April 1, 2005
MIAMI, FLORIDA
THE MODERATOR: Questions for David.
Q. Disappointing, but it was good, no, the week and a half?
DAVID FERRER: It was a good week. He's happy he got to the semis. Can't really ask for more.
Q. Will you give half your paycheck to Xavier Malisse?
DAVID FERRER: No, no, no (smiling). Good question, good question. Those are just things that happen. It wasn't under his control. To get to semis, it was more than just one match for him to get to where he got.
Q. Ten years ago it would be hard to find a good hard court player from Spain. Then the Olympics happened, and they open up the center in Barcelona. Alex Corretja gets to the quarterfinals of the US Open. Carlos gets to the final at the Australian Open. Suddenly, the Spanish are now all playing very good tennis on hard courts, too. What is your experience in moving from the clay to the hard court to become a good hard court player?
DAVID FERRER: He says that obviously, for Spaniards, clay is what they play better tennis on, but with time they've proven that they're getting better and better on hard courts.
Q. Valencia, are you a big man in Valencia? There aren't too many players from Valencia. They're mostly from Barcelona and Madrid. How about you, are you a big man because you're from Valencia?
DAVID FERRER: Ferrero.
Q. But you beat him. You beat him. He's gone. You beat him.
DAVID FERRER: He practice in Valencia for 12 years.
Q. Nice oranges.
DAVID FERRER: He says he's not famous, the famous ones are Ferrero, Moya, Nadal.
Q. Safin, was he there, too?
DAVID FERRER: Yes.
Q. Do you have one funny story you can tell us about Marat?
DAVID FERRER: He says that Marat was with them for preseason and they trained together. Of course he gets a bit angry on the court, but he'd be surprised how dedicated and hard-working he also can be.
Q. As a Spaniard of course you want to see Nadal win the final. He's only 18. Does he have enough experience to defeat Agassi or Federer on such a big stage in such a big match?
DAVID FERRER: Yes, yes. He says Nadal definitely has it in him. He's very self-confident, it's in him. Last year he beat Federer here. He definitely could do it.
End of FastScripts….
|