序言：本人仅是出于个人娱乐用英文写了一小段赞颂费德勒的文字，其间带到了他与桑普拉斯之间比较的老话题。有意思的是，有朋友(当然，他是费迷，我不是，不过我也不是费黑：真费劲，老怕费迷误会，所以总是做出解释)用非常优美的英文迅速做出了回应，我觉得非常好，既锻炼了英文的写作水平，又与网球球迷圈志同道合的朋友们一起深入探讨了话题。

    总之一句话，欢迎其他朋友热情加入，博客群需要不同的声音，以及不同的写作氛围：

 

 

 

以下是我对于他第一次回复的回应：

 

I agree with you on some of the parts of what you said.

 

I met Roger in ShangHai last October,he is a nice person,that's for sure.For tennis,I may consider him as a great player,but not the greatest one of all time,at least for now.

 

Making comparisons between Roger and Pete is a hot topic for years,as what you said,this two gentlemen belong to two generations,it is absolutely not equal to judge them by how many Wimbledon Crowns they had won,but as well to judge them by their technical playing skills.

 

Roger is almost 10 years younger than Pete,which could mean a lot.The racket can be more powerful when you hit the ball with advanced technology,the players can be more multi-dimensional after they learned and trained a lot via absorbing the good skills of elders,the training conditions can be much better when they were in the childhood,and even the era they standing in could be an advantage.To me,a same generation and tight competition with Andre Agassi、Boris Becker、Stefen Edberg and a few some other strong ones is much more tougher than a less competitive same generation with only Lleyton Hewitt、Marat Safin、Andy Roddick、Rafael Nadal and David Nalbandian.

 

It is no doubt Roger is a genius,especially in his own generation,that is why he is so distinguished to others,but it doesn't mean he already became the greatest one of all time when he is just in his 25.

 

What I said about the achievements of winning Wimbledon is the reference standard to every professionals,so as to Roger.The Swiss must know the comparisons between Pete and him couldn't be over until someday he surpass it,and meanwhile he could be the one to be the object to others.

 

附：“下个世纪”这位仁兄的回应   同时可见以下地址：To Roger Federer

 

All these comparisons between Roger Federer and Pete Sampras are rather pointless. They belong to different generations. Roger will always be the best to me, because he is the first great tennis player I've come to know and admire. Pete was before my time. In terms of personality, there's no comparison either. Roger is by far more personable, easy-going and lovable. I met him a couple of years ago and chatted with him briefly. I simply fell in love with him afterwards. He is so nice--it's not the kind of niceness that stars feign in public--he is genuinely nice and extremely considerate. He is so attentive to details and goes out of his way to accommodate others. Pete, by all accounts, was and is a reserved person and rarely opens up to anyone. He is not objectionable by any means, but he doesn't make you warm up to him the way Roger does.

I don't agree either that Roger has to win more than 7 Wimbledons or 14 grand slam titles before he can be deemed greater than Pete. Once again, they belong to different eras. Rod Laver won the grand slam twice, in 1962 and 1969, but back then the Australian was still played on grass. Can you say Rod Laver is the greatest of all time? Probably not. I think you can compare players on a stand-alone basis, regardless of the number of their titles. You can compare Roger and Pete's serve, forehand, backhand, movement on court, etc. There is a reason why Roger was hailed as possibly the greatest of all time after his first Wimbledon win. People do not need a tally of titles to see real greatness.

And yes, I am a fan of Roger Federer's and proud of it. I love Roger not because what he means to tennis in general, but because he embodies the greatest values a person can aspire to--he is brilliant, humble, determined, consistent, considerate, easy-going and even-keeled at all times. He knows clearly what he wants and works hard consistently to achieve it. These are the kinds of values that can be applied across the board, regardless of what profession you are in. Roger is a role model not just for tennis players, but for all who hope to achieve something in their life.