WIMBLEDON

June 24, 2004

Guillermo Coria

GUILLERMO CORIA: Quietly, watching lots of films. And I'm ready to wait, just as I have done, as much as is necessary because in Wimbledon it can happen. I might even say that for me it was better because I had played a lot of matches last week, but I would have liked to have finished this match the day before yesterday.

GUILLERMO CORIA: I don't remember the names anymore. I saw five or six. I saw one with Antonio Banderas, Robert DeNiro.

GUILLERMO CORIA: I went on the court seriously concentrating on those two points. I had to concentrate on those two points. I could not not pay attention to those two points, so the preparation for it was focusing. But I also was sure of myself. I felt strong and I felt -- I had confidence. But it's not usual to go into a match the way we went today.

GUILLERMO CORIA: I was quite mad because I thought it should have been stopped earlier. It was drizzling, so we were in danger. We could have hurt ourselves. But then when the score was 5-3, I really wanted to finish. Then when I fell, I was a bit frightened because my leg was pulling, was really hurting. Fortunately, it wasn't serious. I had it looked after. But it was impossible to go on playing anyway.

GUILLERMO CORIA: I asked him five or six times because it was damp, it was dangerous. That's why I was a bit angry.

GUILLERMO CORIA: No, each time I finish a tournament, the following day I'm thinking about playing, how I'm playing. That was a tough time because of how I lost, the final. But I feel strong. I've gone through these difficult moments, and I've overcome them. That way I could reach the finals in the tournament with just playing, and I need to take advantage of all the self-confidence that I picked up between Hamburg and Roland Garros and not let it all fall by the wayside, not drop my arms, because then that would be very wrong. But the people who were around me were very important to me and did help me to overcome that. But I'm not into psychologists. That's not the sort of thing I'm interested in. But I have to work hard because it's important in tennis to try and control your anxieties.

GUILLERMO CORIA: Yes, I'm coming to this tournament thoroughly prepared because I felt really awful last year when I lost first round because I hadn't really prepared the way this tournament deserves that one prepares for. But now I feel well, I'm confident, and I can go forward.

GUILLERMO CORIA: No. It's strange. It hadn't happened to me. But it was worth the wait.

GUILLERMO CORIA: It is difficult. You have to be very relaxed, but you have to be very focused, and you have to arrive at the court well-prepared, ready mentally, because if I had gone onto the court cold, without focusing, without concentrating, I could lose.

GUILLERMO CORIA: Yes, I said so at Roland Garros that I wanted to improve how I play on this surface, and it will be very good for me to improve my game and to feel well within myself. As for the doubles, it's important because it helps me improve my serve and my volleys.

GUILLERMO CORIA: I hope it's not just that (smiling). I hope people are with me because of how I play. But the truth is that people here in Britain, the public here, has treated me really well. And it makes you happy when you feel that you're being supported by the public.

GUILLERMO CORIA: Very sad. We haven't got Calleri, Zabaleta, Nalbandian. These are players who have -- who would have had great possibilities, like Nalbandian. They're people who could win this tournament. The British public was a bit concerned because Nalbandian could have beaten -- might have had to play Henman.

GUILLERMO CORIA: I'd like to not fall down so often (laughter). It embarrasses me to keep falling.

GUILLERMO CORIA: I would have asked for the match to be stopped anyway because the conditions were not right. I was saying to the referee, "It's not in my interest to stop, but the conditions are not there."

GUILLERMO CORIA: It's difficult, but I do have self-confidence.

GUILLERMO CORIA: Makus, the coach I have today, is the coach I always wanted to have. Both he and Mancini were the two that I always liked. But as Makus was not able to work with me earlier, I found the coach I used to have. That was the arrangement, that would be up to Roland Garros, and that was it. And I want the coach that I have as from now to be the person who sees me through to the end of my career because it's not a good thing to change coaches. You can't keep changing coaches.

GUILLERMO CORIA: These are the two coaches I like, and I would have liked to go through with whoever I had first. In this case it was Mancini, go right through. Since that was not possible, now that I have more companies, I hope I will have Makus right through. This doesn't mean that I didn't feel comfortable or wasn't happy with my previous coach. What I'm saying is that because of the sort of experience, because of the results he obtains from players, whilst with the previous one, it's over, but it's over well, amicably, happily, no problems.

GUILLERMO CORIA: I think it was nerves. I thought too much about it. It was the first time that something like that happened to me - and it will be the last (smiling).

GUILLERMO CORIA: I'm not taking anything. Yes, I am cautious. I don't want to take anything. It's difficult not to take any supplements because we are all putting in a big effort. Especially someone like myself, I'm not a big eater. So sometimes when you're not a big eater, when you're not that strong, it takes more out of you to have to sustain a long match. But I really think that in this case, it was nerves. I thought too much about it.