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Spain pain a real drain 17th December, 2000 THE disappointment of losing the Davis Cup final is still very much with the Australian team, but we are proud of how we gave it a go, even though we lost. We could not have done any more. We tried our best and came up short against a very strong Spanish team on clay. I came away gaining and losing respect for the Spanish players. On the one hand, we thought Juan Carlos Ferrero was great. He showed a lot of class out on court in the way he conducted himself. He was very fair at all times against myself and Lleyton Hewitt. He came out of the tie with a lot of credit and it was fitting that, of all the Spaniards, he was able to play the shot that won the match and the Davis Cup for his country. , Unfortunately, Alex Corretja and Albert Costa lost a lot of respect during the tie and, in Corretja's case, in the two weeks leading up to the fmal. I would be embarrassed if I were Corretja or Costa or the people around them. If the people around me carried on like some of Corretja and Costa's people did, you would have a word to them. I will definitely say something to them some time down the track. If I'd said something in Barcelona it would have come across as me being a bad loser. We wanted to walk out OI the final with our heads held high, regardless of how we went. I think we have done that. One person who has gained even more respect in my eyes now than ever before is Lleyton. What he did over there was amazing, with the crowd on his case the whole time which we can thank Corretja for. He has a lot of guts and ran himself into the ground for Australia. He has the type of character Australians can appreciate. Unfortunately, we were not able to convert Lleyton's great start into a win. Lleyton is at home now having a well-earned break. For me, it's also a time for rest and relaxation before starting to prepare for the Australian circuit.
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