Saturday, June 1, 2002
J.C. FERRERO/G. Coria 6-2, 6-3, 6-3


Q. The American author Mark Twain who was once reported dead says
that, "Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated." Apparently
reports of your injury are greatly exaggerated, too. Tell us about
the injury you have or are supposed to have, anyway?

JUAN CARLOS FERRERO: My injury?

Q. Yes.

JUAN CARLOS FERRERO: My injury is here, it's not a hundred percent.
I play too much with 60% of -- 60% of my ankle is working. So I try
to play my best with the ankle like this. So I'm going to try to play
better and better every match.

Q. I would trade you my ankle for yours right now.

JUAN CARLOS FERRERO: Maybe (smiling).

Q. Tough set, the points were long, rallies. Could you elaborate how
you've gone through the match and also this ankle problem? Are there
any stages in the match that it has distracted you?

JUAN CARLOS FERRERO: I think I play very solid match all the time,
because if not Coria is playing so good, he plays with strong shots
every time, and he has a very good forehand and backhand with the
base of the line. So I had to play very good match, I thought before
the match. So I go to the court and I try to play my best, and I did it.

Q. You have the injuries.

JUAN CARLOS FERRERO: I know I have the injuries, but I try to forget it.

Q. Did you have a lot of injections to cure your pain?

JUAN CARLOS FERRERO: Not yesterday. Yesterday I didn't pull it in the
ankle, and today I try to play only with the tape, not more, not more
injections. Maybe today I'm going to put some - maybe. I don't know
yet. The doctor is going to tell.

Q. Three days ago I saw you come into the locker room after the
injury and it looked like your ankle was done, your face was red.
Were you thinking then, "Oh, my God, this is it"?

JUAN CARLOS FERRERO: I thought also.

Q. And then three days later, you beat a very good player in
straight sets, and you seem to be moving fine. You think
something special is happening here?

JUAN CARLOS FERRERO: I don't know. I can't move like, you know,
normal movement, when I play normal. But I try to play my best
all the time. I try to be a hundred percent physical. So, you
know, how you said, three days ago, I was dead in the locker
room, and now I'm alive in the tournament, and I have a chance
to go up in the tournament. So, you know, the injections and
everything has very good things in my ankle.

Q. Other than your movement, how is your level with strokes and
everything? Do you feel like you're hitting the ball very solid?

JUAN CARLOS FERRERO: Today I feel so good. With Coutelot, I didn't
feel so great with my performance. But I think today I play three
sets very solid all the time with no mistakes, very concentrate all
the time, very positive. 3-Love up in the third, he come back 3-All,
then I stay positive yet all the time. Finally, I could play very
good the last three games.

Q. With the injury slowing you just a bit, are you trying to hit
the ball bigger to compensate for your lack of movement?

JUAN CARLOS FERRERO: Some points, some points, because I can't
move very good. So when I arrive to the ball very force to the
ball, I try to win the point, of course.

Q. Carlos says while you don't hit the ball as hard as most
players, there's so much spin on the ball that it makes it
very difficult to return. Where did you learn that? Who is
responsible for teaching you to serve so well?

JUAN CARLOS FERRERO: Who is? I think it's me, of course (laughter).
I try to hit the ball with a lot of spin all my life. I think it's a
responsibility of my coach and the work of all my life. That's all.
Not the special things.

MODERATOR: Spanish questions.

Q. How has your ankle held up throughout the game?

JUAN CARLOS FERRERO: Yes, well, for some shots I feel that I'm
slowed down. Perhaps some of them I don't arrive in time. Today
I felt almost no pain at all, and I think in the past two days.
Before my game on Monday, I think I'll have time to recover
completely. I felt quite well today actually - better than the
last time around.

Q. How do you explain today's match? He hasn't been too difficult,
according to results, but sometimes the explanation by the players
is different.

JUAN CARLOS FERRERO: In principle, I think -- I thought that this
game would be perhaps more difficult to win. Coria was playing
very well. He's a player who plays from the back of the court,
and he's very solid, and he uses a lot of strength. I think I
didn't give him any rest throughout the game. After the second
set, I think he began to go on a downward trend. He was perhaps
not as positive about his game. During this last set I think
perhaps this was difficult, from 3-Love to 3-All. I think in the
last set, I wish the whole game had been that way. But I think I
was playing well and I had an opponent who also plays very well.

Q. It's been said that you and Agassi are the favorites to win
this tournament. What do you think about Guga?

JUAN CARLOS FERRERO: I think he's been playing very well, and
he's won three games here. He feels very comfortable here. He
has a lot of support among the public. He really plays very,
very well. It comes on his own. I don't think one has to lose
sight of Guga. He's one of the favorites to win the tournament.

Q. You've been having injury after injury. If you compare your
performance with past years, last year for instance, how do you
feel today at this point in the match? Are you in the same
standing as two years ago or last year?

JUAN CARLOS FERRERO: You can't compare how I feel. Last year
I had won a few more games. In Monte-Carlo, the fact of winning
a Masters Series game is something that really gives you some
confidence because you feel that you can win at tournaments
such as this one. I feel very well. I've had a very solid way
of playing the first day and the second day. But I was struggling
throughout, without being able to show my best tennis - while today
I feel I was solid throughout the game, and I felt very confidence
throughout the game, as I like to feel when I'm out on the court.

Q. Your injury is in the past? It's something that should be forgotten?

JUAN CARLOS FERRERO: Well, ice twice a day. You have to take some
kind of medication to be able to control the inflammation. But most
of all I have to concentrate on my game, and that's it.

Q. Coria ran quite a bit. Is this going to be the strategy that you're
going to use for Gaudio?

JUAN CARLOS FERRERO: Although Gaudio moves from side to side very easy,
he's one of the most talented players out there ,and it's going to be a
complicated match - and a very long one where you need a lot of physical
presence. It's for sure that I will try to tire him out, and this is what
should be done in such case.

Q. Is this what is needed to show that you're back?

JUAN CARLOS FERRERO: Yes, I think each match is proof of this.
I will continue to play as I've been playing. There's a possibility
that I might win. Of course, as all the Argentinians, he's a hard
nut to crack. I hope that if I'm feeling all right, I'll be able
to win, just as I can lose.

Q. If you win this tournament, will you share the victory with
your coach?

JUAN CARLOS FERRERO: If it were not for him, I would not have been
able to play. He was with me every single day since I had these
problems with my ankle. He was there giving the injections and
taking care of me, taking care of my training. Of course, I am
going to share this with my coach because he has really helped
me throughout.

Q. You had come here without having won any previous matches. Is
it so that you're playing with more confidence now, not only with
your forehand, but also with every other shot, you try to hit as
hard as you can.

JUAN CARLOS FERRERO: I think that I've felt, as in other games,
matches, you gain a lot of confidence, you feel that you're out
there, that you are not afraid of what is going to happen. You
begin to play well, you begin to win point after point, and of
course this is what you're after. I feel that I'm playing better
and better, and I think that this was a hard match.