If you miss the Spirit of Andre (Agassi), you ought to drop by a Carlos Moya press conference in this (we have heard), The Year of Carlos. Anno Carlito, or, if you prefer Year of the Tattooed Mallorcan Stud Muffin!
But seriously: have you checked out the Carlos's results this year? Winner at Umag, finals of Sydney and Acapulco, semis in a pile of places, including Hamburg (Masters) and quarters all over the place, including Roland Garros, where he defeated Jonas Bjorkman in a Battle of the Good Old Guys (which was also the Battle of the Old Good Guys) and now the U.S. Open. Today at the USTABJKNTC Moya made this Latvian kid look like a real Gulbis, winning in four artfully played and entertaining sets. It's his best US Open result since he made the semifinals in 1998.
Like Agassi, Moya has been lucky to wake up and smell the roses before those blossoms have been trucked over to the doorstep of some other tennis player who never really realized how much he loves the game. Not just that, but, just like Andre, Moya can articulate how he feels about all this, and in a way that may be slightly less effective but also more moving. I say that because the combination of Moya's limited English and unlimited sincerity somehow leaves you feeling the same interior glow that he does after each match he wins, without ever suspecting that Moya is playing to your sympathies or acting out a role imposed on him by the realities of age and status.
I asked Moya just what it is that he appreciates now that he was unable to value back when he was playing his best tennis, and he replied:
Wait. What was that he said about next year? You mean, even if it looks like a Farewell tour, it smells like a Farewell tour, and John McEnroe and Ted Robinson don't even acknowledge Moya's existence, it's still not necessarily a Farewell Tour?
"Big Mistake," Moya said, laughing at my question. "I'm still healthy, if I'm playing at this level, I can't find a reason to retire. I'm enjoying as I never did before. If I'm playing at this level there is no way that I be retiring soon."
So don't be confused about why Moya is doing so well, why he's playing a full schedule, why his results have suddenly vaulted him to No. 17 - his highest ranking in nearly three years. It has nothing to do with the "R" word, except in the sense that Moya now knows for sure that there is dark at the end of the tunnel.
One day, his career will end. He wants to appreciate the taste, texture and feelings associated with that career for as long he can before it does. The really remarkable thing is the amount of time he appears to have been given to redress all those miscalculations that might lead him, in years to come, to say things like, If only I had known then what I know now. . Perhaps this is a reward for Moya having been such a genial guy and great sport all these years.
Think about it: if Moya blows out a knee in 2005, or has a horrible slump that sours him on his future, he still has almost exactly what he has now, as far as the big ticket items go: A Grand Slam title, a No. 1 ranking, and successful Davis Cup campaign.
