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 原文出處

Rafael Nadal practicing with his first and only coach, his uncle Toni Nadal, before his Open
quarterfinal victory Thursday.

By KAREN CROUSE
Published: September 10, 2010

It was nearing midnight at the United States Open on Thursday and Rafael Nadal was late for
his postmatch news conference because he was in the men’s locker room shaving.

In the vainglorious world of professional tennis, there are worse breaches of civility than a 12
o’clock shadow. But Nadal, the men’s top seed from Spain, is his uncle’s nephew. And Toni
Nadal, his first and only coach, views his job as making sure Nadal puts his best face forward.

這是美網時將近星期四的午夜，Rafael Nadal在賽後記者會時遲到了，因為他在更衣室刮鬍子。

在充滿虛榮的職業網球世界中，有著比這更失禮的事情。但來自西班牙的頭號種子Nadal，是他叔叔

的姪子。而Nadal第一個也是唯一的教練Toni Nadal，視他的工作為確認Nadal以最好的面容上鏡。

Nadal, 24, has advanced to his third straight Open semifinal — without dropping a set — and is
two victories from completing a career Grand Slam. He faces Mikhail Youzhny on Saturday.

Nadal現年24歲，挺進他連續第三個大滿貫的準決賽 - 沒有失掉任何一盤 - 而且再兩場勝利就能

完成生涯大滿貫。他在星期六要對上Mikhail Youzhny。

On the court, Nadal is like a Spanish fighting bull, a snorting, charging aggressor who has lost
his serve once in 76 games in this, his eighth Open. Away from the court, Nadal does not lower
his head and charge ahead. He is polite to security guards, respectful of other players,
accommodating to fans — cheek-kissing the actress and singer Grace Jones, 62, on his way
out of the locker room.

在球場上，Nadal就像西班牙鬥牛一樣，是一個噴著鼻息、積極進攻的侵略者，在他第八個公開賽中，失去

76個發球局中的第一個發球局。在球場外，Nadal從不低頭前進。他對保安人員很有禮貌，對其他球員

十分尊重，在他離開更衣室後的路上，與演歌雙棲的62歲球迷Grace Jones貼臉問候。

The task of keeping Nadal grounded when he is away from home falls largely to Uncle Toni,
as he is known around the tour. As jobs go, it is like being the makeup artist entrusted with
Angelina Jolie’s face.

當Nadal離家巡迴比賽的時候，維持他秩序的重責大任就落到Toni叔身上。這個工作就像是Angelina Jolie

的化妝師一樣。

“I am happy when Rafael plays good tennis, but I take more pleasure when people say
Rafael is a very good person,” Toni Nadal said. “For me, it is so much more important to be
a good person.”

「我會因為Rafael打出好球而感到高興，但是當人們說Rafael是的非常好的人的時候，我會更高興。」

Toni Nadal說。「對我來說，當一個好人是更重要的事情。」

Nadal’s uncle is the one who steered him through his parents’ divorce; who acts as his coach
and conscience. Toni Nadal grew up aspiring to play professional tennis and was among
Spain’s top 50 players. Married with three children, ages 6, 7 and 9, he keeps such a low profile
that television commentators who have interviewed Nadal say they know little about him.

Nadal的叔叔是在帶領他走過父母離婚的陰霾；是他的教練，也是他的心靈導師。Toni Nadal嚮往成為

職業網球選手，也是西班牙排名前50的球員。已婚，有三個孩子分別是6、7以及9歲。他的資料不大曝光，

訪問過Nadal的電視主播說他們對Toni幾乎不瞭解。

Toni Nadal is reluctant to be interviewed, but his voice comes out of Nadal’s mouth during his
news conferences. On Thursday night, Nadal tamed brutal weather and his quarterfinal opponent,
the Spaniard Fernando Verdasco, with a 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 victory that was a triumph of will over wind.

