Friday, June 7, 2002
A. COSTA/A. Corretja 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3


Q. Emotionally is it one of the most difficult matches you ever played?

ALBERT COSTA: Yes. Emotionally, at the end it was really, really tough
because I had many chances also in the third set and I didn't convert
it. I was thinking a little bit too much. But fortunately at the end
I could win the match. It's a great moment for me. I tell you, great,
great. In tennis, is the greatest moment I ever had, for sure.

Q. Up 3-1 in the third set, then you lost the third. What was your
feeling in this moment of the game?

ALBERT COSTA: Well, I was trying all the time. I was trying, trying.
I was 3-1, 15-40, and then the 30-40 I missed one not easy but clear
backhand to make 4-1 with two breaks. And then I was serving, I didn't
serve so good, and he start to play much better in the 3-2. He start
to play much better. He beat me the third set easily. And then I start
again. I was trying all the time, and tried to win all the points.

Q. You have easier match to the semifinals than your opponent Alex. Do
you think this was an advantage for you for the semifinal now?

ALBERT COSTA: Sorry?

Q. Less time playing, not so many sets.

ALBERT COSTA: Right, yeah. Oh, well, I would see how it goes, the match,
no? I hope Juan Carlos is going to win. But I hope that they play like
five hours (laughter).

Q. You're saying this is your greatest moment, but you haven't won the
tournament yet, you still have to play a final.

ALBERT COSTA: Yes, that's for sure. But for me it's a great moment.
And if I can win the last match, is going to be greatest.

Q. If you don't, would it still be your greatest moment to get to
the final?

ALBERT COSTA: Yeah, yeah. But for sure I'm going to play with
ambition, with the same way like I was playing the other days -
same way - like if it was first round.

Q. And you hope Juan Carlos wins. If he doesn't, you have to play
Marat. What would be the difference for you?

ALBERT COSTA: Well, I think Marat sometimes is more aggressive,
no, more serve faster, hits sometimes even harder than Juan Carlos.
But Juan Carlos has a very good rhythm, fluid rhythm, he's hitting
all the time, trying to make the point all the time. So it's going
to be tough anyway.

Q. What is the problem about playing great friends like Alex and
Juan Carlos?

ALBERT COSTA: Is not easy because you feel -- sometimes you are
not feeling so good. But at the end you have to play, you have to
try to win. And we are used to play that kind of matches - against
Alex, I mean.

Q. You think he will still be witness on your wedding?

ALBERT COSTA: Sorry?

Q. Do you think he will still be your witness on your wedding,
best man?

ALBERT COSTA: Well, my wedding is next Friday, and is going to
be also a great moment. But for the moment, I don't want to think
too much in the wedding, no? I want to try to win the tournament.
But for sure is going to be a really good gift for me, for the wedding.

Q. Alex had a pretty good moment at the end of the game, four
breaks. What you thought that moment? That he could step back
into the match?

ALBERT COSTA: Yeah, well, he was trying, no? He was trying to
step back and trying to be in the fifth set. He was trying all
the time. The first two sets, he doesn't play so good, I think.
It was windy and strange. But then he start to play much better
in the third. And in the fourth, I played very good the three
first games. And then I took a little advantage. And that I think
was a good moment for me. But he was trying to come again, trying
to force me to the fifth set.

Q. Was you afraid he could step back in the match?

ALBERT COSTA: Well, afraid? I was trying. I was trying to win the
match, trying to win all the points. But he was trying also, and
it was like a battle, no? And sometimes he was playing better than
me, and I was playing better than him. So it was a battle, and at
the end I won.

Q. Then you had that ball on the line. What did you think at that
moment?

ALBERT COSTA: Well, I played the point really good, so I could not
think anything else. So if I play all the points like this, and he
made the same shot all the time, what can I do? Nothing. Just to say,
"Okay, you played great tennis and you beat me because you played
unbelievable shots." So I was trying to think this way.

