Sam Stosur and coach David Taylor stick together through tough times Valkerie Baynes From: Sunday Herald Sun December 11, 2011 12:00AM 澳洲網壇二度頒獎給Sam和Dave後 師徒倆本週將至新加坡參加表演賽 Dave與媒體分享作為網球教練的小小心得 DAVID Taylor believes other tennis stars would have ditched him earlier this year, but not Samantha Stosur.Coach and athlete have stuck together through the lowest points of Stosur's career. Now they are enjoying the rewards - a grand slam title, accolades as Australia's best player and mentor and, this week, an exhibition tournament in Singapore. "A lot of challenges have come along with it, but the highlights definitely outweigh the more difficult times," Taylor told the Sunday Herald Sun. "I believe if I had been coaching someone with a different character, I may have not got to the finish line, so to speak. "They probably might have terminated my services before now, because with expectation comes a lot more pressure and she didn't do that well the first half of the year. "Possibly another player might have looked for answers outside herself. Sam didn't and that's a real tribute to her character and also very fortunate for me that I could keep working with her. "Not many players have those big, long-term coach relationships but I think it reflects on their characters the ones that do." Dave毫不諱言表示，光看今年初慘不忍睹的戰績，換做是別的球員，大概會把 他這教練早早火掉 (某部分球迷也很想 XD)，但正因為他教的對象是Sam ，才 有現在豐碩的成果。上半年的她，背負太多期望壓力，間接影響場上表現。 Dave認為，要是其他球員像Sam 一樣遭遇到低潮，她們反而不會考量自身的因 素，但 Sam則不然，身為教練他感到非常幸運，兩人也因此能繼續合作，長期 的師徒關係在網壇不常見到，這或多或少也反映了該球員的性格。 Taylor and Stosur teamed up briefly around the time Stosur was struck down by Lyme disease in mid-2007.Healthy again in early 2008, she and Taylor, the Australian Fed Cup captain and then Olympic coach, began work on her return. But that long road would be nothing compared to the trials of earlier this year.Failure to defend her Charleston title in April plunged Stosur into self-doubt only six weeks before she was expected to go one better than her 2010 runner-up finish at the French Open. Paris proved a big let-down with her third-round exit and, even worse, she failed to win a match at Wimbledon.Stosur had some "big, long talks" with Taylor during those times.They managed to turn things around and, two months later, she won the US Open.Stosur's profile has soared, but she and Taylor are happy to just keep on with the job. They are in their fifth pre-season training block and head to Singapore for an end-of-year invitational from December 16-18. Dave在2007年中，也是Sam患病時，兩人短暫合作。至08年初，幫助Sam作 回歸網壇的準備，此時Dave 身兼澳洲聯邦杯隊長及奧運教練。 即使師徒二人一同走過漫漫長路，但2011年上半，卻迎來兩人關係的巨大 考驗，Sam 四月份在查爾斯頓賽衛冕之路上慘敗，自此陷入自我懷疑的長 考中，此時離法網僅僅只剩六週，而她想再度闖入法網決賽並奪冠。但結 果卻是爆冷止步第三輪，更糟的是，接下來溫網，連兩年一勝難求。 Sam 賽後和Dave談了很多，兩人試圖做點改變，企求脫離困境，兩個月過 後，她在美網封后，選手價值竄升，但師徒倆最開心的是，幸好當初她們 仍堅持努力的信念。現下合作關係邁入第五年備戰賽季，兩人將在本月16 -18 號，參加新加坡年終表演賽。(不曉得會不會帶 Emma XD) "Before last year, she was never invited to any exhibitions," Taylor said. "Obviously it's quite lucrative. Sam's not so much interested in that. She's more interested in her preparation and good matches. "We're on the same page. The big focus for us is the tennis and not the other things that often tennis can bring you. "It can bring you so much celebrity and status but Sam is not interested in that at all and nor am I, and I don't want to coach a player that's interested in that either." As like-minded as they are, the secret of this pairing is even more simple. 身為教練心酸的表示，今年以前，愛徒從沒受邀參加表演賽過，表演賽能 帶來額外收入，但她並不熱衷此道，反而對備戰部分和一些好球賽著迷， 這點兩人看法一致，Sam 不看重名聲地位，而他自己也不想教到對此很在 意的選手。師徒倆契合的原因就是如此單純。 "We just really trust and respect each other and always listen," Stosur said. "We both learn lots of things from each other. Sometimes it's hard to know how a coach-player relationship is going to turn out, but I can happily say that this one has gone very well." Taylor agreed. "Trust is a massive thing and I don't take that lightly, that Sam has trusted me with her career," he said. "She only gets one shot at this and that's a big thing to be entrusted with. I'll do anything I can to help her win her matches because she's given me that responsibility." Sam 表示，我們很信任且尊重對方，傾聽是很重要的一環，在對方身上都 學到不少東西，一般來說，你很難知道選手和教練的關係能否走得下去， 但自己能開心地說，至少她的目前為止沒得挑剔。 Dave也同意這個說法。 他認為信任很重要，而愛徒將寶貴的職業生涯托付給他，所以身為教練， 更要拼了老命，不計代價幫她贏得比賽，因為這是Sam 給他的任務。 -- 希望明年底也能繼續看到老生常談的新聞 XD Dave辛苦啦!! http://tinyurl.com/cdpzjur --

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