TMS MONTE CARLO

April 20, 2000

Alex Corretja

Q. Is there no end to Spain's sporting successes?

ALEX CORRETJA: Well, I wish, of course, we are trying hard. We are working hard. It seems like everything goes in a good way right now, soccer, tennis, athletics, I don't know, what else.

ALEX CORRETJA: Golf, yeah, he played brilliantly, I heard. At least I am glad I am in this position as well because I can be one of the sportsmen but I cannot be there, still they are hanging.

ALEX CORRETJA: The problem I had it many years ago and fortunately for me I saw the problem because I start to realize that I also can play on hard courts. That is a good advantage for my game because even if I am not playing well on clay I know that I can go on hard courts and play successful as well. It is always difficult to go from hard courts to clay because people believe that they are going to make aces every time or they are just going to go on the court and after one hour they are going to be out and that is not true. On clay you have got to be patient; you have got to be really fit, especially physically, and it is also hard mentally because if you cannot keep on going for two, three hours, you are out of the tournament. That is why we see already two Spanish guys there and there are some Argentinians as well as because we prepare the season very hard, especially physically and the results are there.

ALEX CORRETJA: Well, I think I said in Indian Wells already that it was good to see that I was able to win big tournaments again and it seems that I was in a good way. I think I told you that once I get to the Masters two years ago and when I won it, before I pass for Finals in French Open, I won Dubai, I won Indianapolis, so you got to go step by step and tournament by tournament. The main thing for me in this moment I really focus on the big tournaments. I don't spend that much time in the other tournaments because I like to play well in these Master Series. They are special tournaments and it is good for your game and it is good for tennis because when you win these tournaments you go high in the rankings. You believe more in yourself and you get ready for the Grand Slams which are the other goals for the players. So for me, this events, these Master Series events are as important as the Grand Slams because everybody is playing here. So I believe we should think about it and we should maybe even give more points for winning these tournaments because sometimes in a Grand Slam you don't play with three or four Top-10 players, it can happen in this tournament to win the tournament, so, it is good to see that I am able to play on hard courts, Indian Wells and now here. About last year, I talk about it many times, and the good news is that I am back here, so I don't want to think about the past. It is unnecessary right now for me.

ALEX CORRETJA: Yeah, right now, yes. I got to say, I am in a really good way because physically I feel perfect on the court and mentally as well. Main thing for me is I go on the court and trying to do my game again. I am not waiting for the mistakes of the other guys. Sometimes you got to be patient. Sometimes you got to play from the baseline, but once you get the chance, you got to try to attack. You got to try to do something with the ball. And I believe I have been doing this already since two, three months ago. The main point was getting back from Australia and knowing that even if I lost badly I was in a good way and still believing in myself. There was a point where maybe many people thought it would be the end of my tennis results, of my career, but fortunately, I wasn't thinking that way. It is good to see that I can be on the court having fun and playing good tennis; especially here. I mean, it is just so nice even having an interview here with all this background. So everything seems to be really nice. I am talking about you guys - (Laughs) - You look really nice. (Laughs).

ALEX CORRETJA: I am completely impressed with this guy. He is an unbelievable good player. The good thing is that he is even a better guy than a player and that is real important. He is going to be really good. He is already really good and he is going to make the main step just winning one of these tournaments. I hope it is not going to be this week because if I win in quarters maybe I will see him in semifinals. But I can tell you the way he focus his game and the way he plays is really impressive. Because he is hitting the ball so hard. He is really aggressive. He is just 20 years old, so he has still many things to learn. And he is going to be good on every surface, that is really good these days. He already showed that he can play well on hard courts, even indoors which he played pretty well last year in Bercy. At this moment we can count him as well for Davis Cup as he shows because he was playing unbelievable tennis against Kafelnikov first time he played and, you know, always they talk really about Davis Cup especially in small countries, it seems like it is something you talk about, taboo things, it is like Davis Cup, pressure, you know, every place there is pressure and every place -- everybody wants to play. The guy didn't show any nerves or anything. So I hope he is going to be really good and he is going to be soon, I believe, Top-10 for sure.

ALEX CORRETJA: No, both of them are great players. Once I believe talking in Australia I said that I believe that these guys cannot take like -- cannot last like ten years playing the Top-10 game because it is really difficult. You can see this tournament, maybe or most of the seeded players they are gone, so it shows that everybody plays well from the first day. But I believe Ferrero and he, they are going to be one of the best guys on the Tour for sure. I really see that they are going to be really good because they can play everywhere. That is a good advantage. So I don't know how far, but I believe Ferrero has really good chances to do something big this year and Lleyton, he did it already, so they both are great.

ALEX CORRETJA: I don't know. I wish. It happens already once two years ago and it is a good news for our soccer, as I said. It is quite impressive the way they played. Valencia played unbelievable first match and then they saved the second one. Barcelona was huge what they did and even more Madrid. Winning yesterday after 0-3 and then the guys start to play really well, a lot of pressure to them, but I was watching the match and I was really impressed about the way they played, honestly. It was good for Spanish soccer.

ALEX CORRETJA: I can see easy winning Madrid matches than Spanish guy winning Wimbledon.

ALEX CORRETJA: Moya will have a really good chance winning Wimbledon if he really prepare well honestly. He has the potential to do it. But he needs to get back to his best and then he will be -- he has really a lot of talent to do that in a good way.

ALEX CORRETJA: That is difficult to say right now. It is a matter of time and it will depend how we do on clay court. I mean, if we really play really successfully on clay court tournaments, then we have to see how tired we are, if we need a rest, if it is worth it to go to Wimbledon. At the beginning it seems that it is good to go to Wimbledon and it is not something like a Spanish guys don't like Wimbledon. I think we like to play there, but the problem is when you play a lot of matches, a lot of tournaments on clay, and then you need a rest; especially with our game. Wimbledon to French Open is really close to each other so that is why sometimes we prefer not to go and rest and then continue with the summer season, otherwise, for us it is too much. That is why sometimes we don't go. But it is a good question because we talk about it already and we have to see how it goes.

ALEX CORRETJA: He will play. He can completely play because his groundstrokes are hard and he has good return and he needs to improve his serve, he will do it. So he can play also well. But as I said, it is a matter of time and it is also a matter of how tired he is after clay court season. I don't know how many matches he is going to win, but as he has been playing I think he is going to win a lot on clay at this stage.

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