US OPEN

September 2, 2001

Alex Corretja

ALEX CORRETJA: Two minutes ago, yeah, in the shower.

ALEX CORRETJA: Because probably I was boring (sic). I saw my face on the mirror and I decided to shave it. I didn't like myself.

ALEX CORRETJA: No. I was surprised by the fact that I didn't move well and I was surprised how well I was playing last couple of days, how much my level of game dropped today. That's the thing that impresses me more than the fact that he was playing well. I think he was doing his match, but he didn't need to do anything special to beat me.

ALEX CORRETJA: No, no. I mean, I give him all the credit. The guy was playing good tennis, serving well, hitting good forehands. But I'm saying that on the court, I just felt lost, you know, completely out of rhythm, out of situation. Because he was playing well, that's why probably he beat me so easy. If he would play bad, maybe I would have my chance.

ALEX CORRETJA: No, no, I think I was just feeling down. I mean, no reason why to break anything when you don't have any chance to win. My perspective of the game, from the baseline, I thought I was going to be better than him, and I wasn't. I think I was going to have a lot of problems to return his serve. I think I returned pretty well his first serve. Everything in the opposite, you know. From my point of view, I played pretty bad, even if he played good tennis, and I give him all the good credit because he's a good player, he's going to be good, he's already good, he has good groundstrokes, tremendous serve. But besides that, if I feel about myself, I feel really disappointed by the way I play, especially because I been playing well the last two days against two guys that were pretty dangerous, they played pretty fast. I adjust my game pretty well. There was no reason to play bad. I just cannot find any reason why I didn't feel good on the court.

ALEX CORRETJA: What is "helpless"?

ALEX CORRETJA: Not because he was playing unbelievable. As I said, at the end he was serving well, but he didn't serve as well at the beginning. I broke him back. I had 15-40 to go 5-3 and serve for the set. Still, even in that moment, I didn't feel like really concentrated, really focused because, as you saw, I make easy mistake with my backhand. Like I wanted to go down the line. It didn't make any reason to go there. I could play cross-court and have the point again because I came from a lob, so I recovered that point. But I think mentally I wasn't too concentrate. I think I was a little lost on the court. It was the first time I play there since, I don't know, second time in my life, first time during the day. I didn't feel good. I was just kind of trying to find my position, and I never found it.

ALEX CORRETJA: Yes. I saw him play a couple of times. Saw him play at the French, a little bit these days.

ALEX CORRETJA: No, he's a really good player. I mean, I didn't expect to find a guy like an easy match, you know. But I was expecting much more from myself. That's the only point.

ALEX CORRETJA: I don't know who he's playing now. Who does he face?

ALEX CORRETJA: Well, I think by the way he plays, if Ferrero play him, I give him a good chance to beat him, Ferrero, because he's a guy, pretty aggressive, he can return well. But he can lose. As I said, he's a good player. He's a really good player. I cannot say anything else. I mean, I don't know how good he is because he has to show if he can win a Slam or not. But why not? He's good. He wants to win it. He feels like on fire. He's been winning a lot of matches. He's been winning easy matches, and that's good. I think if I would be him, I would think it's a really good win to beat me 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 here, especially by the way I was playing. But the way I played, it's pretty terrible for my part.

ALEX CORRETJA: Either Juan Carlos or Robredo, they have to play their game, forget about his game. Probably I was thinking too much about his serve before the match. Once I get on court, I think I was returning pretty well, but I was probably also lost that I had to serve myself. That's why he broke me like twice in the first set and again in the second set at the beginning. So I wasn't as focused as the other days because they just broke me once in two matches. I tell you, Golmard, Sluiter, they are not known names, but they return pretty well. I was serving well and feeling pretty sharp. But today I wasn't like that. Maybe because he forced me to play worst, that's probably an issue. But, as I said, my feelings weren't too good on the court.

ALEX CORRETJA: Well, when he serve 140, you feel like it's pretty fast (smiling).

ALEX CORRETJA: Well, I mean, is not too slow. But I don't think it's quicker than the other ones. I believe not. It's difficult to compare, as you know. I think it's okay. Of course, it's not Barcelona.

ALEX CORRETJA: I mean, I start pretty well. I start like two straight backhands down the line. I feel great. All of a sudden I didn't feel as good. I think it's important to move him. The guy move well. He play kind of a little Spanish style, from the baseline, with his forehand, trying to find angles. The biggest thing he has is his serve. He trusting himself about his serve, and especially his second serve is also pretty deep, with a lot of topspin. He's really a good player.

ALEX CORRETJA: Well, on these days, yeah, I usually think just about myself because I feel pretty well on the court and I think I just need to concentrate on my game. But it seems like I didn't. I think I was thinking too much about the match, how I was going to be able to play against him. I think that didn't help me at all.

ALEX CORRETJA: I don't know. It's a combination of things. Probably the guy was playing well and I was feeling like, okay, I had a good chance to show myself I'm playing well, I'm going to be able to beat him. I probably feel like I wanted to show that I was able to beat him, as I said. Probably I put too much pressure to myself or maybe just misunderstanding that no matter if he serve well or bad, you have to focus on your game.

ALEX CORRETJA: Well, that would be if you are in a close match. Probably if you are 4-All in the fifth set, you might have an advantage. If you are 6-4, 5-1 down, I don't know what is experience.