2000年桑普拉斯的个人穿线師访问
在TW大约在2000年.....中文可能有点怪因是用Google译,但我已努力地修改..Q & A with Nate Ferguson, Sampras' personal stringer
Nate Ferguson is Pete Sampras' personal stringer and racquet technician. He is responsible for "setting up" all of Pete's racquets - customizing weight & balance, molding handles and stringing. After working in the racquet customizing business for over a decade, servicing many of the top ATP and WTA tour players, Nate now travels with Pete to tournaments throughout the year and was with him during Pete's record 6th Wimbledon title win. We caught up with Nate during a few quiet moments in his hotel room somewhere on the ATP Tour.
麦克米兰弗格森是桑普拉斯的个人穿线師。他负责" ，建立"全部集结的装修-定制重量及平衡，成型处理，并铺设。工作后，在球拍改装业务十多年，服务诸多顶尖atp和wta巡回比赛選手，现在内特游记与皮特到整个联赛今年是他在皮特的纪录，第六次温网男单冠军获胜。我们赶上内特在数宁静时刻，在他的旅馆房间某处atp赛事
TW: How did you land this gig?
TW：怎么找上这个工作？
NF:I have been in charge of building Pete's racquets since the summer of 1990, a few months before he won his first Grand Slam. Over the years we built a trusting and respectful relationship, almost entirely over the phone. During this time, it became apparent to me that Pete was unable to get his racquets restrung with the high level of expertise he requires while at some tournaments. Although he braved the world of "tournament stringers" for many a year, there came a time when the matches he lost because of strings that were too loose outweighed the cost and complication of adding a full-time racquet expert to his team. At this time, I came to an agreement with Pete's agent, Jeff Schwartz, so that Pete could have not only a full-time travelling stringer, but someone who could successfully build and customize his racquets to the smallest of tolerances.
NF ：自1990年夏季在他赢得他的首个大满贯几个月前我就一直负责建设皮特的球拍。多年来几乎全部通电话，我们建立了信任和尊重的关系，。在这段时间内，很明显，我认为大会的穿线師无法滿足皮特的高知识水平要求，而在一些比赛。因为这串太松散的线他的比赛失去了，抵销成本及并发症加入全职racquet专家向他的团队。在这个时候，我来到了一个协议，皮特的经纪人杰夫施瓦茨，使皮特可能不仅是一个全职穿线師，但有人能準確地给他穿线。
TW:Is Pete Sampras your only client?
TW：桑普拉斯是你唯一的客户
NF:Pete is the only player I do work for while we are on the road. I have several pro clients for whom I build racquets while I am home. I proudly build their racquets with as much attention to detail as Mr. Sampras' frames.
NF ：皮特是我惟一巡回比赛球员，做的工作，我在家的時侯也幫几个Pro客户改装球拍.而我自豪地说我对们和桑普拉斯是一視同仁。
TW:Pretty cool. So, you travel to many of the major tournaments to string and service Pete exclusively. How do you get there and what equipment do you have to lug around?
TW：很酷。所以，你去许多重大赛事，你用什么交通工具? 带什么装备？
NF:Yes, I travel not only to the major tournaments, but every tournament in which Pete is playing. If Pete is on the road at a bonafide tournament,then I am with him. As for getting to each city, I am generally on my own. I usually plan to arrive on the Friday evening before a tournament, allowing time to set up and be ready for what ever comes my way for practice on Saturday. Now, on some special occasions, when we are already at a tournament, and proceed directly to another tournament, there is another way for me to travel other than commercial flights. If Pete decides to hire a private jet, and he has enough room for me and all my gear, I sometimes am lucky enough to be invited to travel with him. Let me tell you, when we were in Europe, travelling as we did last fall, seven weeks in a row to seven different countries, catching a ride with "The Champ" to each tournament was DELICIOUS! No waiting in line. No checking extra luggage. No early check-in... for that matter, no check in at all! No crappy airline food. No immigration. No customs. No waiting for luggage. Generally, no waiting for anything. I am never so thankful as when I get the phone call with an invitation to the private jet. It is especially nice because I travel with so much gear. The biggest item I carry is my Babolat Star 4 electric stringing machine. I decided, even before starting my first tournament with Pete, that having one stringing machine on which I restring all his racquets will almost entirely eliminate tension variation, and therefore solve almost all his string tension problems. Having a single person duplicating his string jobs repeatedly on the single most accurate and durable electric stringing machine takes most of the guesswork out of a very important part of my job.I have two custom made hard-shell flight cases in which I pack my machine and most of my other gear. I travel with all the string I might need,including several gauges of his Babolat Team gut. I also am prepared to do grip work, weight and balance work, as well as routine and not so routine racquet maintenance while on the road.
