I've taken some time off from posting in the group, (I have
to be "approved" by the moderator!), although I've kept in
touch with some friends here... But now, for those of you who
haven't been able to see it, I want to tell you all about
the live interview and videoclip that appeared in Clarín
yesterday, which I've transcribed and translated.

This interview gives us the chance to get to know Gastón a
bit better, the way he is off-court. When he loosens up he's
speaking fast, sometimes emphatically, always honest, lucid
and precise. The interviewer is a girl, and he's taken care
to watch his language!

He's sitting in the Vilas Racquet cafeteria drinking what
is perhaps a cappuccino, wearing a striped scarf against
the bitter cold we've had in BA (or it's a gift from someone
close!), and they keep switching to footage taken when he's
training with Franco or in a group outdoors with Mariano,
Franco, Lobo and (I think) Massa. The training images show
him relaxed and in a good mood. I imagine that that
camaraderie must be one of the things he enjoys most of the
tennis life.

It starts with a printed article, with the typical catchy
title taken out of context:

http://www.clarin.com/diario/2005/09/07/conexiones/t-1047842.htm

INTERVIEW WITH GASTON GAUDIO

"ONE CAN'T BE FRIENDS WITH EVERYBODY"

Whether it's due to shyness or to safeguard his privacy…
the truth is that the world's 9th ranked tennis player
doesn't feel too comfortable giving interviews. And the
flashes also bother him. "I'm no model to be always
photographed", he says. Even so, he kindly submits to
both in the Vilas Racquet cafeteria. - Do you think you
will have a chance to play in the Davis Cup? "Yes, I
don't think there are all that many options either. And
if there are, I think I should be there", he maintains.

GASTON GAUDIO, BIOGRAPHICAL DATA

He was born on December 9th 1978, in a clinic in Adrogué,
in the province of Buenos Aires. He spent his childhood
in Temperley. He commenced his secondary education going
full-day to an English school, but he left after finishing
third year. His promising career in tennis, with all the
travelling, tournaments and training, didn't permit him to
do both. The youngest son of Norberto and Marisa, the
first thing he held in his hands was not a tennis ball
but a rugby ball. "But my brother played at the Temperley
Lawn Tennis Club, so I felt I also had to go and play
tennis. I liked rugby, but I had no choice", says Gastón.

Thanks to this early choice, our country today has three
Argentines among the top ten in the world's tennis rankings:
Gastón is in the ninth place. Last year he was crowned
champion of Roland Garros, one of the most important
championships, after defeating Guillermo Coria in the
final in a hard-fought match which lasted three and a
half hours. The final score was 0-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, 8-6.
Other titles he brought back to home this year are: Buenos
Aires, Estoril, Gstaad, Kitzbuhel and Viña del Mar.

He's very attached to his family. He always wants his
parents (false!), brothers and closest friends -the more,
the merrier- to travel to see him play in the most important
tournaments and to provide logistical support. In order
to try to understand –and combat- his zigzagging states of
mind, he's been in therapy for the last three years. And,
according to the "Gato", it does him good. "But my coach
Franco (Davín) and Fernando (Aguirre), my trainer, are just
as important as the therapy. Because for me it's fundamental
to be with good human beings, that my home base be made up
of decent persons", he states.

A huge fanatic of Independiente, he goes to see his team play
whenever his tennis schedule allows him to.

Two weeks ago he lost in the US Open. The young local player,
Brian Baker, 195th in the ATP ranking, beat him 7-6, 6-2, 6-4.
Next week the Argentine Davis Cup Team captain, Alberto
Mancini, will give the names of the team that will be
travelling to Slovakia.


LIVE INTERVIEW (TRANSCRIPT OF THE VIDEO):

- Argentine journalists fill pages and more pages talking
about your changes in mood. What really happens to you, in
your view?

- "They reflect what's happening to me at that moment.
There are times when I'm really suffering during a match. S
ometimes I go crazy and I'm capable of saying all sorts of
stupid things. There are even times when I don't feel like
playing, and I don't play… What I mean is that I play badly
and I can't even make the effort, because I'm just made that
way. Tennis reflects the way I am. If one's on a bad day one
can't set all that aside and play tennis better than ever".

- Is it your psychologist who recommends that you
externalize your anger by throwing your racquet?

- "No, that's just me. But if I feel better by letting off
steam in that way, and if then during the rest of the match
I can continue playing better tennis, and it helps me, I can
go on doing it. It's not the ideal situation, but that's
how things are".

- And what do your sponsors say?

- "As long as I'm winning, they're all happy! Just as in
life: while you're winning everybody loves you, when you're
losing things change. It's much easier to be a friend of
the champion than of the one who's last.
But sometimes nobody says anything to you. They have a
respect for you that you sometimes don't even deserve.
They don't know what sort of person you are or anything.
You can be someone great in the tennis world, and yet in
the outside world be a disaster as a human being.
Triumphalism exists, even more so in the Argentine".

