ITF

69 Alex Corretja T here were two moments I had dreamt about. The first was the opening ceremony, which was something I had always watched on TV and it seemed to me a magical moment, and the second one was winning an Olympic medal, something I had fought for. I remember the sensation of going up the step to the podium. It is something like a strength, coming from the inside, making you feel you have achieved something great. Obviously, gold and silver medals are more important, but at the end, it is a medal, and it has a lot of value. It was one of my best experiences, no doubt about it, because of all the things you experience there, all the things you learn and all the things you can see from the athletes from other countries, with different methodologies. Everyone has their own style and way of training. You can see how swimmers or track and field athletes are preparing for their competitions in a different way from how we normally do. It was late and the bronze medal match was suspended. I was in the same room with Albert Costa at the Olympic Village and we were both anxious and nervous about the next day. Next day, we were able to do it, we won that point and we got the break. It was a strange situation: we had the chance to win a medal just by winning three games. We were excited and we focused on every point, step by step, in order to avoid nerves. And in the end, we won. After losing to Tommy Haas before the singles quarterfinals, I was really frustrated because I thought winning a medal was impossible. Sincerely, I had never thought Albert and me could have chances in the doubles draw because we hadn't played together, we were not doubles specialists and the hard courts were not the best for us. It was almost a miracle to win that medal. It became something great sharing it with one of my best friends. That medal added to my achievements and made me feel even more proud as a professional sportsman: being able to get good results in such different competitions as the Masters, the Olympic Games or the Davis Cup. The Olympic medal is an extra complement to what I think was a great professional career. I went to London 2012 as a captain of the Spanish team and it was there where I realised the magnitude of the Games. How many sportsmen and sportswomen are competing and how many of them are able to win a medal? I think the average is really low. So having a medal increases the value of your career. I think the best thing was the friendship we had with people from other sports, with my admiration going to so, so, so many athletes who train in the shadows and are not as well know because their sports are not. But they train as hard as us or even harder. The whole of 2000 was good and positive. We were able to achieve a good team spirit and all together, captains and players, we were able to start a new era for Spanish tennis. That medal made me feel even more proud as a professional sportsman. Alex Corretja

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