NF：好的，我的旅行不仅对重大赛事，但每场比赛中，皮特扮演的。如果皮特是对道身为一个邀请赛，当时我跟他。至于去每个城市，我一般对自己的。我通常计划达成对周五晚前邀请赛，让时间去成立，并准备什么都来我周六练习。现在，对一些特殊的场合，当我们已经处于一个邀请赛，并直接进入另一个赛外，还有另外一个办法，我的旅行以外的商业航班。如果皮特决定租用一架私人飞机，而他也有足够的空间，我和我所有的装备，有时我很幸运地被邀请前往他的。让我告诉你，当我们在欧洲旅行，就像我们在去年秋天，在七个星期内，在连续七个不同的国家，抓住了骑"冠军" ，每个赛美味！没有排队等待。没有额外检查行李。没有早期检查… …为此事，并没有检查所有！没有難食的航空食品。没有入境。没有海关。没有等待行李。一般来说，没有在等待什么。我永远感激时，我碰到这个电话与邀请的私人飞机。它是特别好，因为我旅行这么多的装备。最大的装备，我的命是我国babolat 4星电动拉线机。我决定，即使开始前我的第一赛集结，有一个铺设机上restring我他的所有职工将几乎完全消除张力变化，因此解决几乎所有他的张力问题。有一个人重复他的弦乐反复职位上的一个最准确和耐用电动铺设机需大部分的揣测出一个非常重要的组成部分，我job.i有两个原厂硬壳飞行案件中，我本人折机和大多数其他齿轮。我旅行的所有字符串，我可能需要人，其中包括数计他的团队babolat肠。我也很乐意做工作，抓地力，重量及平衡工作，以及例行的和不那么racquet例行保养，同时对道路。
TW:There's still a lot of discussion concerning Pete's racquets. Tell us what you know about their origin (St. Vincent) and what you can about his racquet specs.
TW：我还有很多讨论的关于皮特的球拍。告诉我们你知道它们的St Vincent（圣文森）规格 ，
NF:As long as I have known him, Pete has played with the Wilson Pro Staff Mid. The Pro Staff 6.0 85 is identical to Pete's racquets, except for the factory in which it is made. Pete likes the original St. Vincent racquets mostly because they are what he is used to. Yes, there are differences between the three versions produced over the years, but most significantly, Pete wants to stay with what has worked so well over the years. In this case, different is bad. The differences, although perhaps imperceptible to the average club player, are in the "feel" the racquet gives him. The St. Vincent made Pro Staff is the stiffest and what I call "harshest". Other versions of the racquet are more comfortable and softer. Any difference in power level is not significant. What Pete likes is the level of control that he gets because the racquet responds predictably. He doesn't have any doubt in the back of his mind, that is created when a player switches racquets. He has never said, "That shot would have been in with my old racquet." The most important thing that the Wilson Pro Staff 85 gives Pete is control. I custom "build" his racquet to take as much of the power out of the racquet as possible. It is a stiff racquet, has a very small head size, weighs nearly 400 grams/14 ounces and is strung with gut at around 75 lbs. He adds the power. I make the paddle, Pete gives the spanking. He whips that "log" of a racquet around like a swizzle-stick. Only he has the strength to crack serves in the high 130's with a racquet that most guys couldn't even get around.
根据大家的建议，我只贴英文.....有时间的DX动动手来翻译....
TW:There's still a lot of discussion concerning Pete's racquets. Tell us what you know about their origin (St. Vincent) and what you can about his racquet specs.
