TENNIS MASTERS CUP- HOUSTON

November 13, 2004

Carlos Moya

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Carlos Moya, please.

CARLOS MOYA: Yeah, you're right. I think they made a great job. They improved a lot. Now the site is great, all the facilities. I think they made a great effort, and, I mean, now it's a really great tournament.

CARLOS MOYA: First half of the season was excellent. I won three tournaments, one Masters Series. And then second part of the year has been not that good. I was -- I had some problems with my right shoulder. Then we have the Davis Cup final. So it's excellent. My two goals for the year was to get here into the Masters Cup and to win the Davis Cup. So I think I'm pretty close to both of them, so it's been a wonderful year so far.

CARLOS MOYA: Yeah, it's perfect. Is no problem at all. I'm going to be ready for this.

CARLOS MOYA: Yeah, like most of us against him (laughing). I think he's playing excellent tennis this year. Maybe we have a better chance now that he's been injured for a while. But I think he is one step above all of us.

CARLOS MOYA: Well, if he has a good day, there's not much you can do. So let's pray that he isn't gonna have excellent days, and then we can beat him. But if he's 100 percent and playing with confidence, there's not much you can do.

CARLOS MOYA: Well, it's gonna be a tough one. Maybe he's not a hard court specialist, but he's been playing excellent this year. Not only for his Grand Slam title, but he played few more finals, and he's going to be very dangerous. It's his first time here, so maybe he doesn't have that experience, but he's going to be a dangerous player.

CARLOS MOYA: Yes. He's a tremendous player. Last year he struggled a little bit, but now he's back, he's No. 3. He proved that he's an excellent player. My record against him is not bad, so I'm going to try to take advantage of that.

CARLOS MOYA: My?

CARLOS MOYA: It's okay. I'm not able to play much because I have some problems with my foot, but I love watching. When I have the chance, I go to the stadium. But I enjoy watching.

CARLOS MOYA: Yeah, great feeling. It was my goal at the beginning of the year, to make it again. I'm here again. So I'm very happy, very proud. It's been a wonderful year so far. Now that I have this tournament and Davis Cup, hopefully I'm going to be playing 100 percent.

CARLOS MOYA: I don't know much, to be honest. Last year I went to one basketball match and a few restaurants, but I didn't have the chance to see it. But I heard it's great and, you know, the bad thing is that we're playing almost every day so we don't have time to enjoy the city.

CARLOS MOYA: I don't know. Relax for a while because it's been a very tough year. Last two years have been very tough. I'm playing many matches. It's good to have at least a week relaxing and not think about tennis at all. I don't know what I'm going to do. Hopefully, I'm going to be enjoying our Davis Cup title, but I don't know what I'm going to do.

CARLOS MOYA: I think Haas or Canas. I think they were injured last year, and they were not able to play their best tennis - or not playing at all. What Haas did, it was great, and also Canas. Canas is here. He started his year at 200-something, I think. So I would say Canas.

CARLOS MOYA: Well, I was impressed with Johansson, also the young Spanish like Nadal, Verdasco, Berdych. All these guys are doing very well. I don't know which one is gonna be the next thing, but all these players are doing really good job.

CARLOS MOYA: Rookie of the year... I don't know. You have to help me with that one. You have to give me few names. I don't think Nadal, because Nadal was last year already. Johansson. Johansson was, last year, I don't know what his ranking was, but he was not Top 100 for sure. I think he would be the one.

CARLOS MOYA: To be in the Masters Cup again. That would be the sixth time. That means that I would have a great year.

CARLOS MOYA: Yeah.

CARLOS MOYA: Well, I was there in Shanghai two years ago in the Masters Cup. It was a great experience. I love playing in Asia. The crowd, they are great and they feel the game. They really like tennis, and they are involved in the matches. Here, of course I'm going to miss it. It's going to be two years that I am here. People is great here, they very, very kind. They treat us very well. So every time when you move somewhere else, you miss the other tournaments. So it's great.

CARLOS MOYA: What I eat? Pasta probably.

CARLOS MOYA: Yeah, pasta. Not much.

CARLOS MOYA: Maybe an hour, an hour before the match.

CARLOS MOYA: Yeah.

CARLOS MOYA: Thank you.

CARLOS MOYA: Well, it's going to be really exciting. I'm thinking about that already. I've been even dreaming about that moment. So it's going to be great. I think that always when Spain is playing home we have advantage. So I don't know how it's going to be. It's going to be very interesting because they have a strong team, also. It's going to be very tight. But the atmosphere and everything is going to be wonderful there.

CARLOS MOYA: The people are amazing. They are going to support us a lot. Seville is a pretty big city and very important in Spain. Last year we played there already Davis Cup; we felt great. So that's why we decided to go there, because it's sea level, 23,000 people. So it's going to be great. They're going to give everything to support us.

CARLOS MOYA: Well, as I said, we playing home and we won 11 straight ties home, so I think we are favorites. But also the US team, they are playing very well this year in Davis Cup. They have strong team. Very balanced. They have two good singles, very good doubles. Isn't going to be easy. But as I said, we know we are favorites, but we have to take advantage of that.

CARLOS MOYA: Well, you change the point of view during the years. I think I play different those points than I was playing when I was 20 or 21 years old. So I have more experience now, I am more mature. He's right saying that, because you play a top guy, the difference is gonna be two or three points during the match. If you're able to win those points, you win the match. So that's very important.

CARLOS MOYA: Well, try to play -- I mean, depends on the moment, depends how you playing. You confident, when I confident, I try to go for the point, go for the winner. I not that confident, I try to force the other guy to make mistake or to give me an easy shot. So it depends.

CARLOS MOYA: Yeah.

CARLOS MOYA: Well, I try to go for the point or -- I mean, depends the guy you playing.

CARLOS MOYA: If you're playing Federer, you don't expect him to make mistakes. So you have to force him to make mistakes, you have to hit hard or go for the winner. Same as playing with Lleyton.

CARLOS MOYA: Yeah, I have a good record. But he's a great player, so I think he had a wonderful year. He's back where he, I think, where he belongs.

CARLOS MOYA: Probably I would say that I was fresh coming here, very motivated, and that everything worked well.

CARLOS MOYA: Yeah. As I told you, match is decided in two, three, four points maybe. So if you're able to win those points, you win the match.

CARLOS MOYA: I didn't rest that much, but I wanted to prepare for here and the Davis Cup. So I was little bit worn out, and I decided to stop after the Davis Cup in Alicante. I had some problems with my shoulder. My goal for this year was to be in the Masters and to win the Davis Cup. So once I got to this two goals, I decided to be prepared for that.

CARLOS MOYA: Yeah. Once I am here, try to win and... But above all, the Davis Cup.