OLYMPIC TENNIS TOURNAMENT

August 22, 2004

Nicolas Massu

NICOLAS MASSU: Yeah, I think it's -- I'm so happy and I cannot believe this. Is too much in two days to win two medals, gold medals. It's like a dream. When I was young, I always look the Olympic Games so far. Is just to -- is a big honor to be here just for participate to be here. Is a great feeling just for be here. To win two medal, two gold medal, is something incredible. I cannot believe. Is too much in two days.

NICOLAS MASSU: Yeah, was so difficult. I have a lot of problems yesterday. I cannot sleep good. I didn't sleep. I sleep like four hours yesterday, and I play a long match. I go to the bed like 6:30 a.m., because I arrive to the village at 4:35, then I eat, I get a massage, and then I wake up today at 12. I didn't sleep like normal. And today, I was tired. I have to do some things in the morning also. Yesterday I have to do some things also in the night here. Was very difficult for me to concentrate and to forget all this and to be concentrate in four hours after I wake up, I have to play the final of the Olympic Games. It's difficult.

NICOLAS MASSU: I think this is unbelievable for the country. Chile is a small country but tennis is one of the best sports in Chile. Now Marcelo Rios retire. Now we are with Fernando to continue with the good results now. We are like not too much play, like five. I hope in the future young players see this for... Tennis in Chile is important now, I think the best sport now with soccer. And I think that people, they gonna be very happy.

NICOLAS MASSU: Yeah, it was -- now I'm so tired. I just work and be wake up because I have to do this and I finish that. But I play the second set and the third set today, I was so tired, I had problems in my legs. I was so tired, I cannot move really good, I cannot serve. I don't have a good feeling in the serve. Was so difficult to be concentrate. When I lost the third set, I thought that I gonna lose the match because I cannot move. But you always have faith in -- I always have faith in myself that I gonna win the match. I try to do my best, and if the guy beat me, beat me because he played better. But I have to wait my time. When I won the fourth set, I have like a second air, like second life. I feel better and better shape also.

NICOLAS MASSU: The best -- the best two days in my life (smiling). That's it. Is incredible. I come here to do my best. I always, when I arrive to a tournament, I try to win, but not always you win a tournament. But with singles and doubles is amazing.

NICOLAS MASSU: When, when I -- when the double-fault, was like this out?

NICOLAS MASSU: Normally was a very important point because he make a double-fault and with that point I come again deuce. And he say correction, and then we were like 1-All. But, no, I don't think that this point gonna have like a good feeling for me. I just lost the game. In that game, in the first game of the fourth set, I start to feel better, feel better, better shape. I don't know. Sometimes you feel better. Sometimes you feel so bad in the court. When you play like five hours or six hours, sometimes you start tired and maybe you feel better.

NICOLAS MASSU: I don't know when I go. I don't know when I come back to Chile. I think I come back after US Open. I gonna meet my family now in Miami for two days and then I go to play US Open. Well, I hope that I gonna be -- make a good US Open. Now I have a lot of confidence. But now I need to rest some days, no tennis, nothing for two or three days. When I arrive to Chile, I think the people are gonna be very happy because in tennis, we come like two players: Fernando and me. And we get three medals. This is incredible because is difficult. Also the tennis is a lot of good players. Is not easy to with two players get three medals. Is like very important for our country.

NICOLAS MASSU: What do you say, aggressive with the game?

NICOLAS MASSU: In the personality or game (smiling)?

NICOLAS MASSU: Yeah, because, you know how many hours of practice I make? Before this I have a lot of problems before I come back, I come here. A lot of first rounds. A lot of not good feelings in the court. Sometimes not always is like this. Not always is like happy, like this now, I win. Sometimes you lose and you are upset. I was so happy because this is my best memory in my sport career. If I look in 10 more years, I look back forward this, I gonna be so happy. Now I can die happy (smiling). I can die happy.

