adidas International

January 7, 2003

Carlos Moya

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Carlos, please.

CARLOS MOYA: Well, I think I was controlling the match pretty well, because I had many chances to win, and I was feeling that I had the control the match. So also was good that first game of the first set was a break for me, so gave me a little bit of confidence. But, you know, I think I was playing well and feeling that I had the control that match. So that's the reason that, you know, I kept fighting a lot and was good match for -- I mean, being the first match of the year, was pretty good for me.

CARLOS MOYA: Well, I feeling very well right now. I would say that I am few years older now, a bit more mature. And plus, I know what it takes to get there because I've been there before. So I think I'm better player right now than I was three years ago. My backhand, I think, has improved a lot. I know is never gonna be like my forehand, but I think I can, you know, play backhand to backhand with no problem. And I try to take advantage of my forehand. Also I think I'm better player right now than I was before.

CARLOS MOYA: Last year, you mean?

CARLOS MOYA: Last year, okay.

CARLOS MOYA: Well, I think the difference is that in '98, I finish No. 5, same as last year. I mean, was great to finish No. 5. This year, I feel like, you know, I could be even better, in a better position, you know. Because I was feeling that I played really well and I only lost to Top 10 players at the end of last year. And, you know, I think I was playing with a lot of confidence. For this year, as I said, I was feeling that if I keep playing the same level, I can be even higher. So, you know, just try to improve a few things, and that can make a big difference. Like maybe going a little bit more often to the net and try to work a little bit more on my return. I think these few things can make a big change.

CARLOS MOYA: (Laughing). Well, you should ask this question to Lleyton, not to me. But I think his trouble is with my forehand. He finds it very difficult to find my backhand. You know, I'm able to move him side to side and finish the point, you know. But I cannot tell you why he -- I mean, he can beat Ferrero, you know, he cannot beat me. Or Ferrero or most of the players, you know, he's able to beat them, and he struggles when he plays me. I don't know what's the reason exactly, but, you know, I only can say that when I play him, I feel very comfortable. Every time I beat him, I played 100 percent, I played a great match. But I don't know the reason that I always beat him.

CARLOS MOYA: Little bit. Because the last four times, he didn't win even a set, you know, of the last four times we played each other. So that gives you a lot of confidence. I mean, when you get to the court knowing that the last time you were able to beat the guy, even if he's No. 1, I mean, you have good record, that's good to get there with a good record.

CARLOS MOYA: That's true, yeah. One was in final on hard court, the other one was indoor. So I think is -- I mean, I think I proved that I can play well in any surface. The only one maybe is grass that I cannot play that well. But the others, I mean, I prove that I can play.

CARLOS MOYA: Well, obviously, it's very important. But first thing is that I'm back there, you know, where I was a few years ago before I fell injured. Now I feel that, as I said before, that I am better player now. But he can play well in any surface. Although I beat him the last four time, he prove that he can beat any player on any surface. So that's something that I have to prove still, you know, that I can play well the whole year, as he did. But we'll see. I mean, for this year, I think I am ready to play well. And it has been a good start to beat Blake in the first round. If I am able to keep the level that I played the last part of the year, who knows where it can be?

CARLOS MOYA: Well, maybe. I don't know how -- I mean, what he did after the Masters Cup, I don't know. I don't know he had enough practice or not. I think is that tennis isn't -- I think is too long, you know. It lasts like eleven months. I mean, is very difficult to play 100 percent every single week, and also the body feels how tough it is, the tour. He's not like Sampras that he can serve and win the match with no effort, you know. He has to be fighting whole part of the match, you know. But still he's a great champion, and that was just the Hopman Cup. For sure he'll be ready for the Australian Open.

CARLOS MOYA: Well, not that well. Not only from that tournament, but from the whole season, you know? I mean, I played last year 80 matches, which I never did before. So it's very tough to recover from that. I had some problems with my back, with my shoulder, with my elbow, you know, little problems, you know, that you have to take care of them. And for sure, you know, he, as I said, he will be able to be there again, I mean the Aussie Open. For me, I just have to adjust little things and get ready for the Open. You feel that, when you are one month off, you feel it really difficult to get back, you know? But you still need some rhythm and, you know, some matches under your belt to get ready for the Open.

CARLOS MOYA: I had ten days.

CARLOS MOYA: Yeah.

CARLOS MOYA: I mean, you cannot take more than two weeks, because, you know, I finished - when was that - like...

CARLOS MOYA: What I'm saying is that I finished like middle of November. I cannot take a month and a half off, because I have to be ready for the Aussie Open, right? I mean, best thing would be maybe nine months, season nine months, then you take a month off, then two months to get ready for the season again. But it won't happen. If I want to be No. 1, I have to play 100 percent the Aussie Open. So I cannot take more than two weeks. If you take two weeks off, takes really a while for the things to be there again, you know. Because the first days, you have pain everywhere. So you cannot take much longer than that.

CARLOS MOYA: What I did last year was to - after the French Open, to take a break, because I had some problems with my shoulder and I missed Wimbledon. But this is something that I'm gonna think again, you know. Because I am 26 right now. This is my ninth year on the tour. The body, I mean my body, is not the same as it was when I was 20 years old, so I have to do a few things different. I don't know, is very hard to be playing eleven months and just to have ten days off or two weeks off. But I don't know, we'll see. See how I'm gonna do.

CARLOS MOYA: Oh, I don't know. If I'm 100 percent, I don't think so. But you never know what's gonna happen after six months. Really tough, you know, after the clay court season. I don't know.

CARLOS MOYA: Well, I find him really sexy, too (laughter) so... But, I mean, he's sexiest man because he's a tennis player, he's a good tennis player, so he has to realize that he's there because of tennis, not because of being the sexiest guy. So just to be focus on tennis. I think he knows that, you know. I am not the person to tell him what to do. But, I mean, he knows for sure that tennis gave him everything, and to be focus on that and not to pay attention on the other thing.

CARLOS MOYA: (Laughing). Well, as I said, I know that tennis gave me everything, gave me a chance to be in a movie and gave me a chance to do many things, you know. But after all, you realize what the most important thing is. And, you know, if I can be in another movie and I won't miss any practice or any tournament, maybe. But if I have to miss something, tennis is everything for me, you know.

CARLOS MOYA: Yeah.

CARLOS MOYA: Yeah, it's very good (laughing.) It's a great cologne. It's also deodorant, aftershave. It's great, it's a good smell. Good. I like it.

CARLOS MOYA: I give you.

CARLOS MOYA: Well, maybe it was because after injury, you know. Before, I still was able to be No. 1 and win a Grand Slam with not a very good backhand, you know. But afterwards, after I fell injured, I felt that, you know, tennis is -- I mean, the tennis player, they are improving and improving every year. And maybe if I kept playing the way I did before, I could not be able to be No. 1 again. So I wanted to be No. 1. I said, "Okay, what do I need to get there?" I know what to do. But I need to improve few things, you know, to keep improving my game a little bit, maybe five percent every year. That makes a difference. And I hit thousands of backhands during the practice. And the thing is that the last few years during the practice, when I was practicing the backhand was good. But then I was maybe shaking little bit when I was playing a match. I just try to play -- to hit even more backhands. And now I can say that, I mean, it's good. It's not the best backhand on tour, but I can be comfortable there playing backhand and wait for the chance to play with my forehand. Before, I had to hurry a little bit more and to run more to the side. Now, sometimes when I am nervous, still, you know, it's tough for me. But I try to be relax, knowing that I been hitting that stroke for thousand times, you know, and it works. So now I have the, I mean, the chance to hit again and to do it well and the confidence that, you know, that stroke worked well in the practice.