TMS - MADRID

October 17, 2005

Albert Costa

ALBERT COSTA: Well, maybe. Maybe, yeah. But I'm not sure anyway because in the last three months, I've only played two matches. But I want to leave the door open. I do not want to think this is my last match. I'm going to give myself a month of vacation, then I'll start thinking if I want to motivate myself, change my attitude or not. This is a way of wasting my time. Besides, my knee is a bit -- hurts a bit still.

ALBERT COSTA: No, I'm fine. Mentally fine. There's no problem with that. It's more a matter of training, playing. It's an effort.

ALBERT COSTA: That was great. I feel thankful. It means a lot to me because it's confidence I got almost for free. My name was proposed. I don't know why. Then players wanted to have me. That was great.

ALBERT COSTA: Well, I'm not feeling happy, but that's the president's decision. The players are not happy either. The one who has the power to name and appoint the captain is the president. That's his decision.

ALBERT COSTA: No, actually for me it was great. That would be fine. If they had told me I was to be captain, I would have accepted. Actually, I'm thinking about it without having a proposition.

ALBERT COSTA: Yes. I'd love to be captain. I hope to be in the future.

ALBERT COSTA: Well, it's obvious that the best relationship is in all aspects, the better. The ones who need to be feeling well are the captains and the players. I don't think there's any problem with that in our team.

ALBERT COSTA: No. I didn't feel like attending the meeting. The president already told me what he thought. I don't feel like a player on the Davis Cup team. It wasn't my role to be there.

ALBERT COSTA: I wouldn't say a "divorce" between the president and players, but I think the players are surprised. There needs to be sort of an agreement. Players need to be able to live with the captain, share things. If the president decides to choose a captain, not elected also by players, well, I think if I were a player, I wouldn't like it. I would be disappointed, too, if I was a player. It's not a disassociation or divorce, but you need consensus.

ALBERT COSTA: I played the Davis Cup doubles as an occasional thing, because we played, Rafa and me had played several tournaments. Okay. But individually, it is difficult to keep up for a long time. It's tough because I'm 30. I have played for long as a professional. I have my family. Motivations are weaker. I have my knee, which hurts. I had an operation. I used to play before, but not as well. You play week after week, for several reasons you become weaker and unsure. You lose confidence.