TMS - INDIAN WELLS

March 11, 2001

Alex Corretja

ALEX CORRETJA: Well, of course, I need some more matches to feel better on the court. But the only way to do it is just winning, practicing, trying to give hundred percent in every aspect of the game. Right now, of course, I'm not hundred percent, but maybe if I can go and play some more matches, I will be. So I need to try to pass through the first couple of rounds and then probably I will feel better on the court because I haven't played much this year. Of course, you need to play matches to feel better on the court.

ALEX CORRETJA: Well, I wish to see the same conditions, yeah. There are a little different conditions here this year. I think it's a little slower. The ball, it doesn't fly as much as before. Maybe before you didn't have the control of the ball as much as now, so you can hit the ball harder than before. But it's a pretty nice courts anyway. It's pretty good conditions. You know, it's been pretty good place here to play. It's wonderful to come back and see that you won here last year.

ALEX CORRETJA: Just be happy. That makes me happy.

ALEX CORRETJA: If I enjoy on the court. It makes you happy when you feel like you're giving hundred percent every time, you know. Off the court, I'm happy. Right now I didn't find my rhythm yet on the court, but if I keep on practicing and keep on the same way, maybe I'm going to find it. But before the tournament, I cannot say I will be happy with quarterfinals or semifinals because you got to go day-by-day and then you can see if you can be happy after one day or seven days, you know. But at this stage of my career, I cannot sign before the tournament with any result. I mean, I'm ambitious. I come here to try to win again. Of course, you can lose tomorrow or you've got to know everything. Like every year, when I came last year, I know I can go first round out of the of the tournament or I can still win the tournament. Nothing changes. The only thing that change sometimes is your mind.

ALEX CORRETJA: For me is the same. I mean, I've been playing for many years. Right now I don't feel like I need to put pressure to myself, no matter if you have to defend the title. What happens one year ago, it happens, and it's been great. I've been having that tournament for me for the whole life. Right now I go on the court. No matter if I lost first round or I won last year, I have to do something different. I'm going to practice today. I'm going to try to play quallies in doubles to see if I can get in rhythm and play some more matches before my first round. Of course, it's not something that I cannot sleep at night, you know, defending the tournament. This is something that nothing happens, you know. You have to be happy on your life, and I am. If I win, it's great. If not, it's a pity in a tennis way, but not in a life way.

ALEX CORRETJA: Well, I said before, my game is, of course, not a hundred percent because I haven't played much during the whole year. Of course, I need to play a little bit more. I've been practicing pretty well these days. I'm feeling like I need to be out there, concentrate, focus. During the matches, I need to maybe struggle a little bit at the beginning to see if I can get in rhythm, then play better tennis. Maybe I'm not playing like the Angels, but I'm looking forward.

ALEX CORRETJA: The main reason?

ALEX CORRETJA: That I'm a human being and I wanted to rest. I've been playing a lot of tennis last year. It happens to me in '98 when I played a lot of tennis, then I came back '99, I didn't have rest, I didn't have time off, and I didn't enjoy my life. I was too tired to play tennis, to travel and everything. So when I finish year 2000, I decided to rest. I had like nearly three weeks, maybe four weeks off, then I start to practice slowly. It was great. For my life, it was great. For my tennis, of course, it's different. After nearly three months, I play three or four matches, which is nothing. But still I prefer to be happy person than maybe feeling like I'm struggling the whole time because of tennis.

ALEX CORRETJA: Well, if there is, I don't know. I don't know. Everybody has his own personality. Of course, I like to be home, as well, a little bit. I spent a lot of my time, my career, my life, traveling all around. There's time where you want to be home, spend time with your family, your girlfriend, and your friends. For me, it's great to play tennis. This is the main thing. I love to play tennis. I like when I'm playing good out there. I cannot just die because I don't play good tennis. That's why I decided to rest and keep on going. For me it's great to see all the guys on the tour, feel the atmosphere of the tour, that's great. But sometimes you feel a little tired, as well.

ALEX CORRETJA: Yes, yes. It seems strange, but of course. It was the longest I ever had since I was born. It was like 25 days or something. In a regular job, maybe it's not much, but in the tennis way, it's a lot. You don't feel the ball as well. You need to practice, you need to play. It was great.

ALEX CORRETJA: Oh, many things.

ALEX CORRETJA: I just enjoy. The main thing it was not to look at my watch. "Tomorrow if I want to sleep 14 hours, I'm going to sleep 14 hours. If I want to go play golf, I play. If I want to go out at night and have some fun, I do it." I mean, we are different life in Barcelona. I can wake up at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, go dinner 4:30, go back and have dinner at 12:30 at night. For some people, it's like, "Are you crazy or something?" No, it's different culture, different life. Then you can go out, spend some time at night, go to sleep at 7:00. That is something that is not strange in Spain. I didn't want to look at my watch. I wanted to stay happy. I said, "Okay, I want to do this now." I do it. It was great for me to spend some time with my girlfriend and my family, of course.

ALEX CORRETJA: I don't know much about it because, as you know, I've been away from the tour. I wanted to have some meetings with the guys, maybe they can explain me what's the situation. I hear there's some strange feelings there. Of course, for us it's great to have these kind of people working with us. After one year with the race, I think it's been great for us. As you see the rankings last year, we finish the year having last match of the year having the chance -- in this case it was Guga to reach the No. 1. We never had that before. It was a great idea, good changes. We still have to keep on working and make people understand how the race is, what's the ranking, how it works. Of course, we need the support from everybody, no? From the players and from the sponsors, all these people.

ALEX CORRETJA: I mean, you can sit down and discuss some things about this. I believe what you did in the past is great. I mean, I don't know why you need to have special support because you won last year, no? It's like if I have a bye here because I won last year. You have to live for the present. The present is that there are like 16 teams. They got to play first round. No matter if you play home or you play Holland, wherever you play, you got to win or you got to try to win. For us, it was the biggest thing ever in Spain to win Davis Cup, of course, in all aspects. In support, tennis is pretty popular. Of course, tennis was pretty popular. After Davis Cup, it becomes like a big bomb. Afterwards it was tough to make the people understand that after one month and a half we just lost again against the Netherlands because they thought that we were going to win every year now. We told them, "If we won once in hundred year history, that means it is pretty difficult to win the Davis Cup." We still have the trophy at home. It's good to look at it and see that we were the champions in 2000. It was great feeling.

ALEX CORRETJA: Everybody has his own options, his own rights to say that. Maybe you can find some other solutions. It's always somebody who is going to complain. Maybe they find another solution, they don't like that kind of tournament, that kind of solution. It's difficult. Everybody has to see what's best for the tour, best for the players. It's not easy to say, "I like another thing." It's of course right now the way it is, maybe you play a lot of tournaments. You've been traveling a lot. You have to play Davis Cup. I can say that Davis Cup for us was great. Maybe if I would be Sampras or Agassi, I would understand them, because they won Davis Cup already I don't know how many times, they won Slams. It's a different situation for them. I understand their point of view. I don't know what's the best solution for everybody.

ALEX CORRETJA: I'm not happy the way it is right now because we lost first round.

ALEX CORRETJA: With the general form of the system, I mean, I like the system. If there is something better, we can look at it. I'm not closed to say that's the only system I like. If somebody come up and say, "This is another system. Could we see if it's better for the players or the tour or for everybody, for the spectators?" Okay. I don't know right now what is the best system F we have this cycle system, maybe it's the best from the past.