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Corretja milks Gstaad appearance

GSTAAD, Switzerland (AFP) - After milking a cow for the first time in his life, defending champion Alex Corretja put his motor skills to a more familiar use on Thursday with a win into the quarterfinals of the Swiss Open.

A day earlier, the amiable Spanish fourth seed and defending champion submitted happily to a public relations opportunity high up in the Alps which surround this village, getting up close and personal with a photogenic cow named Julie.

The television pictures were flashed around the world, prompting the Spaniard's friends to bombard him with giggling, sometimes risque - text messages on his mobile.

"It was a very different experience - and one I probably don't expect to repeat," said Corretja, who reached the last eight of a tournament he's won twice as he stopped Austrian qualifier Werner Eschauer 6-3, 6-2 on the sunny clay.

Czech Jiri Novak scored another early second-round victory, eliminating former champion Felix Mantilla of Spain by an identical 6-3, 6-2 scoreline.

Corretja couldn't chat enough about his farmhand experience. In addition to getting the milking chore done - "I didn't actually get much milk out, the cow must have had a rough night" - he toured a traditional cheese-making operation at a family farm which overlooks this postcard-perfect village, smallest venue on the ATP circuit.

"I didn't realize how difficult it was to make cheese," said the city boy from Barcelona. "For some of them, you need two years (of maturation)."

Corretja admitted that it's not every week that tennis comes to a place as special as Gstaad.

"I like to come back here," said the 1998 and 2000 champion. "It's convenient for the players and there are great amenities - great hotel, great room, great food."

Corretja said possibly due to his heavy hand on the what he called "an unfamiliar teat," Julia the cow did give him a typically bovine slap across the face with her tail.

"I didn't want to kiss her on camera," he added.

When drawn reluctantly back to the "real world" of tennis, the Spaniard had few complaints about his performance on the day.

Corretja looks to the future with renewded confidence
By Kevin Fylan

PARIS, June 10 (Reuters)(DS) - Spain's Alex Corretja will leave Roland Garros with a renewed faith in his own ability despite a 6-7 7-5 6-2 6-0 defeat to Gustavo Kuerten in Sunday's final. It was a second taste of French Open disappointment for Corretja, who lost in straight sets to Carlos Moya in the final in 1998. Since that time, the 27-year-old Corretja has been one of the most consistent performers on the circuit, taking his tally of titles to 14 and leading Spain to their first Davis Cup win at the end of last season. There have been periods of self-doubt for the affable Catalan, though, and he came into this year's French Open on a poor run of form, having failed to progress beyond the quarter-finals in any tournament this season. "It's difficult to think positively after a defeat," Corretja said. "But later on I'll realise that when I came into this tournament I was on an average run. Now I've rediscovered myself. I've realised again that I can play tennis." After taking the first set 7-3 on the tie-break, Corretja missed a break-point in game 11 that would have given him the chance to serve for the second at 6-5. Instead, the Brazilian held his serve, broke Corretja in the next and went on to complete a victory that gave him a third French Open title.

LOST CHANCE
"You never know," Corretja mused after the game. "Things were going in my favour before that moment and taking that game could have made it a different match. "It was a difficult way to lose the second set and after that he started to serve very well. "He made things very difficult for me, I lost my focus and my strategy and my chance passed me by." Corretja acknowledged this week that his attitude going into the 1998 final against Moya might not have been perfect, as he went up against his friend and countryman. This time there could be no question about his desire as he fought for every point and came close to upsetting the world number one, defending champion and top seed. "This time I can be very satisfied with the way I played," he said. "I don't want to suggest for a moment that I gifted the match in 1998 to Moya. Don't misunderstand me. He was better than me and he deserved it. "But today was a bit different. This time I'm much happier. I went into the game thinking I had the chance to win and I did have chances. "I played at my limit. I'm going with my head held high and that's important."

---

Corretja: 'He hecho un partido práctico' 31 mayo 2001
Sports.com
Corretja: 'He hecho un partido práctico'

El español Alex Corretja, que hoy se clasificó para la tercera ronda del torneo de Roland Garros al derrotar al alemán Jens Knippschild, aseguró que sobre todo había hecho "un partido práctico".