NF:As long as I have known him, Pete has played with the Wilson Pro Staff Mid. The Pro Staff 6.0 85 is identical to Pete's racquets, except for the factory in which it is made. Pete likes the original St. Vincent racquets mostly because they are what he is used to. Yes, there are differences between the three versions produced over the years, but most significantly, Pete wants to stay with what has worked so well over the years. In this case, different is bad. The differences, although perhaps imperceptible to the average club player, are in the "feel" the racquet gives him. The St. Vincent made Pro Staff is the stiffest and what I call "harshest". Other versions of the racquet are more comfortable and softer. Any difference in power level is not significant. What Pete likes is the level of control that he gets because the racquet responds predictably. He doesn't have any doubt in the back of his mind, that is created when a player switches racquets. He has never said, "That shot would have been in with my old racquet." The most important thing that the Wilson Pro Staff 85 gives Pete is control. I custom "build" his racquet to take as much of the power out of the racquet as possible. It is a stiff racquet, has a very small head size, weighs nearly 400 grams/14 ounces and is strung with gut at around 75 lbs. He adds the power. I make the paddle, Pete gives the spanking. He whips that "log" of a racquet around like a swizzle-stick. Only he has the strength to crack serves in the high 130's with a racquet that most guys couldn't even get around.
TW:Pete seems to break strings often. What string and tension does he use?
NF:You are correct, Pete does break a lot of strings, and thank goodness for it, or I'd be out of a job! Many people see him breaking strings and wonder what I did wrong or what is wrong with the string. Actually, it is part of his game. He plays with the finest natural gut made, Babolat natural gut. Although the natural gut plays and feels better than any string out there, it is not the longest lasting string on the market. Add to that the fact that he plays with Babolat's thinnest gut string and you can understand that he would normally break strings during a match. He also plays at ultra-high tensions, which stresses the string (and stringer) further. The final ingredient is this: he hits the ball harder than almost any one out there. The result is broken strings, both by wearing them out and breaking them in the middle of the string bed and snapping them on miss hits or shanks which cause premature breakage where the stringbed meets the racquet.
TW:We know pro players have extremely sensitive feel when it comes to string tension, etc. How does Pete compare? Is he superstitious about his racquets or have special needs, such as having his racquets strung immediately before a tournament?
NF:I would not say Pete is superstitious, but he knows what he likes. For instance, he doesn't just have his racquets freshly strung before tournaments. He has me string them before each match, whether the strings installed the previous day have been used or not. I cut out a lot of brand new strings so that I can restring the racquets the day of the match! Even most pros find this astonishing. Cutting out brand new gut strings often doesn't make sense even to top players. However, Pete is more sophisticated than most pros. We agree that in order to have all his racquets prepared for a match correctly, they must all be strung consecutively the day of the match. That way, they are all the same, and tighter than hell, just as he likes them.
TW:How about his handles and grips? Are they stock or custom?
NF:The grip work is specifically why I am with Pete. Plenty of guys could travel with him to restring his racquets but there is no one else that has been able to custom make his racquets, including handles, and restring them on the road, all to Pete's satisfaction. Yeah, everything about Pete's handles is custom, from the handle material to the hand shaped endocarp to the specially wrapped leather. The tricky and exciting part is that a few times a year, Pete decides he wants to change his handle specifications, which turns me into a whirling dervish, often requiring long hours of wrapping and hand treating leather in a hotel room.
TW:Will Pete ever change racquets? Has he tried other racquets?
NF:Pete has used the Wilson Pro Staff Mid for as long as he has been a pro, and I believe he always will. He is not a fan of changing things that are not broken.
TW:Does Pete use fresh string jobs for practice?
NF:During practice, Pete will use either fresh or day-old string jobs. Typically, at a new site, we will test how the usual 75 lbs. tension feels, and if necessary, test out a different string gauge. Once we decide on a string gauge and tension and the tournament begins, he will often use any remaining string jobs left over from the previous match.
TW:Do you ever experiment with different strings?
NF:Yes we do but only within the family of Babolat natural gut strings. We will experiment with different string gauges, and on occasion, I will have him test some strings to which I have given alternative or special treatment.
TW:Does he have a favorite specific racquet (is he superstitious about his racquets)?
NF:My job is to duplicate Pete's "model" racquet. I achieve that most often but sometimes have to remake any frame that has a grip that does not feel quite the same. So, no, he doesn't have specific "favorite frames." It is my job to duplicate as closely as possible his "model" racquet.
TW:How picky is Pete?
NF:Many people ask me if Pete is picky. I like to put it this way: He has, by far, the most sensitive feel of any of the players I have ever dealt with and he wants only what feels exactly right. To put it another way, he is the only other guy on the planet who is "into" his tennis racquets as much as I am and I'm thankful for that.
TW:We understand you recently incorporated your business. Tell us about Priority One.
NF:Priority One says a lot about the kind of player I started the company with/for - Pete Sampras. Long ago, it was also the best, fastest FedEx service offered. When it was really important, we sent packages "Priority One".
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