WESTERN AND SOUTHERN FINANCIAL GROUP MASTERS

August 10, 2002

Carlos Moya

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

CARLOS MOYA: Well, I think was my turn today to beat him. He beat me so many times, so I feel like it was now or never, you know? I had the feeling that today was gonna be my day. I was very confident, and I think I played a great match. Today I deserve to win.

CARLOS MOYA: I think it did. I think my serve also helped me a lot to control the game with my forehand. You know, I feel that it doesn't matter from where I was hitting the forehand, I was going in and I was going for the winner. I felt very confident. Also my backhand helped me pretty well today. So I'm very happy the way the forehand worked today.

CARLOS MOYA: Yeah, in the last couple years I been working so hard on my backhand. It looks like now it's -- you know, is working very well. I mean, it won't be like my forehand, I know that. But at least I can put the ball in, I can hit the cross-court down the line. And, you know, then when I will have the chance to hit with my forehand, just go for the winner.

CARLOS MOYA: Well, it helps you a lot. I'm sure most of those nine points came in the second set. I serve very well. I was not serving that fast, but I try to change, you know, and try to kick it and, you know, and then use my forehand to dominate the point. I think it worked pretty well. I was very confident with my serve. I think he didn't have any breakpoint. It gave me a lot of confidence that I knew I was serving very well, and also my forehand was helping me a lot.

CARLOS MOYA: Yeah.

CARLOS MOYA: I have always -- I mean, I always have to do something with my -- to not fall injured again. I'm doing special treatment like getting massage every day even if it doesn't bother me at all. I have to, you know, to maintain that to -- not to have problems again. But now I can say I healthy 100%.

CARLOS MOYA: No, against him, the match today, yeah. I feel -- I had a special feeling that today was gonna be my day, and I don't know why. Because so many other times when I played him, I was playing well too. But today I knew that it was something special that I was gonna beat him.

CARLOS MOYA: I don't know. Just... I don't know. Just have the feeling that something is gonna happen and you don't know the reason. But I just had this feeling today.

CARLOS MOYA: I mean, before the match started I knew that. Sometimes I know that, too, and I ended up losing the match. But today, I mean, since the first point, I was playing very confident with my forehand and my serve and everything. I was not nervous. Maybe yesterday I was a little bit more nervous than today. And today, I mean, is always more pressure when you play Spanish guy. Today I didn't feel that pressure. I felt that, you know, it was gonna be my day, and it has been.

CARLOS MOYA: Well, I remember now how much confident I was when I was No. 1. Obviously, you have to be a lot of confidence. Because I was feeling that even when I was not playing perfect, I was winning matches. That means that you're very confident. And now, I feeling that I'm playing very well and I'm winning those matches. So now my game is there. Before, even if my game wasn't there, I was winning the matches. So that's maybe the difference.

CARLOS MOYA: Well, it will be interesting match either way. Hewitt is playing really well. I mean, everybody knows him and how he plays. He's a great fighter, and he had a great match last night against Agassi. And Gonzalez, he's playing unbelievable. He's hitting the ball so hard. It's not easy to beat him when he's playing this way. I play him this year in Miami. He beat me pretty easily. So I just try to play my game and to use my forehand to control the match, and I'll see what can I do.

CARLOS MOYA: No, because they didn't show on TV I think. I could watch only Agassi-Hewitt. Yeah, but I know how he plays. But still I think is great to watch him playing, because he's funny. He's hitting the ball so hard. It's not funny when you play against him when he hits the ball that hard (smiling). But to watch him, you enjoy watching him.

CARLOS MOYA: Well, when you have won 19 of the last 21 matches, I mean, that helps you a lot not to get angry and to get upset. Even if you have a bad call, you just have to accept it. So I cannot say that I improve that. Mentally, I cannot say I improve that. If I lost the last five or six tournaments in the first round, probably I would get angry if I miss a ball. But now I have no reason to complain. I'm playing very well, and maybe that's why I am not complaining at all.

CARLOS MOYA: I think it helps. Because here I can play in the same style of game, same -- I mean, I can do the same thing as I am doing on clay because it's not too fast, the surface. I can use my forehand, I can use my serve. But I know he improved. He plays better here than he does on clay. But still, it's good to get to the court knowing that the last two times you beat the guy.

CARLOS MOYA: I just wake up and I see what -- how my confidence is, how everything is. But since I knew that I was playing Ferrero, I don't know why I had that feeling. So suddenly it comes sometimes. I was not looking for it, and it came. So I have to wait to see and see what's -- what kind of feeling I have for tomorrow.

CARLOS MOYA: Well, it means a lot if finally I am able to make it. The last -- I mean, before I was injured, I knew that my game on hardcourt was fine because I won one tournament on hard, I played final Australian Open, semis US Open, final in Masters. So I think it was not only one tournament, but a few tournaments I did well. But I felt that this year my game was good only on clay, and I didn't know the reason. I didn't think that many things changed in my game, that I was not able to do well on hard. And suddenly I came here, my record was not very good, but my game was okay in Toronto . And here I just try to adapt little bit more to the hard. There are some small adjustments that you have to do, and I was able to get some practice before I came here. Now it looks like I am able to play well on hardcourts. I knew that I was going to be able to make it, but the matches were not good for me. And, you know, this week I been doing very well.

CARLOS MOYA: Well, his forehand is huge, so I'll try to play on his backhand and try to dominate my forehand. So I don't know, I prefer to see what's gonna happen tonight and then find one strategy depending which player I play.

CARLOS MOYA: Yeah, it's tough. It's also tough knowing that he beat me the last five times and that I didn't beat him for three years when he was like 18 or 19 years old. So, yeah, it's special to play a guy like him. We had dinner last night, and we were talking right before the match. You know, it's not easy. But once you get to the court, you forget about everything.

CARLOS MOYA: No, no.

CARLOS MOYA: Talk a little about cars when we're together. We love cars, and the speed, you know. But we didn't talk at all about the match.

CARLOS MOYA: No. I mean, not as good as the one that he has.

CARLOS MOYA: We going to the -- I mean, I been going every night to the Carraba's I think it's called, next to the hotel.

CARLOS MOYA: No pains at all. I am feeling very fast on the court, my endurance is good. I'm not tired at all. So I feel pretty well.

CARLOS MOYA: Well, I think it's gonna be like this few more years I guess. Maybe the last two, three years, only Hewitt has been there really all the time, you know? And the other guys, I don't think they are very consistent, you know.

CARLOS MOYA: Why?

CARLOS MOYA: I think the difference is that before those guys were getting to the quarters very easy, you know. I think it happen what is happening in the women's game. I mean, you could predict who were gonna be in the semifinal, quarterfinals even, and they were not having very tough matches at every round. Now, for instance here, I don't know how many seeds lost the first day. How many?

CARLOS MOYA: Eight, so that shows something - that you can lose to any player. I would say the No. 100 in the world is much better player now than No. 100 ten years ago. So I think that makes a difference.

CARLOS MOYA: No, because I think in these days, I mean, in any small country you can play tennis. Maybe before, 10 years, 15 years ago, only the elite, you know, only the high-class people could play tennis. Maybe that's the reason.