when I was old, failure made me weak. The taste of failure is never good.
"Actually, looking back many years later, I feel that I was just cowardly and timid, unable to face the fact that my competitive state is slowly declining, failures may appear more frequently, and then I will be replaced by the younger generation, unable to face things. Bit by bit the facts out of your control."
"But if I'm braver, I believe I can still compete with Roger and Rafael. You know what? I've never played against Rafa, which is always a pity."
Sampras' words were very plain and simple, not as light and witty as Gawain's, and even clumsy, but he could deeply feel his sincerity.
Sampras didn't look at Gao Wen, but fell into his own memories, the focus of his eyes gradually dissipated, and complex emotions welled up on the tip of his tongue.
Gao Wen was a little curious, "Peter, I've never heard of these things."
Sampras shrugged, with a bitter smile on the corner of his mouth, "Of course, you must have never heard of it, because I have never told anyone. To be precise, I have always refused to admit it. Maybe I will write an autobiography in the future. I'll bring it up at some point, but I don't really have any plans to write an autobiography, so... boo."
Sampras turned to look at Gao Wen, and made a silent gesture, "Especially don't tell Andre."
A smile appeared in Gao Wen's eyes, and he made a movement of zipping his mouth shut.
Sampras also chuckled and let out a breath.
"I just want to say, it's normal to be afraid of failure, we are all afraid of failure, whether it's the first time or the last time, it won't change."
"Because this is competitive sports, winning or losing is a part of our life. Because we hate failure, we try our best to improve ourselves; because we are afraid of failure, we fight unreservedly until the last moment; and because we hate failure, we will Anger can be violent and out of control."
"Some people say that too much desire to win is actually a bad thing, because when victory blinds the eyes, things will become ugly; but for competitive sports, this desire to win is the source of enthusiasm and high morale. It is the motivation to break through the limit of self-challenge, and it is also the goal of burning life and burning soul."
"So, we should allow anger."
Speaking of which, UU Reading www. uukanshu.com Sampras stopped talking, because he didn't know how to continue, and he wasn't sure about Gawain's state. After all, he was a clumsy person, and he didn't know how to comfort Gawain, so he just said clumsily. My own experience, and then I don't know how to sum it up.
It is precisely because of this that Sampras has always refused to be a coach, not because he is too proud, but because he is not sure what he can do for the players. Even now, Sampras still feels powerless. He knew that Gao Wen was facing a shock, but he didn't know how to help.
Turning his head, Sampras saw Gao Wen's side face, the corners of his mouth still had a slight curvature, as if he had been like this since he first met Gao Wen, showing rare maturity and wisdom, instantly Just distanced himself from his peers, and showed early on the potential to interpret the game.
However, the Gao Wen in front of him was a little different. There was a hint of loss and bewilderment between his brows. It was not the furious or furious that Sampras imagined, but more of a kind of confusion, with turbulent thoughts hovering deep in his eyes. However, they are entangled together like a mess, it is difficult to distinguish and it is impossible to start.
So, what now? What should we do now?