ATP MASTERS SERIES- MADRID

October 19, 2004

Rafael Nadal

THE MODERATOR: Questions in Spanish, please.

RAFAEL NADAL: Well, maybe I'm improving because I'm fit now. Decided not to go to China, to train for the Davis Cup. I trained for a week very intensely in Mallorca. Then I won the semifinals in Mallorca. That's why I'm improving. I'm full of energy. Maybe I'll win, maybe I'll lose, but I'll give my best. Here I'm not as fit as I could be. That can be seen on the court. But the important thing is I finally won. My uncle supported the Barcelona football team, that's true, but I support Real Madrid. Although I have nothing against Barca because they treat me well, too.

RAFAEL NADAL: I don't know what to say. I guess, Sanguinetti has not had his best day. Although I was not playing that good. I started gradually to feel better during the training and today, this morning. I've tried to give my best. I played a serious match without many errors. Here with the altitude, the courts are quite fast. I think Sanguinetti has noticed that and has had problems. A player has to be used to fast courts.

RAFAEL NADAL: I'm not thinking about that, I'm thinking about the match I have in a few minutes. It will be against Spadea. It will be a difficult match. I certainly will have to do better than today. But this match has given me confidence. I think I need it to win, because the last two matches I played, I lost. The week before, I lost by a lot, 6-3, 6-Love. That was something terrible because I couldn't win. There was no way of recovering in that match. So this has been a very important victory for me.

RAFAEL NADAL: I hope I have, of course, because those two players are great. If I was a mixture of both, I would be really high. If someone told me that, that could be a personal opinion. I'm thankful for the commentary. I hope it was this way, but I don't think so.

RAFAEL NADAL: After the Davis Cup in Palermo, I went down. It was complicated. I think every player feels the same. To play the Davis Cup is an important stimulation, accumulated pressure because the doubles was very long, five sets. We were risking not to qualify. It's not easy to continue playing next week. Despite that, when I got there, I won a match, a proper match, I mean, more or less good play. Then I lost. It's not an excuse because my opponent was playing quite well, but the truth is I was not feeling well that day. I couldn't see the ball I turned to my teammates and said, "I cannot see." Well, it's not an excuse. He was superior. He defeated me. But I only prepared five days before. Not only. I mean, I prepared for five days. I wanted to give my best, but I couldn't. Sometimes those things happen. Maybe I was not confident enough. Palermo, change of surface. It was not like this. It was like in the Czech Republic. One could easily slide. I was not motivated nor confident enough to win the match that day.

RAFAEL NADAL: Yeah, it would be great not only to play against him, but also the fact that the match would give me 75 points. My goal is to make it into the Top 20. I'm 40 or 45, around there. At least I will end better than last season. I would end with a few matches to my name that have been good. I would look forward especially to the Davis Cup, which is the most important thing we have ahead of us. However, I'd like to defeat Spadea, of course, and facing Agassi. Last of the options I have.

RAFAEL NADAL: I'll think about doubles, then I'll let you know.