"He hecho un partido práctico, nada especial, sin alardes. Hoy era un día peligroso, un día soso, con cambios de tiempo en el que yo sabía que había que estar. El es un jugador muy irregular. No he hecho gran cosa pero he ganado", declaró. "Me siento bien preparado para jugar una ronda más y luego la siguiente. Esto es una montaña que hay que ir subiendo poco a poco. No estoy en el momento en el que juego mi mejor tenis, pero voy cogiendo la forma", subrayó.

Sobre su próximo rival, el sueco Magnus Larsson, que venció al marroquí Hicham Arazi (6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 6-3 y 6-4), Corretja comentó: "También es un jugador raro, muy peculiar e irregular y que espero que le pese que no ha jugado partidos importantes en los últimos meses". La táctica para vencerlo será "moverlo, cansarlo e intentar que no domine todo el partido". A pesar de no estar al cien por cien, Corretja aseguró que no renuncia a nada en el torneo: "Hace tres años no estaba a tope y me metí en la final", comentó.

(english)
Corretja: 'I played a practical match'
31 May 2001
Sports.com

The Spaniard Alex Corretja, today qualified for the third round of Roland Garros by defeating the German Jens Knippschild, assured that mainly he played "a practical match".

"I played a practical, nothing special, not much of a show. Today it was a dangerous day, an insipid day, with lots of changes in the weather, which I knew there would be. He is a very irregular player. I didn't play great, but I won", he declared. "I feel well prepared to play one more round and the next one. This is a mountain that you have to go up little by little. I'm not playing my best tennis right now, but my game is taking form ", he emphasized.

On his next rival, the Swedish Magnus Larsson, whom defeated the Moroccan Hicham Arazi (6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 6-3 and 6-4), Corretja commented: "He is a strange player, very peculiar and irregular, and I hope that it makes a difference that he hasn't played many major matches in the last few months". The tactics to beat him will be "to move him, to tire him out and to try and make sure he doesn't dominate the match". In spite of not being one hundred percent, Corretja assured that it does not mean anything in the tournament: "three years ago I was not to top and I was in the final", he commented.

From www.portaltenis.com, Jan.2001
Written by Alex
(traslation to follow)
------------------
"Estar a 30 de enero y no haber participado en ningún torneo todavía se me hace extraño. La verdad es que he tenido tiempo de prepararme bien y he elegido Andorra y Sierra Nevada para hacerlo durante 2 semanas lo que me ha permitido concentrarme únicamente en el trabajo diario que básicamente ha sido físico y poco tenístico. Llevo ya una semana jugando a tenis y con ésta y la que viene serán 3 lo que espero me permita estar a un buen nivel en la eliminatoria de Copa Davis contra Holanda, donde debutaré este año en competición oficial.
La buena actuación de Carlos en Australia debe ayudarnos al resto del equipo en la próxima eliminatoria de Copa Davis. Siempre es mejor llegar lejos en los grandes torneos para afrontar luego compromisos importantes como en este caso la eliminatoria contra Holanda. Estoy convencido de que tenemos nuestras opciones, independientemente de quien juegue en el equipo holandes, y de la superficie, aunque lógicamente ésta a priori beneficia siempre al equipo local."
Un saludo...

(english)
To be at the 30th of January and not to have participated in any tournament yet, is a bit strange. The truth is that I have had time to prepare well and have choosen Andorra and Sierra Nevada, in order to train during 2 weeks, it has permitted me to concentate only in the daily work that, basically, has been physical training and a little tennis. It has been already a week of playing tennis and soon will come 3 more, I hope to be at a good level for the Davis Cup against Holand, where I will debut this year in official competition.
The good result of Carlos in Australia should help the rest of the team next week. It's always better to go far in the big tournaments in order to face up to more challenges like this one against Holland. I am convinced that we have our options, no matter who will play in the Holand team, and of the surface, however, logically it is a advantage to the local team.

Rise your hand those who have never dreamt of driving a Porche 911 Carrera! While most of us keep on dreaming, some other have already made the dream come true. It is the case of the tennis player Alex Corretja, who, thanks to an agreement with Porche, can change his car twice a year, and this is his third car! Corretja has lots of reasons to praise the good qualities of his car: "It's one of the best you can find in the market right now and, though it's very aggressive, it gives you safety 'cos it's very stable on the road". Coming from a top player it doesn't surprise us when he points up the sporty design of the car.

