DAVIS CUP - USA vs GREAT BRITAIN

April 4, 1999

David Lloyd

Greg Rusedski

GREG RUSEDSKI: It was pretty simple, three bad service games. Jim took advantage of it, especially the first game in the opening overhand I missed to give him the first break, and then having four break points, not being able to break back, and then another, just a little bit of not the best game to lose my serve on; all three times when I lost my serve, it was either a double fault or a few shots.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I didn't let it bother me, I went out and did my best with it. I can't remember being foot faulted that many times, but it didn't come at crucial points when I got broke.

GREG RUSEDSKI: It's obviously more disappointing, because I felt like we should have won this tie. Tim did his job this week, winning one singles match, and I basically let the team down by not winning at least one singles match.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I think definitely his experience helped, but I feel I should have been able to raise my standards slightly, and try to find a way to win.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I think my big chance was when I was love-15, the game before I lost my serve. I had a backhand approach shot, which I didn't hit really hard enough, and if I could have got up love-30 there, I might be sitting on the other side here having won the match.

DAVID LLOYD: I heard Greg said he let us down; he didn't let anyone down. I'm proud to be their captain, and they've done a great job. We've been in the depths of despair, we've come back and played a great tie. Jim Courier was No. 1 in the world for two years, he's a very good player. His service percentage was good. Of course I'm -- that's why I need the Heineken, but, no, the team did great. They should be proud of them, they worked hard, they played hard. A few points here and there, always knew it was going to be a few points, and if it went our way, but no one never let anyone down. Greg tried his ass off out there, a few points here and there.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I think it was a great weekend, I'm disappointed for the public that came and supported us, and not to give them a feeling of a win at the end of the day. It's nice to be close, but maybe only in bowls, not in tennis.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I think I just didn't take advantage. I had a lot of times, I was up love-15. I think the three service games were the key in the match. If I held that first game, there could be a change in momentum or broken back. If you get up one set, by the time I got into the fourth set I was playing pretty well, and had the momentum going my way, but it was just a little bit too late, just one or two points here or there.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I felt pretty calm and was relaxed and enjoying the atmosphere, and was trying to do my best out there. And it's just a difficult match to lose.

DAVID LLOYD: I knew it would be, I think it's powerful. It's a special occasion. You can't buy what's happened out there. You really can't. It's just sad we came out the wrong side of it. But I think we'll be bigger for it. We haven't been there for a long time.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I think the thing which was nice is that you had such a diverse crowd. You had young kids there, it wasn't sort of say like your regular tennis supporter in Britain, it was more of a mixture of kids who were playing, and different backgrounds and stuff like that, which made it nice, rather than just having the regular people out there, which I think is important.

DAVID LLOYD: I think it's great for British tennis, it's just very sad that after four years we get -- we knew it was going to be a 50/50 call. But we will fight another day, I can guarantee you that. And as I said, the team are fantastic, they couldn't have done any better, worked any harder or played any better, a few points and there.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I think Friday was extremely disappointing, having lost in three straight sets and not playing up to my potential, and Todd playing such an excellent match. So I think the doubles was really a lift for myself. And I knew Tim would have a good chance to win against Todd, and he did the business and played fantastic tennis, and I felt very confident having a chance to win, so, no, I just raised my game. I was making more returns, moving better, making more ground shots, and just a little bit off.

DAVID LLOYD: Yeah, I think the event has been a fantastic event. It was really blood, sweat and tears, and it's sad that one team had to lose, perhaps we should make Davis Cup best of six, and, but unfortunately it's not like that. And it hurts like hell. And it will hurt more tomorrow than it does now. But we're young in this league. I felt we could win it, and I still do. We now have to get back up and fight again. But I can't but praise every single member of the team, down to Mark Hilton, who has done a tremendous job, and it's been a tremendous experience. It's a devastating experience, but one that I'm sure we'll all learn from.

DAVID LLOYD: No, I always thought he was a great player. When he was No. 1 in the world, when I watched him, I didn't think anyone could beat him. And I don't know what happened to make him go down so quickly. But you've seen this weekend that guy is a great player, believes in himself, he's hard, I thought he was phenomenal. And having both Tim and Greg stayed with him all the way, he served as well as he did years ago, when he got the final to Wimbledon, four or five years ago, whatever it was. Yeah, a few points here and there, and Greg didn't quite knife the backhand; with five sets, you can't pick one point, it was just one of those things. But I'd say I can only praise the team.

DAVID LLOYD: Have you seen anything quite like it?

DAVID LLOYD: People out there have not seen that. It's been on TV, we got fantastic ratings yesterday and today, if we could have won it it would be unbelievable. But it got a lot of people interested in the game. It's got an atmosphere that was different than anything else you play in. It's special. For goodness sake, don't change it.

DAVID LLOYD: It was superb. You can always find some criticism. I thought it was a fantastic atmosphere. This really hurts, because we really believed we could win. When we were two down, people maybe didn't give us a chance, but we thought we could win.

GREG RUSEDSKI: He said do you want to shake hands, and sorry. He didn't shake hands after the match, because he wanted to celebrate with the team, which is only normal.