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AUSTRALIAN OPEN


January 18, 2005


Juan Carlos Ferrero


MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

THE MODERATOR: First question, please.

Q. Did a victory today help boost your confidence for the tournament?

JUAN CARLOS FERRERO: Yeah, of course. Yes. You know, to win a match in a Grand Slam always gives you a lot of confidence. Also because I think I didn't play my best tennis today, but, you know, I was running all the time, you know, and fighting until the end of the match. So I think this gives me a lot of confidence to try to find my good tennis.

Q. Did you feel a little down when you lost the first set?

JUAN CARLOS FERRERO: You know, I knew that the match is the best of five sets, you know, so I can lose the first and the second and also I can have chances to win the match. So of course I was a little bit disappointed to lose the first set, but later I was fighting all the time until I win the match.

Q. Could you give some comment about the match yesterday between Carlos Moya and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. One is a young player from your academy, and the other is a seeded player, also your countryman.

JUAN CARLOS FERRERO: You know, I think Carlos, maybe he didn't play his best match in his life, of course. But also I think Guillermo played really, really good, and he did a lot of chances to try to win, you know - with his forehand, backhand, he played very solid from the baseline and he serve pretty well, passing 200 kilometers per hour. So I think he play a really good match. And, you know, I think he play better than Carlos.

Q. In the lead-in to this tournament there was a lot of talk that perhaps the courts would favor guys who preferred a slower surface. Do you find them better for you this year than in the past?

JUAN CARLOS FERRERO: Do you think there is -- I don't know if there is a lot of difference between this year and last year. Maybe a little bit. But I find that the center courts, Vodafone and the other ones, are a little bit slower than the other ones like the court I played and the other ones. So it's that, I think. So I don't know. When I play in center or Vodafone, I will tell you if it's better for me. But today, you know, I play a good match in this court.

Q. Last year was perhaps a little frustrating for you. Have you set any goals coming into this year?

JUAN CARLOS FERRERO: Not absolutely frustrating, you know. I had two big problems, you know, that keep me out from the competition like five months. Then I try to come back playing well and I couldn't. So is a bad year, you know, and this year I start to feel better and find a way to get up again.

Q. In your comment before you said you knew the match was five sets and you perhaps didn't play your best tennis in the first set. Are you trying to ease yourself into the tournament or ease yourself into the year?

JUAN CARLOS FERRERO: You know, I always try to find the way to play good tennis, but not always it's easy. I'm starting to play a Grand Slam, and of course I'm trying each match to play my best tennis. It's, as I said, that today was not, you know, that -- I wanted to play the best tennis.

Q. Do you feel your form is good enough to be a threat in this tournament?

JUAN CARLOS FERRERO: Yeah. Physically, I'm very good. Form, you know, I have confidence in me that after this match I will play much better in the second round. Who knows if I win, if I lose. But I think I feel mentally very strong again, you know. So if I lose early this tournament, will be doesn't matter for me because a year is so long. I feel that I'm Juan Carlos again like in the past, you know, so I feel good.

Q. Eighteen months ago you and Roger Federer were kind of at the same level. But like last year, for example, while you were experiencing strings of bad luck, he went on to win three Grand Slams. Do you think that now, like when you regain your confidence, do you think that you have the game to impose a real threat on Roger?

JUAN CARLOS FERRERO: Why not? I am the same Juan Carlos as before. So I have the same tennis as before, and I think I can play against him with my best form, of course.

End of FastScripts….

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