TMS - MADRID

October 20, 2005

David Ferrer

THE MODERATOR: Questions in Spanish.

DAVID FERRER: Yes, it was a great match. It's true this year I've done well indoors. Yes, I've done well in other tournaments, too, but...

DAVID FERRER: I don't know. I cannot think about those things every match. Shanghai is far away. We'll see. This, of course, is a prize, a reward for the season I've played.

DAVID FERRER: Highlight? Quarterfinals in Paris, the match against Gaudio was very thrilling. For the rest, everything I've played. Today was thrilling, too. Very exciting on the court with Spaniards, with your people. This is a thing you cannot forget. This is something you keep for yourself.

DAVID FERRER: Difficult. But it's news that hasn't been proven yet. I'd rather not give my opinion. However, if the result is positive, I hope it was a mistake or something that didn't go well. I don't think he did it on purpose. Mariano is a great player and does not need these things to get to the top.

DAVID FERRER: The Achilles tendon last week at Stockholm. Also as a result of the effort I put in this week. I took some pills, and I guess there's no problem any more.

DAVID FERRER: I had a lot of breakpoints the first set, but then he played well. It was difficult to return his serves. While I lost the first set, I felt comfortable. That's why I didn't lose concentration. I tried moving fast and forget the first set.

DAVID FERRER: Yeah, I'm thinking about the first point tomorrow, and that's it.

DAVID FERRER: Well, that's far away, too. Davis Cup is not guaranteed. It depends on the moments that players go through. That's a good thing, too. I've had a dream come true already. I can welcome anything that comes in the future.

DAVID FERRER: Valencia is a place of good tennis players. Ventura, Ramirez. It's not only Valencia, anyway. Madrid, too, has good tennis players. Not only Barcelona, as years before, where great tennis players came from Barcelona. Every community now has good tennis players.

DAVID FERRER: Maybe the key point was that I kept consistent throughout the match serving well. Those small details, like a breakpoint, is where you win the match. I think mentally I was feeling consistent, feeling that, you keep -- is the way you face the match, especially playing at home with your people. That's special.

DAVID FERRER: I think I am more mature mentally. Last year was a good match, but far more irregular, with peaks, ups and downs. I had very good moments but also very bad ones. Every year you gain maturity, you get to know the circuit better. Tennis is very competitive. Now I'm here, but next year I don't know where I will be.

DAVID FERRER: Yeah, but Rafa has played 10 tournaments in a year. It's normal that Rafael gets more headlines than me.

DAVID FERRER: Because there's people that do it far better. Rafael, for instance, gets all the attention he deserves. This is not bad for me, but good for all tennis players, like Ferrero, Moya. It's a good thing that a boom like Rafa makes people pay attention to tennis and may make us all tennis players try to improve. But I do think, it's like Beckham, for instance. People pay attention to Beckham and not Guti, that's for sure. Pablo Garcia, I don't know.