Pat Rafter moves to end feud Jessica Halloran From: Sunday Herald Sun November 07, 2010 12:00AM PAT Rafter has become the peacemaker of Australian tennis and will bring Lleyton Hewitt and young gun Bernard Tomic together after the Australian Open. Rafter, who will take part in this week's ATP Champions Down Under tournament in Sydney, spoke about several pressing issues in Australian tennis. The incoming Davis Cup captain also said Australian juniors need "more mongrel" when they go on the tour. Pat Rafter在澳網後，將扮演和平使者，撮合Hewitt和年輕選手Tomic兩人， 並在本週在雪梨舉行的賽事上，訴說關於澳洲網壇的迫切議題。 這位新任的台維斯杯隊長，也認為年輕選手，在參加巡迴賽時應該更獨立。 TOUGHEN UP BEFORE Rafter made it big, he borrowed money from his family to tour Europe, sleeping in tents and fighting hard for prizemoney in minor tournaments to get by. He also believes Australian juniors should finish school before embarking on the Futures, Challengers and senior circuits. "I'd like to see our kids tougher and harder. I'd like to see kids have more mongrel about them," Rafter said. "I'm a big believer in keeping kids at school as well. I don't like seeing kids who leave school and do it full-time. What I'd love to implement again is kids back at school full-time playing tennis around it. "Even if they are the best kids, I'd like to see them going to school at least four days a week. "A big reason for my thinking is because I did that. I finished my Year 12 off and that gets me into college down the track." He also does not believe in young players being signed up to management groups and being housed in five-star hotels. "I would send kids away and say: 'You're off on your own in Europe. You've got two months there.' You learn to do your own train travel. You book all your own accommodation," Rafter said. "Sometimes we stayed in tents in people's backyards. If you don't have enough money? Well, you can win money, because you're good enough to get by. "To me, that's toughening up." 在他成就偉大紀錄之前，他跟家人借錢到歐洲去參加比賽，這段期間內，他睡在 帳篷裡，在小型賽事中奮鬥，並以此維生。他也認為年幼選手的應在正式進入職 業網球生涯前，先把學業完成。 他說，"我想看到孩子們變得更堅強且獨立。" "我很贊同把孩子們留在學校裡打網球，而非離開那個環境專注於比賽。 即使是天分很好的小孩，我也希望他們一週至少有四天留在校內。" "因為我也是過來人，我花了12年完成學業，那讓我能和大學生活接軌。" 他也不贊同年輕選手早早就和經紀公司簽約，以五星級旅館為家。 "我會把孩子送出國，並跟他們說：你們有兩個月的期間，在歐洲得自力更 生，學著怎麼自己搭火車旅行和安排住宿。" "有時候我們會在人家的後院搭帳篷，如果你沒有足夠的生活費，你可以靠 贏得比賽獎金維生，因為你夠棒而且能做到。對我來說，這就是變堅強的開始。" THE FEUD HEWITT, 30 in February, and Tomic, 18 last month, had a public spat last summer. But it fell apart for the pair six months earlier when Hewitt was snubbed by Tomic and his father and coach, John, after the dual grand slam winner had asked the youngster to be his hitting partner at Wimbledon. Hewitt last summer questioned whether Tomic was ready for Davis Cup. Still, Rafter is hopeful Hewitt will become a mentor to Tomic. "I think after the Australian Open would be a nice time for us all to sit down. Both boys have to agree," Rafter said. "I spoke to Bernard recently and we had a really good conversation with both him and his father. "That's been a great thing. Obviously he is really important to us. "He's a great player, a great talent and he's got a good opportunity of making it. "He's someone, with me being Davis Cup captain, who will definitely come into the fray." 即將在明年二月滿三十歲的Hewitt，和18歲的小將Tomic，在去年夏天有過摩擦。 因Hewitt被Tomic的父親兼教練－John排斥，導致兩人的合作，提早六個月結束， 原先Hewitt想找Tomic當他溫網雙打的搭檔。 當時，Hewitt也對Tomic是否能參加台維斯盃，提出質疑。 Pat Rafter則希望Hewitt能成為Tomic的良師， "我想等澳網過後，兩邊的人都應該坐下來好好談一談，我已經事先和Tomic與 他的父親溝通過，這是件好事，Tomic對台維斯盃來說，是重要的一員，他是個 好選手，有足夠的天賦和機會去締造佳績。" THE DECLINE RAFTER does not "have the faintest idea" of when it all went wrong for Australian tennis. The 37-year-old believes Tennis Australia is doing a good job of attracting youngsters to the game, but it may be some time before we are again dominating the top ranks. "Yeah, we've been in big trouble for a little while now," he said. "It's something that you hope we can turn around. Things have been in place for a while now to try to remedy our situation. "We are at one of our low points now. We are struggling. "The problem is with tennis, if you don't pick it up at a young age, by 11 years old, it's too late. Unless you're a freak you can't expect to pick up a sport that late and play. "It's not like other sports you pick up late and you can become a good union/league/AFL player at 12 years old. It has to be addressed early and they are trying to get kids to do that now. And that doesn't kick in for another 15 years." Pat Rafter相信澳洲網球界，正不停地吸引更多年輕人開始打網球， 但離主宰世界頂尖排名，還需要一點時間。 "不可否認的，澳洲男子網壇已經沉寂了好一陣子，是時候該扭轉這個局面了， 而我們正為這困境掙扎。" "主要問題是，若你不從選手年幼時就開始培養，當他們到了11歲，那就太遲了， 只有怪胎才會覺得晚點開始打網球是可行的。" "這並不像其它的運動，你晚點著手，仍可以在12歲變成某個足球球隊隊員，一定 得及早打下基礎，這也是澳洲網壇目前試著讓孩子去做的，而且到選手成熟，不用 花費15年這麼長的時間。" http://tinyurl.com/23c5bko --

※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 114.40.79.165 ※ 編輯: singlecolor 來自: 114.40.79.165 (11/12 20:59)