TMS MONTE CARLO

April 17, 2001

Gustavo Kuerten

THE MODERATOR: First question, please.

GUSTAVO KUERTEN: I think was tough. He's a good player, and at the end, I had -- all the time I was playing on the same level, so I knew I could win or lose any game. So it wasn't that I was away from the match. I think he did two or three double-faults there, or gave me a little more chances. But also he played risky and got the points many times, so it's his style and it was a good match, I think. Very well played by both.

GUSTAVO KUERTEN: No. I consider it not the best fitness that I would like to. But like any player this week, taking pills so the pain go away and try to play well this tournament. It's nice. It's important. And as far as I'm enjoying like today, I played and enjoyed and could play well and win it. So all this motivate me and give me a little more energy to keep playing.

GUSTAVO KUERTEN: No, I have (inaudible) in my groin.

GUSTAVO KUERTEN: In Indian Wells already. When I went to hardcourt.

GUSTAVO KUERTEN: No, everybody does what is better for, you know, themselves. He prefer to play one tournament, all the guys, all this. And I think the thing is to play as better as you can in most important tournaments for you. So sometimes you prepare well for one or two tournaments, and you try to take risk in others, so that's the way you got to do. At some point you got to change surface, and everyone choose a different place to do it.

GUSTAVO KUERTEN: Yeah, for me it's always, I think, a little tough, you know. I got to play three match when I play Davis Cup, and especially the way we did it. We start winning 2-0, then they got tied and we lost two points in six sets and five of them were tiebreaks. So I was pretty frustrated, but I think that's many good things, too. Our team is not bad, compared to the other teams in the first division. We, I think, are much better than we always expect. Now it's me in the Top 10. We have some players 80, 90, 100. But we play all the time like Australia, two guys in the Top 10, or Morocco, lost first round, guys 30, 40 in the world. So it's always tough for us. We're not a team that can compete against the others at same level. Like French go away, they can win. We don't have this. But as far as the court, you always have good expectations, so for sure we try to win. We have the great expectation. We lost a tough match, it was disappoint for us. But now I think, you know, like today I could recover well. I try to hit the ball hard, and smile, I try to enjoy little bit what I've done. Because it's important for me, makes me feel more -- with more contact with the game and more inspired to play.

GUSTAVO KUERTEN: Yeah, this -- I think it's the same way. I saw it first set, even losing the serve, I play very close to my best tennis, you know, doing everything right and having chance winning almost all games. And then second set, I start play well, too. I had couple of chances. I start to miss a little bit more, and he start to make great shots. So the game was equal. Then I just had bad games from 4-all to 3-0 down in the third set. I think that was the only stage I really went down and played bad. Then I lose five games straight. But then I start to play the same level, and whenever I play like this, like today, I have chance to win and almost every game. (Inaudible.) The other guy was able to come back. Maybe because of the way I was playing in the beginning, I always had -- I always believe that I could be playing that way again, and I think at the end, he was pretty solid, too. He did great shots. 4-all, Love-40, I had the chance. Then he played four out of five winners. I had chance again, so I was there in the match, and very much in the end. And I think I deserve to win with the way I played in general.

GUSTAVO KUERTEN: Yeah, I think here it's little bit low bounce compare for other clay courts. You know, the ball goes -- don't go with too much top spin as usual. And you got to play smart, you know, you have to make -- generate power all the time, otherwise the ball doesn't go. Like you see today, me or him, too, playing drop shots sometimes and, you know, he playing very good slices and all, the ball going down. So you have to mix it up a lot here on these conditions, and doing many different things like Cedric did last year I think, you know, in his game. Like when he's playing well, he can do different shots all the time. So that's the way to have success here.