Q. Do you realize that you are making a history?
ALBERT COSTA: I don't know if I'm making history. I realize
that I'm fighting all the time and I go two sets down and I still try to
win the match. So that's what I'll really realize, and that's what I'm doing,
so...
Q. Where does this strength come from?
ALBERT COSTA: Where?
Q. Where does that strength come from?
ALBERT COSTA: Well, sometimes you have it and sometimes you
don't, so is not easy to say why. But I think because this tournament
is very big, the biggest one for me, and that's why. I'm very motivated,
and I want to try to win again.
Q. Can you help us understand the physical difficulties
you've been going through for the last 10 days here on court?
Moments in the match where perhaps your legs feel like,
"I can't run another step, but I've got to just keep going."
Help us understand that.
ALBERT COSTA: Well, it's tough to explain because I'm not
doing nothing different than usual. But I am in the fifth set, and I
feel okay. Sometimes I feel tired, but I still have power enough to
win the fifth set. So, I don't know, I'm physically fit. My physical
trainer is always helping me. I don't know. I can tell you nothing else.
Q. Has there been a point in what is nearly a whole day on court
where you've actually said to yourself, "I might be out of here;
I might lose this one"?
ALBERT COSTA: Well, of course today and the day against
Lapentti, you start to think when you are two sets down - especially
today because Robredo was killing me, he was hitting so hard.
But I still had something to show. So I was trying to change my game,
and I did. I changed perfect.And this help me because the points were
faster, and maybe I was also holding in the court because of this,
because the points were much faster.
Q. You sat in that chair on Sunday two weeks ago and you said,
"There's no pressure on me because I've won the tournament and the
pressure's on everybody else." Do you think maybe that's true?
ALBERT COSTA: Yeah, it is. It's completely true.
Completely true. Of course I want to win again, but I think is worse
when you never won, because you are very anxious. Sometimes you can do
something strange in the court and lose your mind a little bit.
Now, I still -- I know that when I'm in the court, I think, "Well,
I still won once, so don't get pressure, don't get nervous, don't get
anxious."
Q. You really had no form to speak of coming into the event.
You didn't have a very good clay court season by all forms. Do you
think that helped and gave you more energy coming in here?
ALBERT COSTA: That's I think one of the reasons. I didn't
play many matches, and now I'm feeling 100 percent. So that's why.
I think is one of the reasons.
Q. And because you've had...
ALBERT COSTA: And the other side, I was -- at the beginning
of the tournament, I was with no confidence. But my whole -- I hold in
there and, you know...
Q. How important is it, do you think, that when you've had
this succession of five-set matches that your opponents know that even
if they're two sets to love up, they've got a long way to go before
they win the match?
ALBERT COSTA: I love to, if they think this. For me, it's great.
I can tell you that when I am two sets down, I still think that
I can win the match, so I don't know. And because I start to think that if I'm
holding one set, maybe the other guy is going to be tired, me too,
but also him. And then the match is again difficult for everybody.
So that's what I'm trying to think.Because Robredo today was playing so
good, but then he was -- I made good shots and he was starting to get a
little tired. That's what I was trying to do.
Q. What did you decide to do different tactically after
the first two sets?
ALBERT COSTA: Well, because if not, I will be here talking
about my losement (sic). So for sure. Because he was playing good,
I was returning short and playing a little short. I start to play inside
of the baseline and hitting hard. That's the only chance that I can beat
him today, and I did it really well.
Q. You moved in to try to make the points shorter?
ALBERT COSTA: Yeah, shorter and faster. And serving big,
don't think about kicks or something. Today, it was the perfect tactic,
I think.
Q. Do you like five-set matches?
ALBERT COSTA: Well, I like because if you don't start
very good, then you can recover. That's why I like. And I think it's
like -- I don't know...I like five sets, yes (laughter).
Q. Do you think this is a new strategy for you, to let your
opponent win two sets?
ALBERT COSTA: No. I promise that that is not a
strategy.
Q. You've been asked about your physical fitness, your stamina
to be able to do this. Is another strength that you've had here the
pride of being the defending champion? Do you think that's helped you
to stick out things?