He began to train hard with the racquet at the age of 11, and it didn't take much longer to sit at the wheel. He got his driving licence when he was 18 because he wasn't allow to do it earlier. His first car was an Opel Astra GSI 16V and short after a Mercedes SLK, then the Porche 911 Carrera arrived. But talking about a vehicle with 300 HP we shouldn't forget speed. At this point, Álex says that "when I drive listening to slow music I drive calmer. I can go at 80 Km per hour on the right lane without bothering anyone". In his opinion speed depends on the moment. "When I have just finished training and I still have the adrenaline high, I drive faster, but if I'm tired I just want that the car takes me home". It's a way, as good as any other, to change the "drives" in the court for driving on the road, though not many people can afford it.

ÀLEX CORRETJA, His hand is not that of a señorito. In every crease of his palm the sacrifice of many hours clutching a racquet is sensed. It's the hand of a champion of the world.

Just four days to relax and take breath. There's been no more. Àlex Corretja couldn't rest longer. A flight to Andorra with his girlfriend, Marta, has been the way to celebrate his success at the World Tennis Championship that took place at the end of November in Hannover. Since that November 29th, 1998 in which he lifted the glass cup which credited him as the new tennis master, his life has turned in a way even he couldn't have imagined.

"It's been crazy". Interviews, reports, homages, prizes have acummulated in his father Luis' agenda. Everybody wanted to be with the champion, shared his success, celebrate. Since that triumph, days don't seem to have 24 hours. Until that moment, Àlex had never said no. Since then, he has had to say it more than he would have liked. "I haven't enlarge by success. I'm still the same and I don't want my life to change in any way. But I can't stay in every place. It's impossible", admits Àlex, though he was prepared to stand what comes to him. He hasn't lost his smile, his kindness, his liking, but admits that he has felt overwhelmed by events. When he arrived from Hannover, he spend a week trying to fulfill everybody, but he came up short. After coming back from his short holidays, his phone messages was saturated with new petitions. "The boy is like crazy going from one place to another, if everything goes this way one more day, I believe he's going to dismiss his father as manager", jokes his mother, Luisa.

Àlex dreamt of journalists, and in his right cheek has appeared an eruption of pimples the dermatologist said are because of stress. "The dwarf", as is affectionately called by his two elder brothers, Iván and Sergio, has become a complete tennis player. At 24 years he's the champion he dreamt when he was a little child. When 7 years old, Pedro Mora accepted him in the Club de Tenis La Salut school. "He was very small and I couldn't imagine that I would be at his side celebrating a success like that, but from the very first day I liked his attitude in court. He was smart, you didn't have to tell him things twice and had a great concentration capacity", remembers his first trainer and also the discoverer of another exceptional talent as Manuel Orantes, for whom Alex has devotion to from an early age and whom he has followed for 22 years at the top of the Masters. Corretja achieved his graduation cum laude before some opponents who went to the final exam with better marks. He gave a magistral lesson on the court and became deserving of a title that, only before him, John McEnroe had been able to win in the same year of his debut. Àlex performed first against Andre Agassi, the irreverent guy from Las Vegas that returned to the elite after a poor year in which he descended to the number ? in the rankings. Alex broke him. The ex-number 1 and 1990 champion of the Masters couldn't stand the catalonian rythym and retired before finishing a match he would never had won. "That victory made me open my eyes and I believed I could do something big", he remembers. Victory calmed his anxiety. "Today it's easy talking about that, but I went to Hannover ready for everything. During the season I've showed that I could win and play well in surfaces other than clay. I did win on hardcourt(Dubai and Indianapolis) and a couple of weeks before, indoor (Lyon)", he presses. The second test was to be as complicated as decisive. He surpassed the round robin, Corretja got to the semis against the last winner, north american Pete Sampras, who, 24 hours before, pursued a historic record by winning enough points to be, for the sixth consecutive year, number one of the world. The north american was playing in Hannover "the best tennis of my life", as he proudly proclaimed. He felt safe, strong and invincible to crown his success with his fifth title in the world championship. But Sampras didn't count on the fact that he would face his worst rival on the other side of the net. A guy who put him on a plight two years earlier in the US Open quarter finals and was ready to face him in an epic duel in what was to become the best match of the season. Four hours and a minute of intense play, spectacular and fantastic, which resolved on Corretja's favor after saving three match balls. "I feel I was living the most important moment of my career, though I avoided a celebration", he remembers.

