GREAT AMERICAN INSURANCE ATP CHAMPIONSHIP

August 9, 1999

Carlos Moya

Q. Was there any particular trouble physically or with your game today?

CARLOS MOYA: I feel my game, I think he played a pretty good match. And he played well early and put a lot of pressure on me. I had chances in the first set. I didn't take them, and looks like it happens so much to me lately. I have a chance and I don't take them. You know, when you have chances that you don't take them against such a good player, you lose like what happened today.

CARLOS MOYA: It have nothing to do in that way. Maybe I kind of relaxed a little bit. But beside that, I don't think it was any harder. It was hard enough to be Top 10, Top 5, and I don't see it as extra pressure to be No. 1. The thing I -- I would like to be easier, and it's tougher for me to win matches now. I know sooner or later I'm going to win again, and that's what I hope.

CARLOS MOYA: Maybe. Maybe it's true. But when you get to No. 1, you have to be ready for anything. It's extra concentration for them to play against a former No. 1. But I will have to be -- concentrate on my game and to do things well, and to work hard -- maybe not back to No. 1, but be back to where I was.

CARLOS MOYA: Well, none of my friends have been No. 1. And I think I have to be the one who find my own way. And I can get some advice from the people that love me, but none of them knows what -- what it is to be out there, you know. But for sure, they tried to help me, but I don't think it's any -- I don't think it's anything bad. Just it happens to everybody. Sometimes you play well. Sometimes you play bad. But I'm sure sooner or later, I'm going to start to play well again.

CARLOS MOYA: I know what it is to win. And basically, when I'm 70 years old, 80 years old, I can say that I was No. 1; so, that's great.

CARLOS MOYA: Well, I would love to play well at U.S. Open. I did well last year. And I work really hard now. Last month maybe I didn't work that hard. But I think now it's time to wake up. And U.S. Open will be good for me. I don't know how I'm going to play next week. I have to win a few matches to get thinking that I can win matches. But I'm going to work hard next week, and hopefully I'm going to play well in the U.S. Open.

CARLOS MOYA: Indianapolis.

CARLOS MOYA: I think it happened before. I don't think it's a problem. I was playing very bad and that's why I left. And this year, my situation on the court; I could not play the game. But I like to play hardcourt. I like it very much. And sometimes it depends on me, I like it more than playing on clay, you know, because I can make more winners on clay with the ball coming back. Sometimes I like better to play here, but I don't think it's a problem. It's just sometimes I miss, and it's nothing to do with that, you know.

CARLOS MOYA: He's a great player. He's played fine at U.S. Open, Wimbledon. Wimbledon and Davis Cup, he won both matches. He's playing well. He's a very good player, very talented and he can really -- he can do anything, you know; so when you play against him, depends on him. He plays great; you cannot do anything. But sometimes, he doesn't play that well. And me, I was not playing well, but I just had to fight, but today he was too much for me.

CARLOS MOYA: I like to play with him. I play him twice and I beat him twice. When he plays well, he can do anything: Forehand, backhand. He goes to net. He puts on pressure. He serves well. So he can do anything with the ball. And you know, I didn't play that well. I had difficulty to find something, you know, to attack him, because he can make forehand and backhand. If he plays well, I have to play my best; otherwise, I lose, and it happened today.

CARLOS MOYA: I guess to play as I played last year. Play at same level. Maybe I'm going to be better. It is difficult to have a year as I did last year. In one year, I won French Open, Monte Carlo, played finals in Hannover. I was semifinals Monte Carlo -- not Monte Carlo -- it was somewhere. But it's going to be tough for me to have such a good year. Maybe not for some, but for me it will be tough.

CARLOS MOYA: I say that you realize a few months later what you achieved before. Like when I won the French Open, and that moment, you don't feel anything. You just, you know -- I really don't know what I was thinking. But you realize when you watch the TV and you watch all this stuff, or in the newspaper, I read all the No. 1s and I see all those big names and I see my name, I realize how big it was what I did. At the moment -- you don't realize how big.

CARLOS MOYA: No. No, because I won French Open before. I played finals in Australia when I was nobody, you know. And maybe I could have tried it at that time when I did more things. But none of the -- when I was No. 1, I just won -- I tried to be focused. And I didn't want to do many things, because I had this experience before and it didn't work well. And then I had Davis Cup and then I went to India. So I didn't have time to do many things, and it's something you try to appreciate, when you have time do many things with the press, TV shows. It's tough.

CARLOS MOYA: Last year when I got to U.S. Open, I was feeling so bad. And I won just one match out of four, and I was not -- I was motivated, but my mind was -- I was distraught. I was feeling so bad. And I won several matches, like against Chang where I had like two or three match points. And those matches gave me a little confidence. After that, I feel like I couldn't lose any more, and I lost to Philippoussis and he played a great match. But I need to win a few matches the weeks before; otherwise, it will be tough. Maybe it happens once in your life you get to semifinals after you don't win a match. Maybe you get a few match points. Maybe it happens once. But I just want to try to work hard and win a few matches in the next tournament. That will be very important. And besides, I was coming from winning Monte Carlo on French Open; so, you're more confident than I am right now.