Chapter 983 Careful Consideration
Sampras and Agassi are both top professional players, and they both know clearly that
Psychological shadows are hard to explain, but they are real and have an objective impact. Once they appear, you may need to carry them throughout your entire career.
Obviously, Sampras does not want Koeman to have a psychological shadow on clay, nor does he want his negative emotions to become a burden that hinders Koeman's progress.
Agassi was a little surprised. He had known Sampras all his life, but he had never seen his old friend so worried.
Think about it.
"Peter, do you believe that Gawain can also do well on clay?"
"To be precise, I believe that Kovan can do more in tennis. Not just on hard courts."
Back and forth.
Then, Sampras turned his head and looked at the training ground, looking at Gawain who was sweating on the training ground, and Agassi also looked over there.
Although his voice was calm, it still couldn't conceal Sampras's inner enthusiasm and excitement.
"Andre, you have been training with Gao Wen for more than three months. You should know that this kid is tenacious, perseverant, and determined."
"In fact, I am also a little curious about how high he can reach, but I am sure that it should be more than that. I look forward to his continuous improvement, transformation and growth. Maybe not this year or next year, but one day in the future, he can also grow into a master of clay and grass."
"Do you believe it?"
Involuntarily, Agassi nodded slightly to show his agreement, but was a beat late to realize his reaction and couldn't help but reveal a faint smile.
Glancing at Sampras, Agassi couldn't help but chuckle at the absurdity of the whole situation. "So, what are you going to do?"
"Neither you nor I are experts at clay court. We can't just go to Europe and find another old guy, right? Do you think Gao Wen's players' box isn't lively enough?"
This is a fact.
Be it Sampras or Agassi, neither player is a master on clay. Strictly speaking, both are far from being considered a master.
They are both typical hard court players who grew up on the hard courts of North America. Sampras is born on grass, while Agassi performs best at the Australian Open.
As for red clay?
Throughout the history of the Open Era, there has never been a single clay court master from the United States.
From the past to the present, almost all the masters of clay court are from Europe.
Of course, there are also occasional players from South America, such as Gustavo Kuerten from Brazil and Guillermo Villas from Argentina.
Now, Agassi understands Sampras's concerns.
As we enter the clay court season, who should guide Gao Wen?
First of all, not all players are equipped with different "court" coaches, one for hard court, one for clay, and one for grass. This is a fantasy.
Even the Big Four don't have it, because the coaches are mainly responsible for analyzing the game, tactics and training, and the theoretical knowledge is enough. There is no need to go to the trouble of changing coaches according to different venues.
Of course, the division of emphasis does exist objectively. Federer, Nadal and Djokovic all have multiple coaches in their teams. The priority of coaches' positions will change in different venues. During discussions, the focus may be slightly different.
But the problem with Gao Wen is that both Sampras and Agassi are typical hard court players, and when it comes to clay court, both of them are completely clueless.
What to do? Sampras couldn't help but laugh when he heard Agassi's joke. "If it's possible, I have a candidate, Ivan, who is currently unemployed. What do you think?"
Ivan?
Which Ivan?
There is more than one "Ivan" who deserves the name in the professional tennis world.
But think about it carefully -
"You mean... Ivan Lendl?" Agassi exclaimed.
Lendl, former Czechoslovakian player.
He was once a big name in the 1980s, winning many tour titles in the early 1980s, but lost in four consecutive Grand Slam finals.
As a player, calmness and rationality are his characteristics, but for a long time he was considered to lack dominance and have psychological weaknesses, and was criticized by people.
However, in the 1984 French Open final, Lendl defeated McEnroe to win his first Grand Slam title, and subsequently replaced McEnroe to dominate men's tennis.
He was ranked number one in the world at the end of the year for four consecutive years, was ranked number one in the ATP world for 270 weeks, won eight Grand Slam titles, and was runner-up in eleven Grand Slams. However, he was never able to reach the top of Wimbledon, and was defeated in both finals. This was a major regret in his career.
Lendl performed very well on clay, winning the French Open three times and 28 other clay court titles, with a winning rate of 81.1% on clay courts.
In 2012, Lendl and Murray collaborated. At that time, Murray had reached the Grand Slam finals many times and was ranked second in the world, but he was still unable to break through that layer of window paper. So, Lendl, who had the same experience, helped Murray break the shackles, and in just half a year, he completed a complete transformation.
Olympic champion, US Open champion, Wimbledon champion.
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All of Murray's achievements were achieved under Lendl's guidance.
At the beginning of last year, Murray suffered a back injury and parted ways with Lendl.
Now, Lendl is unemployed at home; moreover, he settled in the United States, living in Greenwich, Connecticut, which also means that Sampras is not just talking casually, he has really considered it.
Imagine having a legendary player as coach is already enough to support the team, but Sampras actually wants to invite Agassi and Lendl to play on the same court?
If this can really be achieved, then Gao Wen’s players’ box will be very lively indeed.
Agassi looked at Sampras and blinked. "Are you serious?"
Sampras hesitated, then laughed. "I wanted to make a joke, but forget it. Now is not the time."
"Of course, this is just a joke. Let's not talk about whether Gao Wen can afford the coaching fees for the three of us. Just talking about the cooperation between the three of us..."
The words, without the need to continue, are clear enough.
Lendl is a slow person, Sampras is an impatient person, and Agassi seems slow but is actually a powder keg. Moreover, all three of them have their own ideas and opinions, and all three are proud and stubborn.
Now the cooperation between Sampras and Agassi is full of "surprises" every day. If Lendl is added to the mix, I'm afraid it will be a real mess.
Think about it, Sampras is just thinking about it.
This time, Sampras did not keep the suspense. He faced the confusion in Agassi's eyes and gritted his teeth.
"My real thought is, during the clay season, you play the main theme, what do you think?"
Say it out.
After much hesitation and uncertainty, Sampras finally spoke out.
Originally, Sampras thought he would explode. Just imagining himself giving up the initiative to Agassi made him feel a chill.
But after actually saying it out loud, Sampras found that he actually felt somewhat relieved, as if the huge weight on his heart had been lifted.
However, Sampras became furious when he saw that Agassi had not responded.
"What's that expression on your face?"
(End of this chapter)