For Corretja, Happy Days Here Again

Rock bottom may have been Down Under--an ignominious second-round loss to Lleyton Hewitt in January--but the long descent started here in the desert last year.

Alex Corretja of Spain had a chance to become No. 1 in the world, squandered a big lead against Mark Philippoussis in the second round and then repeatedly called himself “stupid.”

The distraught Corretja of ’99 was a delighted Corretja on Sunday. His journey back from tennis purgatory culminated with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 victory against 10th-seeded Thomas Enqvist of Sweden in the final of the Indian Wells Tennis Masters Series before a crowd of 12,318.

The two-hour match ended exactly the way Corretja wanted.

“I have to say when he was serving to save the second match point, I was praying for him to double-fault again,” Corretja said, smiling. “I was like, ‘Just double-fault. Don’t make me play again. Please, just leave me alone.’ I didn’t even react. He double-faulted.”

The guy was due for a break, clearly. Corretja, one of the most affable players on the tour, suffered from an energy-sapping virus most of last year, sending his season-ending ranking plummeting to 26th. It was the first time in three years he finished out of the top 20.

Then came the Hewitt loss (6-0, 6-0, 6-1) in the first Grand Slam of the year, the Australian Open.

“In Australia, I was out of my mind in that match,” Corretja said. “Lleyton is a really, really good player, so it’s going to be difficult to beat him anyway.

“For me, the main thing was that I kept going. I didn’t suffer too much about that. I just said, ‘OK, it’s a bad day. I’m going to forget it.’ I keep on working.”

Sunday, he simply had more stamina than a tired Enqvist, pulling off a dazzling array of passing shots when the Swede decided to force the issue at the net. Enqvist, who survived an electric semifinal Saturday against Philippoussis, said his left leg was ailing, hurting him on his service motion.

He tried to go for more winners but committed 51 unforced errors to Corretja’s 13.

This was Corretja’s first title since winning the ’98 ATP World Championships at Hanover, Germany.

“You can imagine how I feel,” said Corretja, who earned $400,000 for the title and will move to No. 6 in the ATP Champions Race. “Maybe you cannot. I don’t know, it’s huge. It’s really big for me, not especially to come back at the top, just especially to come back at my game, my style, my life on the court. That’s the most important thing.”

His news conference after the final was, in some respects, more entertaining than the match. Corretja talked about his friendship with the other Spanish players and briefly veered toward potential trouble when he spoke about his girlfriend, Marta, and Albert Costa’s girlfriend.

“They really get along with each other pretty well,” he said. “It’s good for us as well. You know, women, sometimes, they get mad after 10 days together. I believe men are not like this. We keep the same relationship forever. They [women] get mad because she dresses like this or if she dresses like this.

“Fortunately, Costa’s girlfriend and my girlfriend are not like this--for the moment.”

Corretja then made a quick recovery run.

“No, not all women,” he said. “I’m not talking generally. I’m saying some. . . . We don’t have these kind of problems, fortunately. I love women and I love especially my girlfriend and my mom.”

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Alex O’Brien and Jared Palmer, semifinalists at the Australian Open, won the doubles title against Paul Haarhuis and Sandon Stolle, 6-4, 7-6 (5). O’Brien and Palmer lost only one set in the tournament.