Q. How did you prepare the match?

ALBERT COSTA: How?

Q. How did you prepare this match?

ALBERT COSTA: Like the other match. Like the other match. No
difference. I was practicing 45 minutes, 30 to 45 minutes, with
one junior, Italian guy. Nothing special. Like the other matches.
If you start to think a lot more or try to do different things, I
think is not a good idea.

Q. What did Alex say to you after the match?

ALBERT COSTA: He said congratulations to me, and he said that -- he
asked me if I fell or I don't know. At the end I fell in the ground.
I was not -- I didn't see the ball out, so I fell because I don't
know what I do with my foot. I fell in the floor. He was asking if
I fell or not.

Q. In the past you had some problems mentally to win matches. How
did you succeed now to win those big matches here, mentally?

ALBERT COSTA: Well, you know, I'm more relax, more calm. I don't
feel -- I don't feel like if I lose is a drama or something. I just
try to do my best, try to fight a lot, try to do everything that I
have inside. And if this is not enough, I cannot do anything else.
So now that's what I'm feeling.

Q. And when you were nervous at the end, was it more because of the
occasion and a place in the final or because you were playing a friend?

ALBERT COSTA: No, more for the final than all this stuff.

Q. There were obviously three Spaniards in the semifinal, plus Marat,
who spent a lot of time in Spain.

ALBERT COSTA: Yeah, that's great.

Q. What do the Spaniards put in their drinking water so they get such
good results?

ALBERT COSTA: Just drink water and practice a lot.

Q. No special substance?

ALBERT COSTA: No. We have control anti-doping all the weeks. We never
get positive, so...We just eat good. You know, Jamon Jabugo, you know
what it is? That's why we fight like this on the court. Do you know
what it is?

Q. No.

ALBERT COSTA: You should try it (smiling). You should try it.

Q. So it's been a good day for Spain, the victory against Paraguay.
What do you think will get the biggest headlines El Mundo Deportivo?

ALBERT COSTA: For sure it's going to be difficult because the football
national team, I don't know if it's more important, but it is important
for everybody. Is the national team. I'm a single person, so is different.
Like when we were playing Davis Cup, is a team, a national team, and the
people gets more closer to the team, not a single person.

Q. Many people were very happy for you to reach the final here, and
your match point, when you took a tumble and fell, it was not your
graceful moment in the sport. What did you think at that moment when
here you're winning your big match but taking a nasty fall?

ALBERT COSTA: Sorry?

Q. What did you think when you were falling on match point?

ALBERT COSTA: Oh, I feel a little bit like stupid. But I was completely
happy. But, you know, these things happen. I don't know what I did with
my foot and I fell in the floor. But I was unbelievable happy, and that's
what I felt.

MODERATOR: Spanish questions.

Q. I'd like you to explain how this match happened. It's been a rather
strange game in the^ ?

ALBERT COSTA: It's been a strange game. In the first two sets I had
a break. I reached 6-3, and it seemed a really cold set. There was
a cold wind that was blowing. There was a kind of wind from all sides
on the court. And I think we both felt very strange. I was playing a
more aggressive game. I had some advantage at this point. From then
on, after the first two sets, Alex played much better in the third
set, he won this one. And then again, at that point in the game, I
had to begin all over again in the fourth set. And I think I took
some advantage in that set, and things became easier. Then the last,
I had 40-Love at one point, and I thought I really had to wrap-up the
match at that point.

Q. You said this is the most important moment in your tennis life.

ALBERT COSTA: Yes, without any doubt. But there's still one match left
which will be more important than anything I've done so far. So it means
that I will have to play, I'll have to be there at 100% of my form,
and I'll have to try to win.