NICOLAS MASSU: Well, as a sportsman, as a sports person, you get nervous, you get tense, you think all sorts of both positive and negative thoughts. All sorts of things go through your mind in very little time. When I went on the court, I thought I would win, but then I remembered what was happening yesterday and the very bad night I'd had, the lack of sleep. I knew that Mardy was fresher than I was. When I won the first set, that was great, but then I kind of lost my strength, my energy. It was very difficult for me to move. I mean, I like to move a lot. I never stand still. I move a lot. I like to move a lot, and I found it really difficult to move. I couldn't move. I had a pain here in my leg, in the upper part of my leg, and that meant that I couldn't really move. But the crowd supported me throughout - throughout. I was surprised not just today, but throughout the entire week, at the support of the public. I mean, even from the Greeks, it felt as if I was Greek. They loved me as if I were a Greek, in fact. Everybody, everybody was supporting me, not just the Chileans. Sometimes they don't support you at all. That's happened to me, too. They're all against you. But not here. Not here. Throughout the week, it was totally different. Everybody was in favor. Everybody was supporting me. That was something that helped me a lot when I was feeling a bit down. And then the Chileans that were there when I was so tired and my leg hurt, I looked up at all those supporters and I looked at the athletes that were there, too, all these athletes that were participating in these games that were supporting me, cheering me on, that's something that gave me strength. I couldn't let them down. I couldn't let myself down either. If I were to lose this final, I'd never forget it. I mean, I could have won it very easily, I knew that I could win it easily but I could easily lose it, too, and I didn't want to lose.

NICOLAS MASSU: Well, as a sportsman, one always wonders, "Well, how far will I get in tennis? Will I be a good tennis player, a bad tennis player? What will I achieve?" But you have to think positive, that you're going to play well, win a medal, win a Grand Slam, be the best in the world. You have to think positive. There are people that do it, people that believe, people that don't. I've always believed in myself, too. It's not good to talk about yourself. One should be humble and modest. But when I felt down, I kept on training. I worked at it. I like to work hard. I like to train. I do it all the time. I don't know how to put this into perspective. It's really weird. It's a really weird feeling. It's hard to put all this into perspective. But these are, by far, by far the happiest days in my athletic career. I can't compare it to any other match I've played, really, this feeling. In 30 years' time, I'll look back and I'll think again these were the happiest days of my life. You know, I'm there at the peak of my career. Look how far I've come, you know. I've come from Vina Del Mar in Chile and look where I got to. I played in those small courts there, in Vina Del Mar in Chile and here I am at the Olympic Games with a gold medal around my neck. Incredible.

NICOLAS MASSU: Well, it's incredible. Incredible. When I got here, well, the doubles, first of all, well, Fernando and I, we started playing doubles fairly recently. I mean, well, we've always played but never -- not seriously - how shall I put it? Well, let's see, how shall I put it? It became more important recently, our doubles matches. We've played more seriously only recently because we wanted to win a medal. That was our goal. And the previous week, well, we played rather well against the best, the best in the world. And we lost. We hadn't done badly, but we lost. To get here, continue to play doubles and win a medal, well, we weren't really expecting it because doubles is something rather new for us. I am a singles man, really, more than anything. And less than 48 hours to win two gold medals, I can hardly believe it. I really can't take it in. I can't absorb it. Maybe tomorrow, when I wake up, it will sink in and I'll realize what I've done and what I've achieved. But now I just feel happy. I want to talk to my family. I want to talk to my parents, my brothers, my sisters, my grandparents, my friends. I mean, they must be so happy, too.

NICOLAS MASSU: I have a very good quality in me, namely my serve. My serve is very good. I know that. And I also -- my mental preparation is very good, as well. I'm always in a good frame of mind. Physically, I'm very fit, too. When I play these very long matches, I go through bad times like all athletes do. And look what happened in Miami and Indian Wells. I don't know, perhaps I wasn't as fit as I was. But I know normally, physically, I'm really quite fit. I can last these long matches. So, you know, you can win a match easily, or you can win it in a more difficult way. It's sometimes more trying, more grueling, as it was this time. But I know, I know I'm fit enough to see it through. At the beginning, I thought, "Oh, my God, I'm losing this." But I had faith in myself. I knew I could win. I knew I could win. I kept my focus and my concentration.

