ATP TOUR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

November 14, 1994

Alberto Berasategui

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: Well, it's going to be difficult for me, but my dream was to come here and it came true, and I'm going to try to do my best.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: This year?

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: I don't know, five, six, seven.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: Yeah, that's about it.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: Yeah, I think. Maybe more, around four or five in my professional --

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: Well, it's funny the way I qualified but I have to do it this way. I'm ready to repeat it next year. But I'm going to try to play a little bit more hard court indoor and try to save some points from clay court.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: I think it will be difficult for me because of the way I play, but I never thought of qualifying for here, for come to Frankfurt, and just to qualify for me is an honor. If I win one match here I will be really happy.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: Well, before going to South America I knew it was very difficult and I knew I had to do well because I had to also to defend one final champion, and I knew it was hard but I won those two tournaments in San Tiago and Montevideo, and I was hoping Edberg and Stich to lose and it happened. Stich lost and that gave me pass for me here.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: I think so. For a tennis player I think to come here to the World Championship tournament, I think, is the most important thing. Maybe to win a Grand Slam is maybe more important, but for me, I love to be in the French Open final and to be here is the second most important in my tennis career.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: Well, I think the year was great. I won seven tournaments, two finals, one semifinal and I think qualifying for here in Frankfurt was really like the kind of great thing to come here for the good year that I did.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: I don't think I improved so much my tennis. I improved my physical training and I got more experience than other years, and I think that that's the way I improved a lot, but I don't think my tennis improved a lot.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: Yeah, more experience and more physical, and that I started the year very well winning in Nice in the same tournament I beat Courier and Edberg and that gave me a lot of confidence.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: Yeah, I think it was tougher than the past years, of course, because I had to play a lot more tournaments and I got to the finals of some, but I think I'm maybe more mentally tired and physically tired.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: I wanted to improve because in clay court you have to have a good serve, because the way I play I have to run a lot most of the matches. And I have to improve my physical training because I used to get tired in the first set and I used to cramp in a lot of matches. And I guess I worked in the right things in the beginning of the year with my training and that helped me out a lot.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: Yeah, more kilometers, yeah, long distances running, farlix (ph).

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: Yeah.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: Exactly.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: Yeah, much more than the other years. This year I work about maybe -- before the beginning of the year I work for two hours training and maybe three of tennis.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: '93 it was -- I think it was less. I don't know, maybe one hour a day of physical training.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: Well, it happened that time, that was the worst time, but at the French Open final at the fourth set I started to get leg cramps. In other matches, I think there was in Monte Carlo with Bruguera.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: Yeah.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: No. Well, it's the first time that I came to Frankfurt and I never heard of that.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: Well, I'm surprised with the way I qualified and also because this will be the third or fourth time I play indoors, and because the way Michael Stich lost, I got a little bit lucky. But I guess I have to thank Michael.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: My coach is Javier Duarte and he's been my coach for about five years now.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: No, I'm not superstitious. I try to do my best but I'm not like that.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: I like soccer, yes.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: I think they're one of the best in the world. They won the World Cup as you know, and I think they're on the top.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: No, four days ago, Buenos Aires.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: I just came from Buenos Aires yesterday, and I arrived in Barcelona and I came today -- I arrived here today, this morning.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: Well, I think it's great. I never thought I've been here qualifying for Frankfurt, and to be one of the eight guys that qualified for here.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: Well, it's going to be hard for me to win a match but I like to be underdog because I don't have any pressure. But I'm going to do my best and if I win, better for me; if I don't, it's fine.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: Yeah, I came back yesterday from Buenos Aires.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: Yeah, this morning with my coach I had breakfast.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: Tomorrow -- well, tomorrow I'm playing Andre Agassi. It's going to be a hard match for me; I guess because he's been playing well in this kind of court. There won't be anyone as hard as Agassi, and I think that means a lot. Like I said before, I'm going to try to do my best.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: No, just the same. I don't think I have to change my game very much. Maybe I go to the net a little more, but I think I'll play about the same.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: They're not so fast. They're a little bit faster than in Bercy, but I don't think they are so fast.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: Because first of all, I prefer to play on clay and I was close to qualifying for here for Frankfurt, and I thought that if I go play clay court in South America, then I have a good chance. I win there and I qualify.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: I am the way I am. I don't try to be funny. I am the way I am and that's it, I guess.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: No, I don't think so. I don't think I could be a showman like -- I don't know, maybe Connors or McEnroe or Agassi. I think on the court I am, like, a shy guy. I don't show any emotion a lot of times. But out of the court I try to be a happy person the way I am.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: Well, there have been a lot of funny things but -- I don't know, maybe qualify for here for the final tournament. I think it's funny because I never thought I'd be there so -- maybe meeting the King of Spain.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: The first time I played a professional tournament?