Q. To what extent do you forget that you have a friend as a rival?

ALBERT COSTA: You don't really forget this. You know that you're
playing against a friend. You can't really forget anything like
this. But since we're so used to training against each other and
to play against each other, and we scream and throw our racquets
around and all this - we are very emotional about tennis. And
reaching the semifinals in Roland Garros, you try to play in a
cooler way. You try to be under less stress. But we're very much
used to playing against the others. This is why we're able to take
it in stride.

Q. It seems that you're all used to this, as you said before. But
winning against Alex when he's been playing in the finals for three
years is a very different result from anything you had before playing
against Alex?

ALBERT COSTA: It is for sure that this is a very different feeling
because I also felt different. I was able to win the first two sets,
and then he won one. For me, today was a very special point in my
life. I had never been in the semifinals at Roland Garros, and I
wanted to win no matter what. At the end I was a bit anxious. I
was quite nervous. Winning against Alex is a reward for me because
he has shown that he's been winning and reaching at least the
quarterfinals, and I'd never gotten to this point before. So this
is practically an unbeatable player here.

Q. Alex went down after playing the semifinals here. Do you think
that the fact that you won today and you're a great friend may be
something that keeps you from the same thing happening this year-
round?

ALBERT COSTA: I hope this is the opposite because this year I
didn't begin the year well, and I think this was his best result
yet, for Alex. So he hadn't won too many games so far. I hope
that he can realize what he wants to and that he feels he's 100%
in it, that he obtains what he wishes. And he doesn't have to feel
depressed about this, I don't think so, because this time it didn't
happen to him. But, who knows, next year it might be.

Q. You have been playing more aggressively than in previous matches.
Are you more ambitious now, more aggressive in your game?

ALBERT COSTA: I try to play more aggressively and more ambitious.
I try to improve at all times. But positive all, I'm very happy
about the fact that I have the inner peace necessary in order to
score points. I try to be aggressive, of course, and you have to
be aggressive. You have to be courageous, you can't remain at the
baseline. You have to serve with strength. If it doesn't turn out
well, well, that's too bad. But at least you tried. I can't try
to hit 40 times and not try to wrap-up the game. So I have to go
after my points.

Q. Were you a bit surprised by the fact that Alex was a bit slow
on the court?

ALBERT COSTA: That's what I said before. In the beginning, in the
first two sets, that's why I was a bit surprised. There was a lot
of wind, it was very difficult to control the ball. And I think he
was playing a bit differently, and I took advantage of this. I felt
that that was the reason why I could play a more aggressive game.

Q. Of the other two players that are still in the game, one of them
is going to play against you. Which can play the better match against
you, the harder match against you?

ALBERT COSTA: I have my doubts because both of them are very good,
but they play differently. It may be that Safin plays a stronger
game. He has a serve which may be stronger. You may have a break,
and he may lose his bearings. But Ferrero goes after the ball no
matter what, and he keeps his pace no matter what. Whoever it is
that I play, both of them have an excellent game, there's no doubt
about that. All I'm going to try to do is to try to win against
whoever it may be.

Q. You won against two finalists from last year, Guga, who won
here three times at Roland Garros, and now you triumphed over
Corretja. Are you the favorite to win at Roland Garros?

ALBERT COSTA: No, there's only one match left here. You have to
fight to the death of you in order to be able to win. But in a
final such as this, anything may happen.

Q. What is the name of your fiancee?

ALBERT COSTA: Christina.

Q. Are you nervous about reaching the finals or about getting married?

ALBERT COSTA: No, getting married doesn't really make me feel
nervous. The most nervous moment I've had was when my twin
daughters were born.

Q. Are you worried that because this is the first finals in
which you're in here, you may be a bit too anxious, or do you
have a way to control this?

ALBERT COSTA: What I have to try at all cost is to play as I've
been playing so far: in a cool way and an intelligent way. Whether
I win or lose, if I play this way, I'll be proud of myself. And if
I lose this way, I'll have a lot more possibilities of being able
to win than if I let go and feel nervous. So I have to play as I've
been playing so far.