TMS - CINCINNATI

August 7, 2000

Carlos Moya

Q. You didn't realize how easy or how much more difficult it was to be in the Top-5?

CARLOS MOYA: You are practicing and you don't win matches. Now I think: What is going on here, what is wrong because I am hitting well, so I think everything is mental.

CARLOS MOYA: Yeah, because looked like everything was so easy. Don't get me wrong, it is not easy to be up there, but I was practicing okay and I was going out there and winning a few matches and you didn't realize how hard it was until now that I am doing the same thing and I am not winning those matches. As I said, I hope that if I play a good big tournament, a major tournament, Masters Series, or a Grand Slam, that is what I need right now because I have been playing well smaller tournaments. Right now I said everything is mental. I don't think that I am able to beat all these great players as I used to beat before, so now it is much tougher for me and it seems when I start beating them, I think I am going to be back.

CARLOS MOYA: Small things, win few of those matches, as I am saying, major tournament and, for sure, it is going to give me a lot of confidence and try to play well a few weeks not just one as I have been doing so far this year, I played very well Estoril and Barcelona, then I played bad again and I need to be more consistent and to play well more weeks than just one or two.

CARLOS MOYA: It is not 100% yet. Right now it is okay, but when I have a tough match as today, I suffered a little bit and it hurt a little bit and makes you think again, when you think you forgot about that. It makes you think again that the pain is there. Right now I am okay, but I have the pains of the last tournaments when it happened. Right now it happened and it was a very tough match, my first match on hard court in a long time and hard court should be tougher on my back, but so far it is okay.

CARLOS MOYA: I had a tough quarterfinal match. Since then I didn't recover. I lost semifinal; then I lost first round in Kitzbuhel. I wanted to take a rest and the doctor felt the same that I have -- the nerve is a little bit damaged and I need to rest and now I am 100% happy to do that because it is always difficult to pull out from a major tournament. But I think I did the best for my back.

CARLOS MOYA: What I am saying when you have something you don't appreciate it until you lose it or don't have any anymore. But it happens to anybody for anything. Of course, you think when you are -- because I was Top-10 like for three years and you get used to it and then it is tougher when you are out for so long and now that you see that you are doing your best and you are not able to be back, it is not easy. For sure, you don't appreciate that until you are out of the Top-10. Now I see everybody is playing so well and I have been No. 1, so that is a lot. In that time I didn't appreciate that even for two weeks, I was No. 1, but that is something. Now I see the Top-10, I say that it is really difficult to beat them and I was there for three years. You don't appreciate it until you are out of there.

CARLOS MOYA: I think it will be fair that if Wimbledon make their own decision for the seeding to do the same as the French Open. There were a few players who say that the Spanish didn't want to play because they were like babies and all this stuff. I would like to see what happened if it happened to them in French Open. But there is a rankings for something. The rankings shows how you played the last 52 weeks and if you are No. 2 in the world, let's say, you should be seeded in Wimbledon, in any tournament you play. So I think it is not fair what the Wimbledon system and -- and I don't think the French Open should do the same, but I think --

CARLOS MOYA: I don't think so because there is a ranking and you have to follow it. It is not fair. Maybe it is a good one to make 32 seeds and this way maybe they -- (inaudible).

CARLOS MOYA: Well, I don't want to say anything about that because it would be -- I would be very pissed off and if it happened to me. I don't know, let's see what happens and maybe I will answer next year here. And tell you what I think. Because now I want to -- I want to give them the chance to -- I don't have to give a chance to anyone, but I want to see what happens and then the next time and then I have an opinion. It is like they are making fun of us. If they do it again, they don't have any respect for the players, the Spanish players. We know we are not as good as all the players on grass, but there are many players who are not as good as we are on clay court and they don't do the same to them.

CARLOS MOYA: I hope. It will be good for everybody because they never had respect for the players there in Wimbledon for the seeding. It happened to me, the same, when I was seven or eight, they put me 12th. It never happened that I was seeded and they didn't put me seeded, but it is something that has been happening always for 100 years and I don't think they are going to change now. It is a tradition. I think something has to change for better, but we will see what happens this year.

CARLOS MOYA: It was great. Finally I didn't need it, but I appreciate that the tournament director even if I am winning every match here they were offering me wildcard and that means that I am still respected for some people, you know. So I really appreciate and although I didn't need it, I am going to try to do my best, and from here, I want to thank him that that he was going to give me one. Makes me happy people who believe in me and who think I can still play good tennis.

CARLOS MOYA: This world works like that when you are up, everybody comes to you and then when you are down, most of the people forget about you, but this is something that I knew before and there is not any problem you have to take advantage of that when -- it is very clear to me right now because I have been up and I have been down. Right now I am down. Hopefully I am going to be back, so, something which happens. For instance, here, every year I was getting a Mercedes to drive and this year I didn't get it. I got another car which makes me laugh because I don't care about that, but it shows something.

CARLOS MOYA: It is okay. It is still a good one. But it shows something to you that all the players -- most of the players are getting a Mercedes and they gave me -- which I accept, I accept it.

CARLOS MOYA: No, not yet. I hope not. Then you see some players which I respect a lot, all of them are getting Mercedes too, but this is how it works, how this world works, and you have to accept it. So you have to take advantage when you are up. Hopefully I am going to be back and take a lot advantage.

CARLOS MOYA: Yeah, because I was stupid, you know, I didn't want to get anything for free or because I was Top-10 and No. 1 whatever, but now I am going to take all the things.

CARLOS MOYA: That is true. Hopefully next year I will drive a Mercedes. It is going to be my goal.