ROGERS MASTERS

August 11, 2005

Greg Rusedski

THE MODERATOR: Ladies and Gentlemen, Greg Rusedski. Questions.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Always tough matches here this week. It was a combination of two things. I think that dropshot kind of hurt me to go into that third said today. But Mario did serve a lot better in the second set, played a better second set. I'd like to see how it went if I didn't have that one unforced error. But fortunately for me, the third set I managed to be mentally strong and played a really good third set.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I just think everything's starting to click. I mean, I put a lot of hard work in in November and December. I had a lot of tough draws. I mean, first and second rounds, I played twice Federer, twice Roddick. 10 guys in the top 10 in a lot of matches, playing them all very close but never breaking through. I played really well at Wimbledon, I felt. Lost a tough match to Joachim. Felt I could have won that one. Had two days off and got straight back to work again for this sort of season here. For some reason, the hard courts in America, Newport, these tournaments, always seem to be good to me.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Tennis is one of these games, if you let things bother you, you're going to be walking off second best. You know, it could have cost me the match maybe. But fortunately for me, I refocused. I didn't drop my serve or didn't face a breakpoint after that at all. So, you know, mentally that was the most important thing for me.

GREG RUSEDSKI: It does. I've always wanted to play well in Montreal and do well here. It's really nice to be in the quarterfinals. You know, hopefully I can continue and this is only the beginning. It's been great just to have the support from the public. It's been really enjoyable for me.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Well, I mixed it up a little bit. I think he changed his strategy in the second set where he stayed back more and he didn't come in as much. You know, when I lost my serve, I stayed back a little bit, then I started coming back in again in the third set. I just mixed it up a little bit like he did with me. Sometimes you've just got to change the rhythm a little bit.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Well, hindsight's always a good thought. But I think with this game, you always have to get better. I mean, if you listen to Agassi and people like that, they always talk about getting better just to stay with the flow of tennis because every year it gets better and better. I still think I have some good tennis left in me. I'm feeling pretty fit and the body is feeling good. That's experience and time and things like that. There are very few people who are like Rafael Nadal at 18, 19, who can come out and win a French Open, do those sorts of things. I think I've had a pretty good career. I'm still learning and still enjoying the game. That's the enjoyment of playing it.

GREG RUSEDSKI: The other thing, when you're young, you don't have any fear, you don't have any worries. So that's a big benefit. You just go after things more, you're more aggressive, you play different ways. But, you know, obviously the knowledge, and also just the mental side, I think I'm a lot stronger now with everything I've been through. That's probably been the biggest thing that maybe when I was younger, it would have been a better thing to have. But you have to learn these experiences when you grow up as an athlete.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I think it's a combination of both. But I think I've worked really hard on the physical part to clean that all up. I've had a pretty tough last three years. I mean, I had -- the one thing that put me out when I was in top 10 was my first foot surgery, where I had a year and a half, which was terrible. Then I got back in 2002, where I was knocking on the door of the top 20. Lost to Sampras in five sets. Then I was out for two and a half years after that. I had another foot, another knee surgery. Then I had the whole court cause thing. You know, it's been a battle back for the last year and a half. Now the body's good. The time has given me some time to recover and rest. You know, why not continue to play as long as I'm playing this well? Why not enjoy it and keep going? I still have the hunger, still have the desire. You know, I stuck with it. Considering how tough the first half of the year is, I'm really pleased that I've stuck with it and gone through the hard work.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Well, if you guys would stop asking me about it, it will (laughter).

GREG RUSEDSKI: Winning is a great feeling. It's great to walk in here every day and have a win. All the work you put in, you're finally getting something out of it. Everything I've been through, it great to get those wins. May it continue, because I just want to keep on winning tournaments and do the best I can.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I think it's a good opportunity for me. I have a great record against Ferrero. I've never lost to him on hard courts. But he's playing awfully well. Hrbaty, I think I've beaten him four out of five times, as well. It's definitely a winnable match. But obviously they're both playing well. I'm looking forward to it. It's a great opportunity again.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Well, I don't think -- I don't really -- I think some of it's just bad luck. I mean, when I slipped on the grass at Wimbledon in '98, I can't do anything about that. That's what really started with the first foot surgery. That's just a freak accident. And the other stuff, you know, some of it's hereditary, some of it's genetic. Just wear and tear of the body, which a professional athlete has to deal with. I don't know if there was any way to prevent it. There's a way to get it back normal again.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Well, I think that's always confidence to get through those guys. But it's going to be a totally different sort of game. I think it's quite good for the crowd to watch, when you have a serve and volleyer and a baseliner. You have one approaching the net and one trying to pick the other guy off. Those guys can both play well. Ferrero won Madrid indoors. Hrbaty beat Henman, so he's obviously playing well. So it gives me confidence. I'll definitely have more chances to get to the net with those two players on the second serve and be able to be more aggressive. That's what I'm going to have to do. If they're going to beat me, they're going to have to come up with the passing shots. For me, I'm pretty confident about doing well and continuing.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I think when I was a youngster I came down. You'd watch all the great players from McEnroe, Lendl, Connors. You always wanted to be playing out there and wanting to compete. I used to love the atmosphere. I remember one year I think it was when McEnroe got defaulted from Richard Ings. Was that here when he got defaulted?

GREG RUSEDSKI: He got it in Australia.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Right. He got defaulted in Montreal I believe a few years back. Check on the records, I could be wrong.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I was there. It was pretty loud and it was pretty noisy. There was a lot of booing.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I can't remember. I just remember seeing the noise (sic). I was sitting down watching it like most normal spectators in the crowd.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Quite young. Must have been in the '80s.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Beg your pardon?

GREG RUSEDSKI: I don't know about that. I think for me, if I can continue and go through in this tournament, it's always nice. But that's a one-off day. Losing that one was pretty tough. That would have been a nice week to win.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, I think since 2000 probably, 2002, because that run leading up to the US Open, I think I was playing really, really well, nearly back in the top 20. I'd won Indianapolis. I had beaten the top three players in the world going into the US Open. This is probably my best run since then. It's still continuing, so it might be in the end.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Well, I don't really worry about it. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn't, it doesn't. I'm not going to put something on that's not there. That's the way it goes.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I don't really think about it. I just speak.