WIMBLEDON

June 24, 2004

Greg Rusedski

THE MODERATOR: First question for Greg, please.

GREG RUSEDSKI: No, I was actually pretty relaxed. I felt pretty comfortable out there. It was great to walk on the Court No. 1 and get such a great applause. I thought I started off pretty well and served pretty well today. I was pretty happy.

GREG RUSEDSKI: What do you mean "very serious"?

GREG RUSEDSKI: Well, this is Wimbledon, you know (smiling).

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, no, I'm just trying to get my tennis back. You got to be focused from the first ball till the last ball here. You know, I want to do the best I possibly can.

GREG RUSEDSKI: It was great to put all that behind me and just get on with my tennis and concentrate on winning. I think last week really helped me, having those three three-set matches. Today I felt I played pretty well. He can be quite tricky on the grass. One average service game in the second set, but rebounded well in the next two.

GREG RUSEDSKI: You know, I think it was really important to really stamp my initiative in the beginning of the third set, getting up 3-Love, and then the fourth set to do the same thing. By the end, it was a little bit difficult to put him away because all of a sudden it seemed like he wasn't there at the end of the match a little bit.

GREG RUSEDSKI: That's all right. I don't mind that. That doesn't bother me.

GREG RUSEDSKI: No, I just stayed focused. I felt like I got a lot of play. But I just couldn't hold on. If I could of held that game like I did in the fourth set when I was down 15-40, might have come off in three straight sets. But pleased with the overall performance. He's like that. He's one of these guys that he'll get in a mood once in a while then he'll hit four great shots. You just got to be ready for anything.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I didn't notice. I was just focused. So I didn't see any of that.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Well, it's been a long time, I think. It's just great to come out and to break a total of five times today. It was pretty routine, a little less than two hours on the court. I'm pretty pleased overall with everything.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, no, it's great. It's great to be able to finally be back and to be on Court 1, a big show court, to have an exciting second round match coming up with Schuettler. So it's going to be a level up from today. But it's going to be exciting.

GREG RUSEDSKI: No. I just think it's a matter of sticking with it, working hard, hoping things will come together. Last week was positive in Nottingham, even though I lost in the quarters. You know, it's just building, it's always building, and today was another test. I played four sets, got through that, so that's a positive. And tomorrow's a new day. So every day I'm building towards trying to get back to where I want to try to be.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Well, I'm trying to put that all behind me in the past because it's hard to -- if you get emotional, you know, then you're not going to play well. Obviously, there are emotions that you want to do well, you want to do this and that. That's why I was trying to be so focused. I got the first question, "Why are you so focused?" Because you don't want to let all those emotions out because you want to do well and you want to do well for the public. You want to do well for yourself. You just want to play good tennis. I think the only time you really see emotion from tennis players is usually after they've won. Especially when Federer won Wimbledon last year. You know, everybody saw quite a bit of emotion there. Hopefully I can keep on going.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Well, I mean, I don't even want to go back there. I kind of want to get ahead of that, to be honest with you. I just kind of want to put that in past.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, no, I'm still not back to where I want a hundred percent be with my tennis. I'm happy to be back at Wimbledon, there's no question about it. I just want to be improving all the time, just trying to get focused, just talking about tennis every day rather than other things.

GREG RUSEDSKI: No, I thought it was fine. If you hit your shots and go after your serve, you'll be absolutely fine. There's no problem with it. The grass is obviously a little bit slower than it's been with the balls historically. But you've just got to stay aggressive and stay positive out there. If you give any little bit of tentativeness out there, you're going to be in trouble.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I think I beat him on grass. I think I'm 1-0. I think I beat him 6 in the third in Nottingham. He's improved slightly since then. I've got a good idea what I want to do out there. I think I have a really good chance to get through.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I don't really worry about 165. You look -- inspiration for me is someone like Agassi. He was 144 in the world, the American No. 28, whatever they like to call it. He just came back and said, "Okay, fine, I've been through a rough patch. My tennis hasn't been there. I've decided I want to play." He wants to get back. So he found a way to get back and committed to the game. I don't really worry about that. If I'm 165, if I play well, win matches, get a few entires into tournaments, I'll get myself back up hopefully.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I'm hoping to. I've spoken to Mark Miles. I put a list of tournaments I'd like to go into. So hopefully he'll sort that out for me.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I'd love to go to Toronto if I can get an entry into the tournament. But they've young players they have to give wildcards to, obviously. But I'd love to play in Toronto if that's possible.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I think the positive was I haven't played too many matches so I should be relatively fresh. I got three tough matches, so I know I can play back-to-back three-setters in three days. I feel fine. I'll probably play tomorrow. If I get by that one, I'll probably have a day off. There will most likely be people Sunday I assume this year because of all the rain. So it should be fine. There should be no problem.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, I'm just doing it myself at the moment. I'm just going from there. I think Roger's done extremely well. He's a great talent. You know, if I'm going to get somebody to help me, I want to make sure it's the right person, and it's someone who I find that I can work with well.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I think it's just the same company. That's the hat they gave me to wear. There it is.

GREG RUSEDSKI: No, the support is phenomenal. I mean, it's been great for me. I can't ask for more. The public have been just great through everything in the past. I just can't ask for more. I think they want me to do well. Hopefully this is a step forward by giving them a win today and hopefully another win tomorrow would be great. You know, it's just great to have the support. Hopefully they'll be there from the first ball to the last ball. When we need them to make that noise on the key points, it would be great.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I think it's a good start. I haven't expanded (sic) too much energy. 7-5, 4-6, 2 and 2 is quite a good start, less than two hours. So pleased with the start.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I don't want to give away all my secrets. I got someone to play tomorrow (smiling).

GREG RUSEDSKI: I'd say my strengths are my serve, my volley, my attacking game, chipping and charging. I'm kind of the more sort of classical player, which is quite nice.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Last year it was very good. I enjoyed that. I'm going to be making sure I don't speak so profusely this year.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I've entered Newport already. I've asked for wildcards into Los Angeles. I've asked for wildcards into Indianapolis. I've asked for wildcards into every tournament this summer. I'm making a serious commitment to try to get back as well as I can. So, you know, hopefully if I have a good Wimbledon and can continue, that will really help. So I don't have too too much to defend, then there's indoor season at the end of the year. Touch wood, if I can stay healthy and play well, I should hopefully get back.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Well, you got to go out and play quallies then, don't you? There's no answer to that, there's no hiding. You just got to go out there and put yourself on the spot.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Quite boring, to be honest with you. I was reading this article in the paper about someone freezing clouds. I was hoping they were going to do that so we could get a few hours' play. The roof is coming in a few years. It's quite tedious for the players having to sit there and wait for the matches. Fortunately, I have a flat that's two minutes away. I was jut sitting there waiting the last two days.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, we finally got some hot water this week, which is great, in that home. It took a while, though.