TMS - INDIAN WELLS

March 15, 2000

Alex Corretja

GREG SHARKO: Alex moves into the third round where he will face Fabrice Santoro. He has a 4-1 lifetime head-to-head over Santoro.

ALEX CORRETJA: Well, yeah, that match especially was difficult for me at the beginning. But then we were lucky that we played Davis Cup afterwards. I start to feel much better on the court. We play on clay, we play in Spain, and I won quite easy against Gaudenzi. So I start to come back again and try to move a little bit better than before. My game didn't show maybe my best in Australia, that was for sure, but it's always difficult to pass through these moments. It is nice to see that I'm still alive in the sport, no?

ALEX CORRETJA: Of course. It can happen to me again, for sure. It can happen to other players. But right now I'm just looking forward. Otherwise, as I said in Melbourne, I would quit. I'm not like this kind of person. I already said in Melbourne that I won't feel like humiliated or something even if I know it was a terrific day for me. But it happens, no? We have to see that we are sportsmen, and it can happen to everybody.

ALEX CORRETJA: Yeah, I think it was a helluva match. It was beautiful. I'm glad also to see that Pat is coming much better. I think he was playing some really good tennis. It was kind of difficult match for both because none of us were playing maybe too good before this match. Today it was good for me, but I hope it's going to be good for Pat, as well. I think he realized that he's playing his best again, at least from the last six months. That's good. That's good for him and for me especially, no, because when you win a match against Rafter on hard courts, it always gives you confidence because we don't have to forget that he's one of the best players on this surface.

ALEX CORRETJA: I think from the baseline, I was much better. That's for sure. From the net was difficult because he was playing some unbelievable volleys, he was serving pretty deep. It was difficult for me to passing him. I guess at the end he was a little tired, and I take advantage of that. Maybe I could finish earlier. 5-4, deuce, I had some chances. But still, he also had some chances in the third set. He had breakpoint, long rally. It was a good match. I believe it was like entertaining for everybody, kind of these matches that you wanted to play, you wanted to win. You never know, maybe tomorrow I lose to Santoro. Right now I feel like I'm coming back to my best game.

ALEX CORRETJA: Well, you got to get used to. In these days, everybody play their own game. Maybe you can ask him how does he feel playing against a guy who is always on the baseline. Everybody tries to play his best. I think he does this pretty well. It's uncomfortable for the players because you got to be concentrate the whole time, you got to try to return to his feet every time. That's not easy. But I believe the main key was that I was moving pretty well, I was playing with a lot of topspin, pretty deep. I was moving him all around. Maybe that's why at the end he was a little tired. I didn't want to close the points like really early in the first or second set because I wanted to make him run to see if he could keep on the court so long. I know he didn't play a lot for the last couple months, so he might be tired, no?

ALEX CORRETJA: It depends. Sometimes you try to do these tactics and the guy's coming into the net. You got to find a way to play deep with enough, like, power not to let him go to the net the whole time. You got to push him and try to see if you can damage his game, if he gets tired, so maybe it's better for you. I think he had some breakpoints at the end, and I served like my fastest serve ever, 131 miles an hour. I never did it before. It is good news because when you are after two and a half hours, you can serve like this, it feels great.

ALEX CORRETJA: I didn't know that. We don't look at the draw.

ALEX CORRETJA: We don't look at the draw, never.

ALEX CORRETJA: No, not the players. I believe everybody goes step-by-step, match-by-match. That's always the same thing. It seems like it's a tape inside of our hearts, you know, like saying the same thing every time. But it is like this. You cannot just look at the draw. Who looks at the draw? Maybe you go tomorrow, loss to your mom. You never know that. That's serious.

ALEX CORRETJA: No, you never say. You just want to win like in these tournaments I believe six matches. I just won two. I need four more to be as happy as I can be. It's impossible to look at the draw just thinking about Agassi lost and Kafelnikov, too. What about Santoro? I play him tomorrow, you know. I got all respect for him and all the players on this draw.

ALEX CORRETJA: You know, I think he served quite well, especially first two sets. Maybe he slow down a little bit at the end. I don't know if he was hurting himself a little bit or sore or something. But I don't know, you should ask him. I ask him just right away when we finish, when we shake hands, I ask him about it. He said, "Well, at the end it was kind of sore a little bit." But I don't know exactly.

ALEX CORRETJA: No, of course I didn't feel that way.

ALEX CORRETJA: No, no.

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