ALBERT COSTA: Yeah, maybe it's one of the other reasons. But
I won here and I have great feelings in the court and it help me, no,
because the last 10 matches or 11, I cannot remember, I never lost in
this tournament. So this helps you a lot.
Q. And would you be tempted maybe to make a habit of this
losing two sets and then go to the net and say to your opponent,
"Now I've got you"?
ALBERT COSTA: (Laughter) Well, it could be nice,
but it's little dangerous.
Q. Out of four matches you won in five sets, which one, if
you can put it gradually, which one was the most difficult, the least,
the four of them you've gone through?
ALBERT COSTA: The one I was more down, for sure, was the
first one, because I was two sets down and 4-1 and breakpoint for 5-1,
so I was almost out. But I was thinking that maybe if I make a break or
something, I still can be in the match. And today, I was because he was
playing so good. He was hitting so hard. I was not playing bad, but he
was just too good for me at the beginning.
Q. Will you ask the tournament directors of the ATP circuit to
play best-of-five all the time?
ALBERT COSTA: For me, it's great. But all the weeks, it's
tough, no? All the weeks, it's so-and-so tough.
Q. You say it's not a strategy to say, "I've got you where I
want you." In any of these matches, did you just say, "No pressure;
I'm the champion. I don't think I can make it." Did you ever say that
to yourself, "Well, I am the champion, it's gone today"?
ALBERT COSTA: No. No, I feel different. I feel when I'm two
sets down, I feel like I still can do something. So I don't know what,
maybe to win a set or maybe...I'm not thinking -- no, I have the motivation
to try to win again, not to think, "Well, I won once and that's okay,
let's go to vacation." No, I want to win again like this.
Of course it's gonna be difficult because there's some other good players.
Q. Do you remember the first time you ever did this?
ALBERT COSTA: What?
Q. Came back from two sets?
ALBERT COSTA: Didn't make it many times, I think. I don't
remember.
Q. You don't?
ALBERT COSTA: No.
Q. Lleyton Hewitt runs the sand dunes in Australia to build up
his legs so he can have great endurance. Andre Agassi, at age 33, has
a hill near Las Vegas that he runs on. Where do you run to get your
endurance in Barcelona?
ALBERT COSTA: I run everywhere, so...
I go to -- there is like a special center of high performance,
I don't know how you say, something like this, where all the athletes,
all the Spanish swimmers, everybody, so I'm practicing there.
Q. Do you ever run on hills?
ALBERT COSTA: No, no hills.
Q. Can you tell us how tired you are. I mean, you said on the
TV, you said, "Maybe I don't look tired, but I am." How tired are you,
and have you ever been this tired in a tournament?
ALBERT COSTA: I think I am tired, the same as the others.
So I'm tired but, you know, the good thing is you have one day to recover,
I have today and one day to recover. And then I go to the court and try
to do my job and not much, don't think much.
Q. But you don't feel any more tired at this tournament than
you have last year or any other time that you've played? You feel the
same?
ALBERT COSTA: Yes. I don't feel -- well, now I'm not feeling
that tired. The match against Lapentti, I was so tired. Then I had the
quick match and I can recover a little bit.
But now I'm feeling tired, but not like -- not too much.
Q. It's an incredible performance to do what you've done on
the clay, but do you think it is the fact that it has been on clay that
you could do it? Do you think you could come from two sets down three
times, four times in a row on grass, on hard courts, somewhere else
but clay?
ALBERT COSTA: Physically, it's easier, but it depends in hard
court or grass. It's physically.
But when you are playing two sets down in hard court maybe you start to
think that you can not win, and that's what sometimes you don't really
believe that you can recover and win in five sets.
THE MODERATOR: Spanish questions, please.
Q. How proud do you feel today?
ALBERT COSTA: Well, it's true I feel very proud because
every day I'm surprising myself. Today, I was on court and he was
playing much better than I was. He was showing that he was going to win
this match. So I changed my tactics, and it worked. The truth is, this
was an incredible match. I saw that I was really losing this match.
I changed my tactics, and I managed to hold through the match.
Physically, this is one of the toughest matches I've ever played in my life.
Q. There's a rumor going around that you do this on purpose;
that this is your strategy, to lose the first two sets knowing that
you'll win in five.