- Before winning Roland Garros you said you thought you'd
never get to be number one. Do you still think the same way?

- "Yes, neither did I think I would win Roland Garros! Now
I've already won Roland Garros, but to be number one? No,
I don't think so. It's very difficult. To be number one
in the world is something incredible! It's something UNIQUE,
as the word says: One!".

- And what does it take to be one?

- "Well, you're just born for it. I think Federer was born
that way, and Nadal too… He's an incredible player, he's
won just about everything and he's had the bad luck that
Federer is playing in the same period of time as he is.
At this moment there are these two guys who are almost
invincible. They're playing at a higher level than normal".

- So we must forget about being number one, then? Because
at one moment you didn't think you would be ninth in the
ranking, either…

- "No, neither did I think I would be fifth!
But it's better this way, not to expect anything, because
when you achieve something maybe you enjoy it much more than
if you want something desperately and it never happens – the
disillusion must be very hard to take. I never expected to
win Roland Garros and I believe nobody can have been as
thrilled as I was. The surprise factor is also good!"

- Would you be pleased to be called for the Davis team?

- "Yes, I think so. I think it would be the normal thing to
do: until last week I was the Argentine's number one and,
setting aside the fact that the court will be very fast,
I don't think there are all that many options either.
And if there are, I think I should be there.
For example, when we played against Australia I wasn't in
the team, and that was okay by me. I look at things
objectively, and on grass I don't feel comfortable and
I don't think I would have had the opportunity or the
chance to play in that series. There were very good players
and I think they would have had priority over me to play.
So I was in agreement".

- And if you go, do you think you and Coria will be able to
get along and contribute together to the team?

- "I think that if we're in the Davis Cup team it's for just
one objective, which is to win. Coria-Gaudio, Nalbandian-
Coria, or whichever, doesn't matter! The only objective is
to win and to give one's best for the team. I don't see why
we shouldn't be able to all pull in the same direction…"

- Do you get along better now?

- "Things were never bad between us… or well… But there's
nothing wrong with that: one can't get along great with the
whole world. You can't be friends with everybody, right? And
I have nothing against him, and I don't think he has anything
against me. We can share the work, and everything's fine.
And later, each one will go out to dine with his friends, no?"

- How about the travelling – are you becoming more accustomed
to being so far from home, from your people?

- "No, I don't think anybody can get used to it. I've been
missing my home since I started travelling at the age of 12
until now, when I'm 26; more each time… And I think that,
today, that's the most complicated thing for me about
playing tennis. I don't like it at all. But tennis is like
that. If the day comes when I can't take it any longer,
I'll have to quit".

- And up to what age do you see yourself playing?

- "Well, while I feel comfortable and can enjoy it. Up to
now I'm fine. Sometimes I have a bad time, like everybody
in their work. And sometimes I have a good time and I enjoy
it, and I like it. So, as things are, I'll continue to play
another couple of years, and carry on until I'm 29 or 30.
We'll see, not more…"

- What do you plan to do when you quit?

- "I'd like to do anything that's not related to tennis,
I think. Move on to something else…"

- Are you scared that you'll have time on your hands when
you stop playing tennis?

- "It does scare me a bit. Because, after having spent a
lifetime, from the age of 13, working every day… To suddenly
have nothing to do, and to have no idea of what to do in
the future… do you see what I mean? To feel: What do I do now?"

- You won't have any financial problems…

- "Yes, but the point is not whether or not I have money.
The point is to be occupied in something. I mean: it's
difficult to find something to do! And it worries me.
That's why, before I quit, I would like to have defined
more or less what I will do with myself. But as for the
time being I don't plan to quit, I haven't started worrying
about it yet".

- Would studying something be among your options?

- "Yes, yes, I would like to take up studying again…"

- If you hadn't been a tennis player, what would you have been?

- "Nothing, I don't think I'd have been good at anything…
(laughs). No! I don't know, I'd have been just another guy
here, but a normal guy, going to university, studying,
deciding what to do… Trying to make a living, hard as it
is now".

- What are your personal and professional goals for the
future?

- "I think to have a family. I would like to have children,
and all that… What people want when they're "grown-up"!
I love kids…
And I would like to carry on playing at my present level,
which is really tough, and to be up there among the top
ten in the world would be good…"

- And finally, what is your opinion about the Cañas case?

- "Oh, it's terrible. Such a worrying situation… Yes, it
killed me when I heard about it… Nobody expected it,
and oh…! I think he must be going through the worst moment
of his life, and… I, as a player, whatever I can do that
is within my reach I will do, because I wouldn't wish this
on anyone and I would like to help him. But it's such a
difficult situation, I don't know… If he asks me to do
anything, or whatever I can do, I will try to do it…"

- Have you called him?

- "He isn't even answering his phones…! I mean, it's
difficult... But now, telling you this, or perhaps saying
it in some other interview, maybe he'll get my message…"