Toni Nadal不大願意接受訪問，有關他的消息大多來自Rafael Nadal的訪問中。星期四晚上，Nadal克服

嚴苛的天氣與強風，而且以7-5, 6-3, 6-4擊敗八強的對手西班牙選手Fernando Verdasco。

Nadal produced 18 winners and had 16 unforced errors, but he was out of sorts when his uncle
found him in the locker room. Toni Nadal said his nephew was obsessing over his inability to
settle into a rhythm. He adjusted his attitude by stressing how beautifully he had handled the
beastly conditions.

Nadal擊出了18個致勝球，16個非受迫性失誤，但當他叔叔在休息室找到他的時候，他並不開心。Toni Nadal

說他姪子是因為不能進入節奏而困擾。Toni校正他的心態，告訴他他在這惡劣的條件下處理得多棒。

Nadal was asked by the news media to assess his performance and said, “Today I played —
for the conditions — I think I played a great match against very difficult opponent like Fernando.”

媒體請Nadal評估自己的表現，他說：「在今天這種條件下，面對像Fernando這樣難以對付的對手，我認為

我打出一場好比賽。」

At least twice in the match, Nadal raised his hand in apology to Verdasco — once after a bad
challenge and the other after he pulled off a magician’s shot to win a point. His acts of
sportsmanship pleased his uncle, whose favorite player growing up was Ilie Nastase, the former
No. 1 from Romania whose tantrums often overshadowed his tennis.

在比賽中至少有兩次Nadal舉手向Verdasco致歉 - 一次是在一個失敗的挑戰之後，另一次則是在他打出魔術

般的一球贏下那一分。

“When Rafael was young, I thought he could be a good player but never did I want to see him
be bad on the court,” his uncle said. “I wanted to make sure that didn’t happen.”

Nadal has talked about how tough a disciplinarian his uncle is, telling El País in an interview
this year, “It’s pressure to go to practice and know that you have to do well because, otherwise,
there will be problems.”

Toni Nadal is constantly reminding his nephew that his worst day on the tennis court is better
than most people’s best day. He drove home that point after Nadal sported a long face
throughout his first-round match against the 93rd seed, Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia, who
extended him to two tie-break sets.

After the match, his uncle talked to him about his demeanor. “I tell him you must be always
grateful of the life,” Toni Nadal said. “I think one of the most important things I say always to
Rafael is to have a good face. Because in this life, the ball going out is not a very big problem.”

Toni Nadal is in business with Nadal’s father, Sebastian, back in Mallorca, where they operate a
restaurant and a glass and windows company. He said he can speak freely to Nadal because he
accepts no money to coach him.

Nadal agreed, telling The Guardian last November: “It’s important to have people around you
with enough confidence to say if you are not acting in a good way. Normally, when you are
at the top, people say everything is fantastic. Probably in that moment it is what you want to
hear, but it’s best to be reminded how to act properly."

In 2005, Nadal was No. 2 in the world, behind his longtime rival, Roger Federer, when he arrived
in Shanghai for the season-ending event featuring the top eight players.

One night, Nadal, his uncle and his publicist, Benito Pérez-Barbadillo, decided to dine at their
hotel’s rooftop restaurant. As Toni Nadal recalled, on the elevator ride up, Pérez-Barbadillo
noticed that Nadal was wearing long shorts and told him that there was a dress code but that
the restaurant would surely be willing to relax the rule. Toni Nadal said he turned to his nephew
and said, “Rafael, you must go change.”

And Nadal did.

“When you think you are the king of the world,” Toni Nadal said, “you are really stupid in my
opinion because in this life every person is important.”

José Higueras, a former pro from Spain who is a director of coaching for the United States Tennis
Association, said that story “would describe Toni right there in terms of what’s right or wrong
in his mind.”

At a tournament in Barcelona a few years ago, the organizers approached Nadal in the locker
room after a match, Higueras said, and offered to arrange for him to slip out a back exit to
avoid autograph seekers.

“Rafa said: No. No,” Higueras said. He left by the main exit and signed for everybody.

Higueras described Nadal’s relationship with his uncle as “very unique” and said, “I think
Toni has made a great impact on Rafa tennis-wise and the way he conducts himself.”