ALBERT COSTA: No, certainly not (smiling). I'd love to win
in three sets, but things are becoming very complicated. I am trying to
win one set and then another set, but things are complicated for both of
us. I'm tired and so is he.
Q. But does this then mean that you find it difficult to
start a match, that you only find your rhythm in the second set?
ALBERT COSTA: Well, the truth is yes, I start with
a little bit of insecurity, and I don't feel quite safe on court. He
really dominated the beginning of this match.
He was just making me run around, and he was hitting the ball back and forth. There was nothing that I could do until I changed my tactics, and that changed the entire match.
Q. Can you explain a little bit more precisely how you changed
your tactics. Did you just move forward?
ALBERT COSTA: Well, I did move into the court when receiving,
I served harder and faster, I was going for lower balls, I was going
for harder strokes and really forced him to play his forehand. He saw
that I was changing my tactics; he began to doubt. Then I just managed
to catch up with him, and that was it.
I won the match today, but he could have won it just as well. He played
extraordinary tennis, and he fought throughout this match. At the very
end, I played some extremely good shots, I think, and possibly he wasn't
expecting this.
But this was a very tough match, and either of us could have won it.
Q. I heard somewhere that winning four matches in five sets
in a Grand Slam is a record; that it was only done once before in the
Olympic Games by Ivanisevic. What do you think of this?
ALBERT COSTA: I'm proud, of course, if I have just beaten
a record, I'm proud I have it.
It's not a record I would have gone for, actually. I would have preferred
to have played 15 sets instead of all the sets that I have played.
Q. Last year, you were saying that your secret was Spanish
jabugo ham.
ALBERT COSTA: Well, that was a question -- that was an answer
I gave to a very strange question that someone asked me one day. It's
just quite clear that I love jabugo ham and wine, but I'm not eating
or drinking any during this tournament.
Q. What wines?
ALBERT COSTA: Well, Rioja wines, wines of the Rioja region.
Q. After I don't know how many sets, how do you see the future?
ALBERT COSTA: Well, I think it will be tough. There's not
much left to play, possibly the most difficult matches to play still
lie ahead - two matches to go, God willing. But I know the semifinal
will be extremely tough. I hope I will be physically fit by Friday,
100 percent, and that I'll be in good condition to play. I hope it
will be against Juan Carlos.
Q. (Inaudible)?
ALBERT COSTA: Having the rest of the day today and tomorrow
to rest will come in handy.
Q. Between Ferrero and Gonzalez, which player do you prefer
to play?
ALBERT COSTA: Well, obviously Juan Carlos is
Spanish and a friend. In terms of style of play, they're both very
good. Juan Carlos is possibly more dangerous than Gonzalez, who can
make a few unexpected errors now and then.
But they're two very good players and I respect them both.
Q. If Gonzalez does win the match, how will you play
the semifinal?
ALBERT COSTA: Pretty much as today, but as aggressive as
I can. These are players who will go on to a slow ball with a forehand
and just smash it through. So I'll have to play like today -
fast backhands, try to open up the court for my next shot.
Of course it's easy to say, you then have to go and do it.
Q. After so many matches in five sets, so many hours on court,
have you found out something about your own personality, a dimension
of course as a tennis player that you never realized before?
ALBERT COSTA: What I have discovered is that I have
a better mental strength, possibly because I won it before, I won the
tournament. I'm very motivated and I want to win it again.
The truth is, I've also been lucky. I mean, all of this plays a role.
But, clearly, mentally and physically, I've shown great stamina. I feel
well on court, and I always think I still have a chance to win.
Q. This looks like a magic box that you have with racquets
that you keep pulling out of it. How does this work? You pulled four
racquets out of that box, at least.
ALBERT COSTA: Yes, possibly more. I always prepare a lot of
racquets to play a match in five sets because I never know how long it's
going to last. So just in case, I prepare seven or eight racquets, and
they're all ready in the box.
Actually, they're in the fridge, because the tension of the racquets
can decrease with the heat.
--
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◆ From: 140.119.137.23
※ 編輯: lister 來自: 140.119.137.23 (06/05 01:44)
※ 編輯: lister 來自: 140.119.137.23 (06/05 01:47)