THE LIPTON CHAMPIONSHIPS

March 27, 1998

Alex Corretja

Q. He seemed very tough tonight.

ALEX CORRETJA: He seemed, yeah.

ALEX CORRETJA: Yeah, he was playing really well from the beginning of the match. I guess I had my chances. Even if I lost 6-4, I had Love-40, and also another breakpoint in I don't know which game of the match, maybe it was 3-2. I could have come back and put some pressure to him. But then once he won the first set, it was really difficult. He start to play even better than the first set. I was just running and I couldn't win any point.

ALEX CORRETJA: Well, it's going to be difficult for sure. Both players are going to be really motivated. Marcelo has an unbelievable great chance in his career. So does Andre, because he wanted to come back. He wanted to be at the top level again. I would say -- I cannot say any one of them because it's really difficult for me to guess. I don't have any preference. It's really difficult.

ALEX CORRETJA: Well, I think both of them are going to run a lot. Both of them play really close from the line. They're going to try to move each other. First two sets are going to be really important, especially after ten days playing in this tournament. I think the one who can get the first two sets, first one set, has good chances.

ALEX CORRETJA: You mean, he dropped in the rankings and then he's coming back?

ALEX CORRETJA: Yeah. I think he's really good player. He's kind of a genius in tennis. He can play really good at the top level. It's obvious that it's not easy to go down, up-and-down. But he can do it because he has unbelievable potential, has really good groundstrokes, and mentally he's really good. He's really positive on the court. So I think that's why he can be at the top of the game again, because mentally he's really good, and his groundstrokes are really, really great.

ALEX CORRETJA: Yeah. I mean, he can play from the baseline really easy. He can move you through the whole night. You can run five hours on the court. He has the whole time the power of the match. That's make you feel bad on the court, you know, because it seems you cannot do anything else but run. Once you get the rhythm, it's really difficult to beat him. It's a little bit as Marcelo, where he gets the rhythm, it's really difficult to just catch him and try to move him. So that's why you need to play deep and try to make them nervous, you know, a little bit. That's why in the first set I was feeling like I had my chances to start to realize and to make him think that the match will be really difficult for him. But once he won the first set, it was really difficult.