The third and last test ended as the best prize of his life. Corretja played the title with Carlos Moyà. Seven months earlier, the mallorquin snatched away the Roland Garros title, almost without struggle. In that final Alex was more pending of celebrating the success of his friend than looking for a victory. In Hannover was different. This time he wasn't inclined to surrender so easily. He didn't like to relive the sensation he had days after that defeat in Paris. Moyà did it difficult. "In a court I don't even let my father win", the mallorquin had announced and seemed on his way to fulfill it when he controlled the match with two sets on his side and an advantage of 3-1 in the third. But Corretja stood stoic for his chance. And when he got it he didn't let go. "Winning the Masters was like touching heaven with the hands. something unique, incredible and wonderful", he explains. His success, perhaps unexpected, had the epic of great moments. That unique instant with which life presents to those who have the conviction and faith to fight for a dream. Corretja could have lost that dream called desire. His entering in the professional circuit hadn't the spectacularity as those of other companions. His progression was slow and discreet, when compared with his successes at lower categories. He conquered the first title at Buenos Aires in 1994, but didn't win another tournament until 1997, at Estoril. "At 21 years he looked like a player that had stopped his progression, that had reach his best, but he has surprised everybody. Alex has exploded and shown also that he has a great talent", highlighted Carlos Costa. "His best quality is his mental strength and the conviction he has in his possibilities", notes Tomás Carbonell. "He's done something great and has showed that working hard you could dream of everything", admits Félix Mantilla. "Alex's been looking for a triumph like this all of his life and he has work a lot to achieve it, he deserves it", recognize Albert Costa. "He's the spanish player that has developed more in this two years, and because his sacrifice capacity he'll be number one", assures Jordi Arrese. Adding to Corretja's fellows opinions, some years ago they christened him lovingly with the nickname Forrest Gump because he would run all the day as the character in the film starred by Tom Hanks.

Corretja has believed in himself and known how to be surrounded by a good work team. He's always added instead of subtracted. The secret of his success, if there's any, is this. Unconsciously or not, in every experience, good or bad, he's found the advice to exceed situations and being better. His list of gratefulness is endless and Alex refuses to give names not to wound susceptibilities. "I've been lucky so as to be always surrounded with people who loves me and believe in me", explains. But in this long journey his family has been the girder. "They're the most important thing for me. They make me feel OK, happy", recognize. Beside them, his girlfriend, Marta Cors, has become the perfect companion. Since 15 years, when they met, Alex hasn't got eyes for any other girl: "She bear my craziness and has always support me in my career and is the person I love and with which I want to have children some day". Marta is happy seeing his success. "He deserves something like that. A triumph that compensates all his work. I'm happy for him because I know the sacrifice he's made", explains the youth, who didn't forget the hard moments Alex has had to pass, among them that defeat in Flushing Meadow against Sampras. "That day was awful, he had never exit a court like that. Alex stayed crying all night and I didn't know how to console him. It was horrible. That's why I give so a special value to what happened in Hannover", remembers Marta. At court, the circle of people who allowed him reached his dreams have names. Doctor Ángel Ruiz Cotorro, from Spanish Tennis Federation, has help him stablish a specific food program. Alberto Berasategui has been the inseparable friend with whom he's shared his dream of being a tennis player since he was 14. The person to him he has confided dreams and frustrations. "An exceptional guy with which is difficult not to get along". Salvador Sosa allowed him to make fit this machine called body that now frightens in the circuit and seem indefatigable and indestructible. the man who knew how to reconvert his physical capabilities to play confortable. "He's my physical trainer, but his collaboration hasn't limited to that. His giving has been total since the day he joined the team", highlighted Alex. And, Dudu, Javier Duarte, his coach. The one who possibly knows him better and has been at his side on court since 14. Someone for whom Corretja and Berasategui will give an arm if needed. "Dudú, you think you've formed two masters, but we've known from a time that the only master is you", they engraved in a silver box they gave him in a surprise party Duarte set up for his two players, to celebrate that they both had reached the Roland Garros final and the Masters. Beside them, Corretja dreams of reaching new challenges though without obsessioning. "My wish is to be everyday a little bit better as a player. To win the Australian Open or be number one is something that doesn't seem impossible to me now but if I didn't do it, I'll be happy all the same".

