GREAT AMERICAN INSURANCE ATP CHAMPIONSHIP

August 10, 1998

Alex Corretja

GREG SHARKO: Alex today was playing his first hard court tournament since the Lipton Championships in Key Biscayne in March.

ALEX CORRETJA: Yes, it is great because I -- it is always a little bit different than to play on clay and last two weeks I had some rest, so it was important to be concentrate on the court and have a tough match. I had it and I pass through it and it is quite good for my tennis.

ALEX CORRETJA: I think he was playing just perfect tennis when he was down and when I had the matchpoints, he was just serving perfect. So, I just had maybe one chance, but on the other hand, he was just playing great. So couldn't do anything else. I was trying to just be on the court concentrate and I was waiting for my chance and finally I couldn't find at the end of the tiebreaker, like at 8-7, but it was enough. I know it is tough sometimes, but it was good because it was good for my physical conditions and for my mental game because after like 20 days off, it is always difficult to make a comeback. And I was quite concentrate on the court. It was quite good.

ALEX CORRETJA: Not much. I was just having some fun and just trying to go to the beach and to the pool. I was in Barcelona, really good weather, and I played some golf and I played some other sports. So, just something to relax and the last three, four days I start to practice again and I did something with my physical condition, but not much. Just -- I was a little bit tired. I have been playing a lot and I think really well on clay, and I need some rest at the end of the season and that is why I took it. Right now I just feel fresh again and it is always difficult because the first day you have to be concentrate on the court and especially on hard court, for me, it is not that easy, but still I think I play really good game.

ALEX CORRETJA: Just broke me once during the whole match. It was second game of the second set. I was just playing good tennis and I was waiting to see if I could break him because he was just serving well. Then it was 5, 3, I broke him. I did it. I start to just equalize the match. And when we get to the breaker he just played much better than me. So, once I lost the second set, I just was trying to concentrate on my serve and wait for my chance on his serve and I had a couple of match points. I couldn't make it at 5-4, I guess; then as well at the tiebreaker 6-3, I couldn't make it again, so I think I was -- maybe I had the control of the match, but I couldn't finish early.

ALEX CORRETJA: It was strange. It was first time ever it happens to me that in the breaker of the third set and it -- it starts to rain. I stay on the court because it was like a small shower and I just prefer to stay on the court concentrate and maybe coming to the locker room might disturb my concentration or something; that is why I stay on the court. It was better for me. After, six, seven minutes, we just start again.

ALEX CORRETJA: In that change?

ALEX CORRETJA: I have been working on this since long time already and now I am much better even if I don't play good tennis, I just try to be on the court concentrate and just try to see if I can find my game even if I am losing first set or even if I am a break down in the second set, I just keep on my confidence and that is what I have been doing since long time already. Maybe because I was having some rest also, it was easier to be concentrate because sometimes you are tired and maybe when you make some efforts then you are just going to go out of the court. But today for me it was my first match so I was hungry to be on the court and hungry to play tennis. That is why I am here in Cincinnati.

ALEX CORRETJA: It was just one when I missed, 6-5 in the breaker and I was serving and I had an easy forehand and I just played with the frame. And on that time, I was feeling a little bit frustrated because I saw that the match was 6-All in the tiebreaker in the third set; it was really tough and it will be really difficult. But then suddenly I just play a great point again. I played really good passing shot with my forehand, so, I just had advantage again to finish the match and I just made a good kick serve to his backhand; he just miss it. I think I played just great and I was waiting for my chance to close the match and it comes really late in the match, but at the end it was good for me.

ALEX CORRETJA: No. Well, not -- it doesn't happen to me because I know how Alex can play. I think he is a really good player. He can be much better than he is ranked now. And I think today, I don't know, but I think he was playing really good tennis as well. He was serving well. He was returning well. And you know already now on the Tour it is really difficult to win easy matches. And you see how difficult it is to be at the top because a lot of guys can beat you even if they are top 100 or if you are Top-10, it doesn't matter the big changes are during the whole year, but in a specific match you can lose to anybody.

