Chase for No. 1 Was Moya Fun

One of the more refreshing aspects to Carlos Moya’s ascension to No. 1--making him the 15th member of that exclusive club--was his attitude during his successful quest at Indian Wells.

He relished the chase for No. 1. If the pursuit of Pete Sampras and a place in tennis history scared him, well, he didn’t show it. So many others have faltered on the brink of reaching No. 1 in the last year that some people started joking about the Curse of Sampras.

In early ‘99, Sampras did not even need to play a tournament to retain the top spot, and contenders went tumbling by the wayside in a variety of self-destructive ways. How else would you explain Yevgeny Kafelnikov recently?

Another potential No. 1, Alex Corretja, was two points from defeating Mark Philippoussis in the second round at Indian Wells, and he inexplicably fell apart. Days later, he still was shaking his head over his collapse.

Moya, 22, recognized the special moment and seized it. For him, this was the ideal time to become No. 1, playing far away from Spain. The same thing happened to Lindsay Davenport last year when she became No. 1 in Europe. She said it was easier being far away from home and the media, and Moya agreed.

“It’s better,” he said at Indian Wells last week. “Because the world works like that. I didn’t make the world, but it works like that. It depends on the person, you know. If the person likes to be everywhere in parties and go anywhere with the press [following] maybe then it is better to be in Spain.

“But I don’t like that. I just want to be calm and with my people. If this was in Spain, there would be so many people around. It is better like this.”

Unlike Sampras--who carried on at great length about the lack of U.S. media following him on the road to Hanover last year--Moya was hardly bothered that none of the media from Spain made the trip to Indian Wells to see him take over No. 1 with his semifinal victory over Gustavo Kuerten.

He joked that maybe it was better, pointing out: “You lose a match when they are there, they write [stuff] about you.”

His losses are taken more seriously where he trains--in Barcelona. Excellence may not be demanded but it is expected in a city where losses by the leading soccer club FC Barcelona are treated like national disasters.

“Maybe it’s because they are used to having winners,” Moya said. “Most of them [the media] didn’t make any sport. I think the people who [play] sport, they understand better the game. They understand that you can have a bad day.

“Also, maybe some other players have better relationship with them. They are used to have always, yes, as an answer. Sometimes if I don’t want to do something, I just say no. They don’t understand. There are a few other players who always answer yes.”

The accommodating Corretja falls into that category. And it was a humbling loss to his friend Corretja in November that gave Moya an extra push in 1999. Instead of living off his French Open victory last June, he remembered the five-set loss to Corretja in the ATP Championship at Hanover.

“I think I got the extra motivation from that,” he said. “It was so tough going back to Spain and I saw that I could have won that match, three straight sets. I was going to be No. 3. You always think about that. It gave me extra power to work harder and harder and that’s what I did. At the beginning it was tough, but I think it was better for me.”

And now, he will be No. 1 for at least two weeks.

“I was the King of Clay in French Open, and now I’ve been King of the World,” he said.

The King of the World had a relatively small entourage at Indian Wells--his coach and trainer and his cache of video games. To keep his mind off the chase for No. 1, Moya said he played video games. But he does that all the time, anyway, as Corretja once joked that Moya is “mentally sick for videos.”

His particular favorite is Championship Manager, in which the player acts as a general manager for a professional soccer club, building a team through transfers while keeping an eye on the bottom line. The game-playing is almost secondary.

Success is often elusive. As Moya pointed out in a sarcastic voice, imitating the computer message, saying: “You are sacked. You are sacked.”

He laughed at being fired.

“I [almost] throw the computer through the window when I get the message,” he said.

Soccer played a part in Moya’s No. 1 victory celebration. He has a small soccer field at his home in Mallorca, and the loser of soccer games has to jump 10 times. So Moya and his trainer and coach decided to join hands in a circle and jump 10 times if he became No. 1.

It ended up being one of the memorable victory celebrations in tennis.