CHAMPION MANIAS -- He doesn't stand liars Alex is not superstitious, though he has some manias. When he plays he always avoid treading the lines while crossing the court. In his right sock he keeps the aplicator used by tennis players to put in string locks, it calms him and he says it brings luck to him since he reach the Hamburg final in 1996. In tournament days he sleeps for 12 hours. He likes listening to music and travels with 40 CD. He likes paella (rice with saffron and greens and meat and wathever you like), pasta nad seafood. He doesn't like green salads, but eats them on a diet needing basis. Every three months he uses six raquets. He hates lies, and gets ruffle with people that cheat him. He can talk with his friends for hours. He never leaves money on the bed 'cause he says it brings bad luck. The last book he read was "The alchemist" by Paulo Coelho. He's a popcorn devourer and passionate about the cinema. (traslation by Lucía Bartólomé)

(SPANISH)
el Dominical
Domingo, 10 de Enero de 1999
texto: Jaume Pujol-Galceran

"He tocado el cielo con las manos"
ÀLEX CORRETJA Su mano no es la de un señorito. En cada pliegue de su palma se nota el sacrificio de muchas horas empuñando una raqueta. Es la mano de un campeón del mundo.

Apenas cuatro días para relajarse y tomar aire. No ha habido más. Àlex Corretja no ha podido descansar más tiempo. Una escapada a Andorra con su novia, Marta, ha sido la forma de celebrar su éxito en el Campeonato del Mundo de tenis que se celebró a finales de noviembre en Hannóver. Desde aquel 29 de noviembre de 1998 en que levantó la copa de cristal que le acreditaba como el nuevo maestro de tenis, su vida ha dado un vuelco que ni él podía imaginar.

"Ha sido una locura". Entrevistas, reportajes, homenajes, premios se han acumulado en la agenda de su padre, Lluis. Todos han querido estar con el campeón, compartir su éxito, celebrarlo. Desde ese triunfo, los días no parecen tener 24 horas. Hasta es momento, Àlex nunca había dicho no. Desde entonces, lo ha tenido que decir más veces de las que hubiera querido. "No me he agrandado por el éxito. Sigo siendo el de siempre y no quiero que mi vida cambie para nada. Pero no puedo estar en todos los sitios. Es imposible", admite.

Àlex pensaba que estaba preparado para soportar lo que se le venía encima. No ha perdido su sonrisa, su amabilidad, su simpatía, pero admite que se ha sentido desbordado por los acontecimientos. Cuando llegó de Hannóver, dedicó la semana siguiente a intentar cumplir con todo el mundo, pero se quedó corto. Tras regresar de sus cortas vacaciones, el contestador de su teléfono estaba saturado de nuevas peticiones. "El niño va loquito de un lado a otro, como esto siga así un día más, me parece que va a despedir a su padre como mánager", bromea su madre, Luisa. Àlex sueña con los periodistas. Y en su mejilla derecha ha aparecido una erupción de granos que el dermatólogo dice que son por culpa del estrés.

"El enano", como se llaman cariñosamente sus dos hermanos mayores, Iván y Sergio, se ha convertido en un tenista hecho y derecho. A sus 24 años ya es el campeón que había soñado ser de pequeño cuando, a los 7 años, Pedro Mora lo aceptó en la escuela del Club de Tenis La Salut. "Era un retaco y no podía imaginar que hoy estaría a su lado celebrando un éxito así, pero desde el primer día me gustó su actitud en la pista. Era listo, no había que repetirle las cosas y tenía una gran capacidad de concentración", recuerda su primer entrenador y también descubridor de otro excepcional talento como Manuel Orantes, por quien Àlex tiene devoción desde pequeño y al que ha sucedido 22 años después en el palmarés del Masters.

Corretja logró su graduación con un cum laude ante unos oponentes que acudían al examen final con mejor currículo. En la pista dio una lección magistral y se hizo merecedor de un título que, antes que él, solamente un tal John McEnroe había sido capaz de ganar también el mismo año de su debut.

