PARIS, May 21 (AFP) - When you've had enough, it's best just to walk away. That's what Alex Corretja did earlier this year when the relentless grind of his successful 1998 season finally caught up with him. The Spaniard, runner-up to Carlos Moya in last year's French Open final, reached the final in Sydney before losing to Todd Martin, but at the Australian Open - where he had the chance to take over the number one ranking - he struggled. Corretja lost in the second round to Norwegian Christian Ruud, and although he continued to play on the ATP Tour, he suffered a mental and physical collapse. He lost his opening match in four out of five events, and in early April he decided he couldn't play on. Only now is the clay court specialist ready to compete again. "At the end of last year I didn't have the time to rest and recover myself, and in the first week of the year I went to Australia and played pretty well, but from that point I really came down," he explained. "Usually I'm in a good mood and like to play, but there was a time I was really struggling and getting bored with tennis. That's why I decided to stop completely and do nothing. "I didn't feel well on the court or off the court. I was feeling exhausted the whole time and the only way to recover was just to rest. "If I'd told myself to work harder I would be dead now. It didn't matter where it was I played good tennis again, Rome or Paris, the main thing was to be there again." Corretja made an impressive comeback by reaching the semi-finals of the Italian Open earlier this month, proving to himself and others that he still has what it takes. "I feel much better now I've had a rest," said the Spaniard at the World Team Cup in Dusseldorf. "I'm happy that I re-discovered my motivation on the court and outside the court. I have a fresh mental approach and physically I feel much better. "Rome was a great week for me. If I have to be honest, I never expected to reach the semi-finals. My main goal was to play one or two matches to see if I could get in rhythm for the French." Incredibly, Corretja didn't pick up a racquet until just a few days before playing in Rome. Instead, he turned his back on tennis and lived a normal life. But first the man known as "Mr Nice Guy" had to recharge the batteries, and he did that by sleeping. And sleeping. "I didn't do anything at first," he said. "I was sleeping many, many hours a day, 13, 14 hours. I started some fitness training about 10 days before Rome and five days before it started I started to play tennis. The main thing was I was enjoying myself doing whatever I liked. "I was going to the cinema, I was going out at night sometimes, and I went out with my family, with my brothers, with my girlfriend, with my friends, like a normal person." Corretja, the sixth seed for the French Open, says he isn't expecting to win at Roland Garros after being beaten in the final last year by Moya. "Maybe I'm not going to play perfectly in the French, but at least I'm going to feel like a normal player again," he said. "I hope I'll be ready. I'm concentrating on my matches at the World Team Cup and hope to do my best, and if I do that maybe I'll get to Paris 100 per cent." Despite the number of ranking points he has to defend in Paris, Corretja insists that he doesn't feel nervous about the prospect of his ranking perhaps taking a dive. "I honestly believe the player creates pressure himself," he said. "Pressure doesn't exist. If you don't think about it, it's not there. I'm not saying you never feel the pressure if you play the final of the French or Hanover, but when you are on the court it doesn't matter if you've got to defend 500 or 1000 points or one point. "You just try to do your best every match. There's no pressure. The people who really feel the pressure are the people living in Kosovo."  