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: Well, I was seven because my father has an indoor tennis court near where we live, so I started to play tennis on indoor court.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: Yes, I started playing tennis on indoor.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: No, cement.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: Yeah, it was covered, and it was much faster than these ones are. But when I was 10 or 11 I started to play in clay, and that's most of the guys -- that's what they do in Spain, to play on clay, and that's why we -- the Spanish guys can play on clay.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: Yeah. I mean, that's when I started to play indoor, but like I told you, it was much faster than this court and it was almost impossible to play in there.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: Yeah, it was very, very fast.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: Indoors professionally was in Mercedes here.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: In the United States when I used to live there for a few years, and I went to a national tournament. It was in Chicago, I think.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: Yeah, it was an indoor tournament.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: I was about 14 or 15 years.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: I don't have many habits, but if I have a habit, if I'm superstitious, it's like if I shower maybe one day and I won the match, I try to shower in the same one. But I don't have like habits of eat the same food or anything.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: The same shower.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: Well, if the shower is -- another guy is showering at the same time so --

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: Yeah, in the locker room; I go to another one, but if I win the match, the day before I shower -- I try to shower in the same one.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: No, no, no, that's the only thing I do. And if the shower is free, if not I go to another one.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: Well, I guess when he was a junior. I was 16. I played national under 16 and he played junior. That's probably the first time I meet him. I didn't get to meet him, but I knew -- I saw him playing.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: No, after I play him the first time in Spanish National Championship like about three or four years ago -- four years ago. I play with him for the first time and after that we got to know each other and --

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: No, no, we're friends like I'm friends with the other Spanish guys because of the tournament, and we travel to tournaments together. All the Spanish guys go to dinner together or lunch, and that's why we are friends, so...

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: I think it will be difficult, yeah, if I don't lose points. I mean, I never thought I'd be so high in my ranking. If I go down, I won't care because -- I can tell you, I never thought of being so high. But if I go under 20, I think maybe the next year I think I go up again, so...

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: I started the year 36, and my goal was to finish the year in around that number, maybe before the 30s. But I started the year winning these, and I beat Edberg and Courier in the same tournament and that gave me a lot of confidence. And after that tournament I started to win more tournaments, and now the French Open final which I never thought of doing in a tournament there. And I don't know -- like I tell you, I never thought I'd be so high. If I go down in my ranking next year, I won't care.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: I have to improve hard court and indoor courts, and next fall I'm going to work on --

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: Yeah, this fall I'm going to work on playing on outdoor court and indoor, and my first tournament is going to be in Dubai, and it's going to be hard court. I'm going to play about five or six tournaments in hard court, so I'm going to try to improve on those courts so I can --

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: Because play on clay court, I think, I waste more of my physical, and every point is so long, the tournaments are so small compared to -- if you win a clay court tournament and you do quarters or semis of big hard court tournaments, they're not going to be the same.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: I'm going to change my schedule. I'm going to play on hard court more next year and I'm going to try to save some points from clay court that I won this year. Just about that. I'm going to prepare for hard courts tournaments in the beginning of the year and the middle of the year, and I'm going to go to the United States, do some tournaments before the U.S. Open to prepare to win that tournament.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: I don't know, because when I was 36th I never thought of going so far like I did this year. Now I'm No. 7 and I don't think I'm going to go very much farther because there is not too many numbers before 7 so...

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: Yeah, after that I'm going to try to win it and get more points.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: More clay court tournaments.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: Put the courts a little bit slower because I see that -- for myself, I see that the game now is so fast that the balls don't last like about two seconds, and for the crowd, I think they don't see too much tennis; they just see a big serve and a volley. And maybe the crowd would like to see the shots from the baseline like maybe Agassi or that sort like -- I don't know, like the group that we are now, because in the other group you're going to see base hitters and good volleys. Maybe the people like that, I don't know. But if I want to change one thing it was that.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: I think I would be in the same spot. Maybe the United States helped me a lot for my mental part because I think going to the United States when I was 13 and I didn't know any English, and it was the first time I went out of my home, and it was kind of hard for the first few months and that helps you a lot.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: I think when you are 13 you're going to improve. If you play five hours a day, you're going to improve in the United States or Australia or wherever you play at that age. Maybe the coach has to try to teach you mental part more than the game part.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: Yeah, I have friends there, and I usually calling the Jaegers (ph) because they helped me out a lot.

ALBERTO BERASATEGUI: Yeah, when I'm in Spain because they helped me out a lot, him, his wife and Andrea. "I'm very glad to be here and most of all because it's 20 years since the Spanish players got in a Masters. I know I have a very difficult role here. My dream was to be in this Masters and the only thing I can say is I'll do my best. I know that I got to qualify in a very funny way but I wish I could do the same the next year. Anyway, in '95 I will try to play a little bit more indoors than hard court tournaments." "The suit is a little bit too big. I think I thought my height was 1.80, but it's clear that you don't need to be so tall to be here. Maybe they thought that Stich was going to qualify and not me, and therefore I have an extra 30 centimeters of clothes."