Àlex se estrenó ante el estadounidense Andre Agassi, el irreverente chico de Las Vegas que había regresado a la élite del tenis después de un año sabático en el que descendió hasta el puesto no del mundo. Lo destrozó. El exnúmero uno y campeón del Masters en 1990 no aguantó el ritmo del catalán y se retiró de la pista antes de acabar un partido que nunca hubiera ganado. "Ese triunfo me hizo abrir los ojos y creer que podía hacer algo grande", requerda. La victoria tranquilizó su ansiedad. "Ahora es fácil hablar, pero yo llegé a Hannóver dispuesto a todo. Durante la temporada había demostrado que podía ganar y jugar bien en otras superficies que no fueran la tierra. Había ganado en cemento (Dubai e Indianápolis) y un par de semanas antes, en moqueta (Lyón)", recalca.

La segunda prueba iba a ser tan complicada como decisiva. Superada la liguilla de cuartos, Corretja se enfrentaba en semifinales al anterior campeón del torneo, el estadounidense Pete Sampras, quien, 24 horas antes, acababa de conseguir un récord histórico al lograr los puntos necesarios para ser, por sexto año consecutivo, número uno del mundo.

El estadounidense estaba jugando en Hannóver "el mejor tenis de su vida", según proclamaba orgulloso. Se sentía seguro, fuerte e imbatible para poner la guinda a su éxito con su quinto título en el campeonato del mundo. Pero Sampras no contaba que se cruzaría con el peor rival que podía tener al otro lado de la red. Un chico que ya le puso en apuros dos años antes en los cuartos de final del Open de EEUU y que estaba dispuesto a plantarle cara en un duelo épico que acabaría siendo el mejor partido de la temporada. Cuatro horas y un minuto de un juego intenso, espectacular y fantástico, que se resolvió a favor de Corretja después de que salvara tres bolas de partido. " Sentí vivir el momento más importante de mi carrera, aunque evité celebrarlo", recalca.

La tercera y última prueba acabó siendo el mejor premio de su vida. Corretja se jugaba el título con Carlos Moyá. Siete meses antes, el mallorquín le arrebató de las narices el título de Roland Garros, casi sin despeinarse. En aquella final, Àlex había estado más pendiente de celebrar el éxito de su amigo que de buscar la victoria. En Hannóver fue diferente. Esta vez no estaba dispuesto a entregarse tan fácilmente. No quería revivir la sensación que había tenido días después de aquella derrota en París. Moyá se lo puso difícil. "En una pista no dejo ganar ni a mi padre", había anunciado el mallorquín, y parecía camino de cumplirlo cuando dominaba el partido con dos stes a su favor y ventaja de 3-1 en el tercero. Pero Corretja aguantó estoico su oportunidad. Y cuando la tuvo ya no la dejó escapar. "Ganar el Masters fue como tocar el cielo con las manos. Algo único, increíble y maravilloso", explica.

Su éxito, quizá por inesperado, tuvo la épica de los grandes momentos. Ese instante único que la vida regala a quienes tienen la convicción y la fe de luchar por un sueño. A Corretja se le pudo escapar ese tranvía llamado deseo. Su entrada en el circuito profesional no tuvo la espectacularidad protagonizada por otros compañeros. Su progresión había sido lenta y poco espectacular, comparada con sus éxitos en categorías inferiores.

El primer título lo conquistó en Buenos Aires en 1994 pero no volvió a ganar otro torneo hasta 1997, en Estoril. "A los 21 años parecía un jugador que se había estancado, que había tocado techo, pero nos ha sorprendido a todos. Àlex ha explotado y ha demostrado además que también tiene un gran talento", destaca Carlos Costa. "Su mejor cualidad es la fuerza mental y la convicción que tiene en sus posibilidades", apunta Tomás Carbonell. "Ha hecho algo grande y ha demostrado que trabajando se puede aspirar a todo", admite Félix Mantilla. "Àlex ha buscado un triunfo así toda la vida y ha trabajado mucho para conseguirlo, se lo merece", reconoce Albert Costa. "Es el tenista español que más ha progresado en los últimos dos años, y por su capacidad de sacrificio será número uno", asegura Jordi Arrese, sumándose a las opiniones de compañeros de Corretja que hace unos años le bautizaron cariñosamente con el apelativo de Forrest Gump porque se pasaba el día corriendo como el personaje de la película protagonizada por Tom Hanks.