ALEX CORRETJA: I don't know if we need to make any change. I mean, it is difficult to change the game of tennis after many, many years. I think the people just like these kind of matches. Maybe during the match they are not like really interested, but once you get to the breaker of the third set, the people get like nervous as well and everybody is getting out of the court just happy and telling you: Great match. They keep this match for a long time, for sure. Maybe not today, but they like this kind of matches because then they go home and they remember the point in the tiebreaker or maybe because of the rain, specific things that make something different. Sometimes they go to the court and they see 6-3, 6-2, they get bored and they don't care about this match. But when they see good matches and I think today was one of these, I think that they also like it.

ALEX CORRETJA: I don't know. It is not easy -- there are a couple of really strange -- for example, playing with no ad will be too difficult to play tennis like this. It will be really -- I think it is a part of the game to be mentally strong than the other one and if you just take out the ad, the advantage, then sometimes in indoor courts, the matches are going too fast and also hard -- maybe on clay work a little bit better because sometimes the matches get too long, but on hard courts or indoor courts, I think it will be -- imagine on grass - yeah, the matches are so fast and the ball is just going once or twice on the top of the net, so if we just reduce the advantage and then we will get 40 minutes and you will be out.

ALEX CORRETJA: Know I hope not.

ALEX CORRETJA: For us it is different. It is different just because we never won it before, never won Davis Cup so it is the kind of thing that all of us, we have in our minds, and I think for guys like Sampras or Agassi or Courier or Chang, they won it a couple of times already and they won many Grand Slams, I think it is normal that sometimes they prefer just to keep concentrated on their games. And it is different. But, for us, it is something really special because for our country it will be like amazing thing to win the Davis Cup. It would be history of tennis in Spain and I realize that the people would love to see us there winning the Cup. So that is why it is different. We are really hungry to win this Davis Cup. I think it is normal that if you win a couple of times you don't have the same motivation and sometimes it is tough to find motivations if you win a couple of times. So I understand these guys when they prefer to just concentrate on their games.

ALEX CORRETJA: It will be very easy, I mean, for sure it is going to be difficult for us just to play in indoor court. Actually we don't have any indoor courts in Spain, or especially in Barcelona where we practice, so they will have to build some, just put some carpet somewhere in some arena somewhere and it is not going to be easy, I think these guys are -- they are the favorite to win this tie.

ALEX CORRETJA: I think I prefer to play on clay obviously. But, on this moment I don't mind to play on hard court. I keep winning also on hard courts and I made a lot of efforts already three, four years ago when I was playing here maybe if I knew that I would lose first round, for sure, instead of going to some arena or all these tournaments in Europe where I will have really good chance to win the tournament, so made some sacrifice to improve my game and I think it helps my game on clay and now also hard courts this year, I think I was really successful on hard courts. I won one. I played semis in Lipton. Played four tournaments here and played really good.

ALEX CORRETJA: I think you can take it may be two ways, I would say. You can just go down, just go up and say: Okay, if I could play against a top player, against a top player just on a good level and keep my concentration, why I have to beat 110 in the world, 120. Maybe if I could work on my game mentally and physically during the whole year, I mean, on tennis sometimes you can play a really good tennis one week, two weeks but the most important thing is just to be regular and try to be, I don't know, 10 or 12 weeks per year at the top of the game. Sometimes for me it helps a lot when I lost like this even if at the beginning it is really tough because you feel frustrated and disappointed but you have to take the positive thing of the loss and just try to, I mean, to make like a test or something and to see why you are not at the top of the game many more weeks. Sometimes you just play, you just lost and you don't know why. So today he has a great match. I think he had some chances. But he doesn't have to feel frustrated. I mean, maybe it won't help his ranking today, but maybe in a couple more weeks or months, maybe it could help his ranking. You cannot see just today -- what you do today is maybe what you get tomorrow.

ALEX CORRETJA: For sure. I always said that maybe it was one of the biggest points of my career when I lost to him. I just realized that I could play against a really good top player from this moment on that moment. After that, I become to be much better player. I mean, I was top 23, 25 in the world ranking and after that, the next year I start to play much better and I finished -- I start to beat Top-10 and I won Super 9 event in Rome. I played Finals in Monte Carlo and this year I played Finals at the French so my game improves a lot because it is not that the important to win. It is much more important to improve.