tennis

Warrior spirit leads Nishikori to new heights

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" I’m surprised by the success I had this year.”

Ahh yes, there's that warrior spirit.

Please. The Nishikori propaganda makes me ill. Kei's a good player, don't get me wrong. But the "rah rah" stuff in the media makes me cheer against him. There are LOTS of players who've come close, who've even won one Grand Slam, who could hardly be considered as "great" players - see: Thomas Johansson, Martin Verkerk, Mariano Puerta, Andrei Medvedev, Marin Cilic (ahem). Like we saw during the World Cup, the Japanese media is far too quick to push their own players to "greatness" before its earned. Too bad for Kei - he's a likable player.

1 ( +8 / -7 )

The Original Wing

Absolutely. It's so hard to get behind Japanese players in any sport with all the "Ganbare Nippppon!" nonsense. I'm not a big tennis fan, but it really spoils football (soccer) matches for me....

2 ( +7 / -5 )

Ah, the 'warrior spirit' that the media and the public go on, and on, and on about... until the athlete in question doesn't live up to the expectations 'bestowed' upon them. Are their rivals, who beat them, then said to have 'better warrior spirit'? Nope, all the bragging and 'goods' that cost an arm in a leg are simply rolled under the carpet and forgotten about. How's Ishikawa doing nowadays, anyway?

0 ( +4 / -4 )

Lucabrasi: that is non sense...any country in the world rely on its sports teams to bring pride and happiness to its people...is not a "japanese thing "

-1 ( +6 / -7 )

Can't they can this warrior spirit nonsense. the guy's a good tennis player, that's all. When he loses - and he made it to the final in the US Open which is no small feat - it's because his arms are too short or some other ethno-centric nonsense. When he wins, it's 'yamato damashi'.

Can't they just take the nationalism and race complex out of it an appreciate that he's a just a damn good tennis player?

-1 ( +5 / -6 )

There's a superficial racism in pieces like this in which Japanese athletes who do well are praised as "samurai" and warriors. What if we saw pieces in this style ascribing tired old racial or cultural stereotypes to athletes from, for example, Kenya, or Israel, or Saudi Arabia?

0 ( +4 / -4 )

@ticaile - Spot on ! And to Kei-san, keep up the good work, Gambarre ! The Aussie Open starts one month from today !

-3 ( +2 / -5 )

@ticaile

You're obviously not an England football fan....

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

ticaile: Lucabrasi: that is non sense...any country in the world rely on its sports teams to bring pride and happiness to its people...is not a "japanese thing "

Cheering for someone from your own country happens in every country. In my home country, we certainly cheer for our native athletes. But we're also objective about it. When someone's not good, we can admit that he/she is not good, but we cheer anyhow because it's fun. On the other hand, Japan proclaims that their athletes are the best, the greatest, with the most incredible warrior spirit...when it's not true. You can be a fan without claiming that "He's the best." My favorite players aren't the best. I like them anyhow. Admitting that makes me a rational person - not a bad fan. That's something you don't see often from the Japanese sports media...and that trickles down to many Japanese fans, unfortunately.

-3 ( +3 / -6 )

Japan proclaims that their athletes are the best, the greatest, with the most incredible warrior spirit...when it's not true.

Bit generalizing too much. In figure skating, or any sports you often see unexpected Japanese win. I admit J media cover football team too much, but what else sport the above comment do you mean? In case of Nishikori, you can't say "when it's not true" He is only 24, are you saying he can never be the best?

-3 ( +2 / -5 )

what else sport the above comment do you mean?

Judo for one, where I have watched 2 Summer Olympiads filled with "gold medal favorites," and endless replays of their matches.... only to have the Japanese athlete lose, and then see no coverage at all until the finals are wedged in between commercial breaks at the midnight replay, usually with that coverage sometimes not even being the full match.

And the winter Olympics coverage is even more shameful.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

@original totally agree Nishikori is a good player and talented but the media makes him sound like hes the next Federer, the pressure alone will more than likely stop him from winning a major. Warrior Samurai spirit, LOL the modern Japanese male is far removed from there Samurai ancestors. unless they want to remove the heads of there defeated rivals, or perform ritual suicide when they are defeated themselves. Samurai fighting spirit should be reserved for when you go to war with an enemy and want to kill as many of them before they kill you.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

It's annoying when it happens in a country that you don't consider your own. Case in point : the way Gracie Gold was hyped up before the Olympics everyone in the US thought she would win the gold medal (I mean, it's her name isn't it?) and when she didn't even win a medal, everyone shook their heads and thought, "what happened?"

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Nishikori has a great coach who inspires and empowers him to realize and develop his full sports potential. That's why he continues to remind him to believe in himself when faced with any situation because if you don't believe in yourself no one else will. Your self-confidence and esteem stem from a strong belief in who you are and what you stand for. Therefore it is important to remember that you are your number one supporter and fan. The best thing you can do for yourself and have no regrets about is to pamper yourself by believing in yourself. Nishikori has done a fantastic job this year and Japan is proud of him.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Sports coverage is annoyingly different here. The sharp, staccato voices that Japanese sports announcers switch on at full decibels when Japanese athletes appear to do well really grates on me. The sound itself is about as pleasing as a fire drill alarm with a faulty circuit.

As someone notes above, it's difficult to get behind the incumbent athletes in Japan due to the nature of the hoopla.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

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