Corretja ha creído en él y ha sabido rodearse de un buen equipo para trabajar. Siempre ha sumado en lugar de restar. El secreto de su éxito, si lo hay, en éste. Inconscientemente o no, en cada experiencia, buena o mala, ha encontrado el consejo para superar sitaciones y mejorar. Su lista de agradecimientos es interminable y Àlex se niega a dar nombres para no herir susceptibilidades. "He tenido la suerte de estar rodeado siempre de gente que me quiere y ha creído en mí", éxplica.

Pero en ese largo camino su familia ha sido el principal pilar. "Ellos son lo más importante para mí. Me hacen sentir bien, feliz", reconoce. Junto a ellos, su novia, Marta Cors, se ha convertido en la compañera perfecta. Desde los 15 años, cuando se conocieron, Àlex no tiene ojos para otra chica: "Ella aguanta mis neuras, siempre me ha apoyado en mi carrera y es la persona a la que amo y con la que sueño tener hijos algún día".

Marta es feliz viendo su éxito. "Se merecía algo así. Un triunfo que compensara su esfuerzo. Me alegro por él porque sé el sacrificio que ha hecho", explica la joven, que no olvida los momentos duros que Àlex ha tenido que superar, entre ellos aquella derrota en Flushing Meadow contra Sampras. "Ése día fue terrorífico, nunca antes había salido de una pista así. Àlex se pasó la noche llorando y yo no sabía consolarle. Fue horroroso. Por eso le doy un valor muy especial a lo que sucedió en Hannóver", recuerda Marta.

En la pista, el círculo de personas que le han permitido alcanzar sus sueños tiene nombres propios. El doctor Ángel Ruiz Cotorro, médico de la Federación Española de Tenis, le ha ayudado para establecer un programa específico de alimentación. Alberto Berasategui ha sido el amigo inseparable con el que ha compartido su ilusión de ser tenista desde los 14 años. La persona a la que ha confesado sus ilusiones, sus frustraciones. "Un tipo excepcional con quien es difícil no llevarse bien". Salvador Sosa le ha permitido poner a punto esa máquina llamada cuerpo que ahora da miedo en el circuito y que parece incansable e indestructible. El hombre que ha sabido reconvertir sus capacidades físicas para que pueda jugar a gusto. "Es mi prepadaror físico, pero su colaboración no se ha limitado a eso. Su entrega ha sido total desde el día que se incorporó al equipo", destaca Àlex.

Y cómo no, Dudu, Javier Duarte, su entrenador. La persona que posiblemente más le conoce y que ha estado a su lado en una pista desde los 14 años. Alguien por quien Corretaj y Berasategui darían su brazo si fuera necesario. "Dudu, tú crees que has formado a dos maestros, pero nosotros sabemos desde hace tiempo que el único maestro eres tú", le grabaron en una caja de plata que le regalaron en la fiesta sorpresa que Duarte montó a sus dos jugadores hace unas semanas, para celebrar que los dos habían alcanzado la final de Roland Garros y el Masters.

JUnto a todos ellos, Corretja aspira a conseguir nuevos retos aunque sin obsesionarse. "Mi ilusión es ser cada día un poco mejor como tenista. Ganar el Open de Australia o ser el número uno es lago que ahora no me parece imposible pero si no lo consigo, seguiré siendo igual de feliz".

MANÍAS de CAMPEÓN
No soporta a los mentirosos Àlex no es supersticioso, aunque tiene algunas manías. Cuando juega siempre evita pisar las líneas al cruzar la pista. En su calcetín derecho guarda el aplicador que usan los tenistas para poner los taquitos entre las cuerdas, eso le tranquiliza y dice que le da suerte desde que alcanzó la final en el torneo de Hamburgo en 1996. En días de torneo duerme 12 horas. Le encanta escuchar música y viaja con 40 CD. Le gusta la paella, la pasta y el marisco. No soporta las ensaladas verdes, pero ahora las come por necesidades de dieta. Cada tres meses estrena seis raquetas. Odias las mentrias, le crispa la gente que engaña. Se pasaría horas hablando con sus amigos. No deja nunca dinero sobre la cama porque dice que trae mala suerte. El último libro que leyó fue 'El alquimista', de Pablo Coello. Es un devorador de palomitas y un aspasionado del cine.