Chapter 765: Putting Yourself in

His Shoes Looking at Sampras, who was giving advice in a casual manner, Gao Wen was slightly stunned, and then laughed in silence.

"Peter, have you ever thought that for me, the Grand Slam is still the Grand Slam, and it is special after all, because the Grand Slam was already special when I was born."

Sampras opened his mouth slightly and paused for a moment, but he quickly changed his tone.

"That's why I'm telling you the truth now."

"The four majors are important, that's true, but apart from the extra prize money and points, they're not that special."

"Look at Roger and Rafa's mentality. They believe in the importance of Grand Slams and try their best to fight until the last moment, but they realize that they are not everything in life, and they will not recklessly lose everything because of their unbalanced mentality."

Gao Wen: ...

He raised his eyebrows slightly, looked at Sampras, leaned his upper body back tactically, and a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"Peter, why do I feel like you are implying something to someone?"

Sampras shrugged, noncommittal, and then said meaningfully again, "I said this to be fair, but whoever gets hurt is not my responsibility."

This caused Gawain to let out a low chuckle.

Sampras also had a smile in his eyes and continued.

"I think you don't have to worry about the Grand Slams. I want to focus on the expectations of the new season and the pressure from the outside world."

"After all, breaking into the top 10 in the first season, I think, except for that guy John McEnroe, no one else can do it. You have set a standard that is difficult to surpass. If we want to perform better in the 2015 season, it also means we have a lot of work to do."

“So, it’s important that the mental conditioning and training program during the offseason be combined.”

Gao Wen raised his hands to show that he had no objection and would leave everything to the coach's arrangements.

Sampras paused for a moment, and his expression and words showed a sense of confusion. "This also leads to another thing."

"Just now I said that John invited me to be his coach because of my experience and my playing style."

"You should know that I'm a serve-and-volley type of player, and obviously, you're not."

"I understand John's idea. You are a player who plays with your brain. Your tactical layout and game interpretation are your most important weapons. Therefore, it is very important to enrich your arsenal as much as possible. The more weapons you have, the more three-dimensional and varied your tactical combinations will be."

"However, the younger generation now pays more and more attention to baseline skills, and the survival space of net skills is gradually disappearing, which may become more serious in the future."

Before Sampras could continue, Gawain nodded in agreement. "Peter, I know that from Roger to Rafa to Novak, they are all working on improving their net skills because they realize that only by making full use of the entire court can tennis become more flexible."

Sampras snapped his fingers and said, "If we keep standing at the baseline and fighting back and forth, the tennis match will become as boring as a rally."

"In Melbourne Park in 2012, Rafa and Novak both gave their all. It was undoubtedly a match that went down in history, but in terms of the content of the match, it was not as good as the match between Rafa and Roger at the All England Club in 2008."

“Tennis should be a sport full of sparks of inspiration generated by the collision of wisdom and physical strength.”

At this point, Sampras raised his chin with some pride. The 1990s he experienced was indeed an era of flourishing flowers and shining superstars.

From then until the first decade of the 21st century, tennis was interesting, not because of the players themselves, but because of the different styles and different types that filled the court, and everything was so good before high technology ruined the trend of the entire sport.

Sampras was slightly distracted, lost in his memories, but he quickly regained his focus and let out a breath.

"John has the right idea."

"He hoped that I could bring something new to your game, and I agreed, which is why I nodded in agreement."

"But John and I both overlooked one thing, a very important thing: time."

"On the one hand, it's your training time. Obviously after the US Open, you never had time to train systematically, which also delayed our entire training system."

"On the other hand, it is your growth period. You are still gradually forming your own playing style. The baseline is still your most important means of scoring. If you rashly break the scoring pattern, you will not only fail to improve, but also usher in a period of pain, and you may even not know how to play."

"You need time, and I need time too. We both need to move forward step by step and not rush things."

From just a few simple words, one can deeply feel that Sampras must have thought carefully for a long time and considered Gao Wen in every aspect.

Since the end of the US Open, Gao Wen and Sampras have started to cooperate. In just three months, Gao Wen has achieved good results and initial results have been seen.

But Sampras did not sit back and enjoy the fruits of his labor. He chose to become Gawain's coach in the hope of contributing his own strength and helping Gawain become a better player. However, the reality was that Gawain was still the same Gawain. To win in Gawain's way, the only thing he could do was to adjust his mentality.

Originally, psychological adjustment is also one of the head coach's tasks; the problem is that this is not what Sampras is good at.

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So Sampras felt very guilty and he hoped he could do more for Gao Wen.

As I was thinking about my offseason training plan, this thought gradually became more and more important, and finally occupied my entire head.

Sampras raised his head and looked at Gawain, revealing a rare solemn and deep affection. Even Crayon Shin-chan's eyebrows were no longer relaxed as usual.

"I have been thinking about what I can do for you, what I should do for you..."

"Peter..."

Just as Gao Wen opened his mouth, Sampras raised his hand to stop him, "I know you want to comfort me, but please listen to me."

"You are a baseline player, that's a fact, I am a serve and volley player, the style and content of the game are different from yours."

"In fact, the technical help I can give you is not as much as you think. Of course, I still hope to help you improve your net skills, but before that, you need more advice on baseline shots. When I realized this, I felt a little helpless."

Sampras smiled at Gawain, and even though he tried his best to hide it, he could still feel the sadness in his eyes.

Because I care, I feel regret.

After just a few months of getting along, Sampras really liked this young man and sincerely hoped that he could bring more to Gawain.

In life, there are many things that are more powerful than words. At this moment, the sad look that Sampras inadvertently revealed was one of them.

"I thought maybe a new coach would be good for you."

Wha...what? (End of this chapter)