Sampras pushed open the door to the locker room, and at a glance he could see Gao Wen sitting on the bench in the center.
His upper body leaned forward slightly, supporting his knees with both hands, his eyes lowered, staring at the ground, as if he was carefully counting the lines of the tiles on the floor.
Somewhat lost in thought.
Sampras glanced around and saw that Gawain had actually finished bathing and packed his luggage. He could leave at any time, but he didn't.
"...Gawain."
Sampras' throat felt a little itchy, so he called out to break the silence in the locker room, then swallowed to suppress the urge to cough.
Gawain raised his head, and after noticing the arrival, he smiled and said, "Peter."
Then Gao Wen realized that he was in a daze in the locker room and didn't leave for a long time, so he apologized quickly.
"Sorry, sorry, I can leave..."
Seeing Gao Wen stand up, pick up his equipment bag, and prepare to leave, Sampras quickly stepped forward to stop Gao Wen.
"let's talk."
After the words came out, Sampras felt a little embarrassed. This kind of beginning was not what he expected. Sure enough, he is a stupid person.
Sampras sat down next to Gawain and watched Gawain sit down again, but he did not dare to look directly into Gawain's eyes, but thought silently for a while.
Gawain probably knew what Sampras wanted to say, and his mood was a little mixed, but looking at Sampras's overwhelmed look, he couldn't help but feel a sense of joy:
Want to laugh.
Sampras finally spoke before the corners of Gawain's lips raised.
"The night before the 2002 US Open final, I suffered from severe insomnia."
However, the first sentence he spoke made Gawain raise his head and look at Sampras unexpectedly, not expecting the content of the conversation at all.
"I know that I have won many, many games. I have won more than 700 games in my career. God, even I don't know how I accomplished these victories."
"I have also lost many, many games, probably more than 200. Victory and failure are just ordinary things in my career."
"Even the Grand Slams are no different."
"I thought I could face victory or defeat calmly, but that night, I was particularly afraid. The fear of failure engulfed me. I felt very small, helpless and useless. If Andre saw me like this,
He should laugh at me mercilessly."
As he spoke, Sampras relaxed, showed a smile, and glanced at Gawain, causing the corners of Gawain's mouth to rise a little.
"After that final, I never played another game because I couldn't bear the process of the myth of 'Pete Sampras' slowly disintegrating. My arrogance and pride didn't allow it."
A little self-deprecation made the corners of Gawain's mouth slightly raise, but he was able to taste the complexity and depth of Sampras's words.
Once upon a time, Sampras stood on top of the world. He reached the top of the year-end world rankings for six years and wrote countless legends and records. At the time, it seemed that it was impossible to surpass or break records. He had everything, in the professional tennis world
Here, he is the existence that everyone needs to look up to.
However, competitive sports are cruel, even "gods" are no exception. This is the case for Michael Jordan and so is Pete Sampras.
Injuries, age, and years take away their aura bit by bit. They watch helplessly as the times change, and they face the sadness and bitterness of heroes in their twilight years. When you are young, failure makes you angry, but when you are old, failure makes you angry.
Then you make yourself powerless, and the taste of failure is never pleasant.
"Actually, looking back many years later, I think I was just timid and timid. I couldn't face the fact that my competitive status was slowly declining, failures might occur more frequently, and then I would be replaced by the younger generation. I couldn't face the fact that
The fact that you are getting out of your control bit by bit.”
"But if I am braver, I believe I can still compete with Roger and Rafael. You know what? I have never played against Rafa, which has always been a regret."
Sampras' words are very plain and simple, not as light and funny as Gawain, and even a little clumsy, but his sincerity can be deeply felt.
Sampras did not look at Gawain, but fell into his own memories. The focus of his eyes slowly faded, and complicated emotions rushed to the tip of his tongue.
Gawain was a little curious, "Peter, I have never heard of these things."
Sampras shrugged, with a bitter smile, "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 will mention it sometimes, but I really have no plans to write an autobiography, so...shh."
Sampras turned to look at Gawain and made a silencing gesture, "Especially don't tell Andre."
There was a smile in Gawain's eyes, and then he made a gesture to zip up his mouth.
Sampras also chuckled and let out a breath.
"I just want to say that it is normal to be afraid of failure. We are all afraid of failure. Whether it is the first time or the last time, there will be no change."
"Because this is competitive sports, winning and losing are part of our lives. Because we hate failure, we try our best to improve ourselves; because we are afraid of failure, we fight without reservation until the last moment; and because we hate failure, we will
Anger can make you irritable and out of control."
"Some people say that a strong desire to win is actually a bad thing, because when victory blinds your eyes, things will become ugly; but for competitive sports, this desire to win is the source of passion and high morale. Victory
It is the motivation to break through the limits of self-challenge, and it is also the goal to burn life and soul.”
"So, we should allow anger."
At this point, Sampras stopped talking, because he didn't know how to continue, and he wasn't sure what Gawain's condition was. After all, he was a clumsy talker. He didn't know how to comfort Gawain, so he just said clumsily
I share my own experience, and then I don’t know how to summarize it.
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 Gawain was facing a crisis, but he didn't know how to help.
Turning his head, Sampras saw Gawain's side face, with the corners of his mouth still slightly curved, as if it had been like this since the first time he saw Gawain, showing rare maturity and wisdom. In an instant,
He distanced himself from his peers and showed early on his potential to interpret the game.
However, the Gawain in front of him was slightly different. There was a hint of loss and confusion between his brows. It was not the furious or furious Sampras imagined, but more of a kind of confusion, with disturbing thoughts swirling deep in his eyes.
They are everywhere, but they are entangled together like a tangled mess, making it difficult to distinguish and where to start.