WIMBLEDON

July 2, 2001

Greg Rusedski

MODERATOR: Questions, please.

GREG RUSEDSKI: No, obviously very disappointed. You know, I think Goran, that's the best he's ever served against me in eight or nine matches. I had maybe, you know, played one bad point in the tiebreaker in the first set. You know, the second serve I missed an easy backhand. Apart from that, the first set was fine. The tiebreaker was very important in the first set. Then he settled down. Played an average game when I got broke in the second. Then third set, 40-30 up, he shanks a backhand return, shanks another one, two winners, then hits a good return. Too good. Served very well. Love-30 I had a few chances. I think I had two or three games Love-30, then a chance to get back Love-30, hit a great return, low to his forehand. Kind of scoops it up cross-court, missed a running forehand. No real chances today.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I'm very frustrated - turning right, turning left. There were chances there. I improved my returns, and improved my game. But I'm going to have to get better if I'm going to, you know, have a shot at coming here to win The Championships. You know, I think he's the best server in the world today by no question, the way he played today. There's not much you can say about that performance. It was excellent. First game I got second serves. Apart from that, I don't think I had very many. Must have served 70 or 80% today.

GREG RUSEDSKI: That's fine. I don't mind. Historically I haven't done well there. But I don't think it would have made a difference today the way he played. He played very well. The grass is a little bit different there than Centre. But, you know, he played very well. He played good tennis. You know, I would have rather been on Centre. Put me on Number 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 27. You know, but that was their decision.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I think the first set, it would have changed things. If I would have won the first set tiebreaker, that would have changed things. But, you know, that's where a guy like Todd Martin or Andre Agassi, or Tim, can kind of get a few more returns down. I've just got to get a bit better on that. I think that was the key. It's awfully disappointing because, you know, you look at the standard going around, and I don't think anybody is serving as well as him. It was a great opportunity this year at The Championships. So I'm really, really disappointed because, you know, I look at the standard. I mean, Federer, I think, has a good chance to beat Sampras today. I don't know if he's up two sets to one or what the score is now. But the draw's really open this year. So that makes it even tougher when a guy comes out and just plays like that.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Well, he could have waited a week later. No, it's fantastic. It's great. You don't get to three Wimbledon finals by fluke. If he serves like that for the rest of the Championships, he's got a chance to win it. But I don't think he'll be able to do that. You know, he's done it for three, four matches. But, you know, he's going to get guys like Agassi or Martin or Henman, you know, who are going to be able to make those returns. If you can handle the pressure, ring those serves in like that, he has a chance. I see it as very difficult for him to sustain that for another three matches. If he, does he's definitely got a great shot.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Well, I think it's a combination of two things. It's a combination of him keeping the constant pressure on me. I mean, I think I won one point until I got to 5-All in the first set. That was the first point of the match where he double-faulted. I didn't win another point until 6-5, and then I won two points and missed a passing shot by an inch. Then, you know, I had one return. I made one return in the tiebreaker because he's acing me every other point, and I won the point besides that. So when you're not touching it, it puts a lot of pressure on you. It's a combination of things working together. But, you know, the game I lost in the third set, I didn't really play a bad service game. The other one I did. I lost my serve once, and the -- I lost my serve twice in a total of three sets, which isn't that much. But that's grass court tennis for you some days.

GREG RUSEDSKI: No. If he can play like that, he'll be tough to beat. It would be great to see . I think the crowd's going to get behind him. Today they were very supportive, which is good. You know, he played well. I have to give him credit. If he serves like that, he's going to be tough. I don't know what the percentage was, but he must have been in the 70s on first serves. I kept seeing first serves going by.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I think he's just going through a purple patch right now. I think there's no explanation why a guy like him for two years loses like love, love and 1 at the US Open to Hrbaty after winning the first set 6-3 or 6-4. I don't get it. You know, the way he's playing this week, you know, if he played like that every week, he'd be up in the Top 5 or Top 10 easily. So, you know, I think this is his one tournament he wants to win. You know, if he continues like that, it's great.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Well, I tried to change it up, get a little more aggressive, get pumped in the third set. But, you know, lady luck went a little bit against me, as well. You know, 40-30, I'm serving fine. You know, miss-hit a backhand return, miss-hit another one. I didn't have the luck on my side today. I needed a little bit of luck and I needed to make a few more returns, especially when I had the second serves. I have to give credit to him, he did what he had to do out there. You saw the match. You saw the serving. I mean, it was pretty amazing.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I think I played well for three matches. If I want -- next year I want to come back to The Championships being able to return in a league of, say, you know, Martin, Agassi, guys like that, where you really have -- always, if they get a little bit of a chance, like a Love-30 or a 15-30, they're going to make the return -- especially if it's a second ball, no matter how hard they're going to hit it. And that's what I need to be able to do against a guy like Goran. There's only one Goran in the world. You know, he's the best server in the world when he's on. But those guys manage to make him play it somehow. And that's what I have to step up my level for if I'm going to have a shot at The Championships next year. I think, you know, I played well, continuing, but I just ran into a guy that was extremely hot today. That's the frustrating thing. There's a lot of other matches, you know, which would have been better for me. But, you know, I have to give him credit.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I watched the tape of the match with him and Roddick. I watched a lot of his tapes this week. He played to a little bit of a pattern on his serve. But he changed it up well today, and he was very, very consistent, very, very solid. There was no way I slowed him down. The match almost went too quick today. That's the thing. You know, that's the thing when it's unbelievable to think he hasn't been able to win Wimbledon yet with that serve.

GREG RUSEDSKI: No, I'm going to go on holiday. I'm probably going to leave tomorrow. Just going to head out on holiday tomorrow. I wish I was still here because, you know, obviously I'd rather be here. But, no, I'm just going to go away, have a break, and then get ready in about two weeks for Los Angeles and the American hard court swing, which I haven't played in nearly three or four years. You know, there's only one way to go, and that's to go up with my tennis, my game, to keep on improving, looking forward to the future. Obviously very disappointed because I saw the draw was opening up, things were looking good. You know, it's always tough. You know, you want to continue. You want to still be here, especially when you see things happening like, you know, Federer may be upsetting Sampras, you know, the top section. Safin, in the quarterfinals, would have been a pretty nice match. But, you know, unfortunately that didn't happen.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I don't want to watch the tennis anymore. I seriously don't want to watch it. I'm turning off the TV, turning off the tennis. It's frustrating because, you know, you work really hard. I've worked really hard just to get myself back from last year, and, you know, you feel that you have a chance. Fair enough I'm saying one match at a time, but deep down you feel you have a chance to still win The Championships. But you play it one match at a time. That's what makes it difficult, especially if guys are falling out, draws are opening up, it's rough to see.

GREG RUSEDSKI: No, I wasn't thinking about that. I was hoping for a period where he'd start to miss, hit a few double-faults and slow down. But that period never came. I never managed to force it on him. It wasn't the Court 1 syndrome. I think it's more a syndrome of, you know, not being able to take those big points at 15-30 or Love-30. I had like three chances. Didn't create one breakpoint. You know, if a guy plays like that and serves like that, that's where you have to bring yourself that extra notch.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, they do bounce different. The two courts play completely different.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Centre is a little bit softer, a little bit slower. One is harder and higher bouncing, so it is a different sort of court. It is, in retrospect, a little bit higher bouncing, quicker. Centre is a little bit slower. I'm not the one who organises the match schedule.