NICOLAS MASSU: Well, I saw Federer. I saw what he looked like when he lost, you know. I've never seen him like that. I mean, you know, I've never seen him like that. He looked totally devastated. You know, I saw when he lost that match. I saw him. I don't care what they think. I mean, I won the gold medal. I'm not going to worry about whether they feel like playing an Olympic Games or not. That's their business, not mine. And besides, this has been an historical achievement. For me, anyway. For me, this is much more important. The Olympic Games are much more important. I don't know what it is for them, how they feel.

NICOLAS MASSU: Well, the first thing that came to mind when I won, well, I remember how nervous I had been. Well, at the beginning, when I was so nervous, so many things went through my mind. I was saying to myself, "Look, relax. Don't be so nervous. Don't be so nervous." That was what I was thinking at the beginning. Then I was tense. But when I won, when I threw myself on the ground of the court there, well, I don't even remember what went through my mind. The only thing that I do remember is that I remembered all the effort I had made throughout my professional sporting life that had led me to this, to this, my goal. I thought, "Well, it's worked. All those efforts have been worthwhile." And I felt happy. I thought about my nearest and dearest. I mean, that's about it, really. I don't remember what else went through my mind.

NICOLAS MASSU: Well, after the semifinal I was talking to the Chileans, etc., and he said to me -- they asked me, "Well, look, look, if you get to the final, should I save some tickets for your father in Chile?" I said, "Don't bother because I don't think he'll make it. I don't think he'll come. That is far better." I'd rather just be calm really, just be calm. You know, your parents are here and, you know, they're traveling over to see you play in a final. Then you're worrying, "Are they here? Have they travelled well? How do they feel?" So it's better if they just stay in Chile, really. I don't want to have to worry about that. And then when I won and I threw myself down, I did think about my family. I mean, they can't always be here, you know. Greece is very far away from Chile, so not everybody can travel, can allow themselves the luxury of traveling over here and being here in person. But I'm going to see them in two days in Miami. I haven't seen them for three months. I've travelled really quite a lot this year, and I have been away from my country for quite a long time. I really want to go back, but I'm going to have to wait some time still.

NICOLAS MASSU: Well, as an athlete, you're usually injured in one way or another. You feel pain here and there. So you have to make supernatural efforts to overcome that. This week, every day just about I've played two matches. Just about every day. That's what I train for. That's what I train for. I mean, I woke up and my legs hurt, I was tired, I went to bed at 6 in the morning. But, you know, as I said before, when I woke up, even though I'd had little sleep, I said to myself, "Look, you're playing in an Olympic final. Perhaps you might never have another chance. What's going to happen in Beijing in four years? I might not be there. I hope so. But it might not happen again." So I had to go for it. I had to go for it. I said to the doctor this morning and everybody else, "Look, I don't care. I don't care if I'm exhausted after this or if I get injured and can't play for another month, I don't care. I still want to play and I want to win. We'll see what happens tomorrow. I don't care about tomorrow. I only care about today." It's just a way of speaking. Of course I don't want to get hurt, be laid up for a month, obviously. But I wanted to play no matter what. If you focus in that way, if you stay positive, you can stand the pain you're in. You can stand the pain you're in up to a certain point, of course. Because if the pain is too intense, it sinks you.

NICOLAS MASSU: I want to go on winning matches. I want to improve and enjoy, enjoy this. I think that I'm going to be much more relaxed, much calmer now because I've won an Olympic event, a very important event. I have made history. And now I can relax. I can play in a more relaxed way in the US Open. I've got this behind me, which will offer a great deal of support. So when you've got this behind you, when you've achieved this much, you can relax in the future. I want to win a Grand Slam. That's another goal. Win the Davis Cup, for instance. That sort of thing. Be one of the best five in the world, that sort of stuff. That's what I want to achieve now. Those are my goals. And to be happy. To be happy, just to do what I like. And what I like is this. I mean, I love what I do. I love what I do. And now I can devote myself to this in a very positive way, and I love what I do. Not many people can say that.