EUROCARD OPEN

October 28, 1999

Greg Rusedski

ATP: Questions for Greg.

GREG RUSEDSKI: That was a horrible result. They played terrible. I didn't see it, but I saw the score on CNN. Didn't put me in a good mood last night.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Well, I just stayed positive out there. I think Tommy came up with some good shots. I think I made him play eight out of the ten breakpoints. One of them, I hit a volley an inch from the baseline; he flipped it down the line. He played those breakpoints very well. It was just a matter of me staying in there. Once I got Love-40, hit a good chip approach and won the set. I felt really confident and in control. When you don't lose one point on serve for a full set, you got to feel pretty good about yourself.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, feeling good. I mean, that's a difficult match, I mean, playing Haas here in Stuttgart, not having played a match on the court yet. He's already played a match against Ferreira. You know, it's a difficult one because he's very hungry because he had a good opportunity this week for Hannover, and he knows if he would have beaten me, he would have moved up to ninth position in the race. I think I'm very satisfied with the performance today.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I think it's quicker this week. I think when you get in the rally, the ball bounces a little differently. It's slow once you get in the rally. But off the first serve and the second serve, it comes through a little bit more. The second, if you don't hit it well, then it sits up, and you can get a good hit on it. If you hit your first well, there's not really too good a chance of returning it if the guy is serving well.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I don't know. I've been doing it for about five years now, so (laughter). Doesn't seem to be much problem there.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Well, you knew the crowd was going to get into it. Anything that I did or said, they were going to get into it. When we had those two close calls, the crowd got into it. I think the game that was really important for me was I believe when we got new balls, 4-2 in the second set. That 15-30, I got that one let cord, which really helped me to get to 30-All and win that game. I think that was where the match was really finished for me because the crowd started getting into it, they started cheering a little bit, when I missed my first serve, asking for double-faults in German (laughter). If I would have lost that game, the match could have gotten interesting out there. But fortunately for me, I held my nerve and played a good game.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I'm not even going to talk about that (laughter). I had a feeling you might bring it up.

GREG RUSEDSKI: No difference at all. I think I'm going to have to raise my standard again tomorrow. If the US Open was two out of three sets, I would have been home 7-5, 6-Love which would have been nice. You know, I'm looking forward to the match. It's obviously one I'd like to win. I've only beaten Todd once out of six tries, I believe. It would be nice to have a win. I'm playing very well. Obviously he's getting his form back a little bit this week, beating Novak convincingly, 2 and 4, winning his other match handily. I think he's going to return a little bit better and serve a little bit better than Haas. It's going to be another good test for me.

GREG RUSEDSKI: No. Obviously I want to win because I haven't beaten him many times. It's going to give me extra motivation to try to win. But you just kind of forget those things and move on. If you win, you feel a lot better.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I don't really care who would have won between Novak or Martin, to be honest with you.

GREG RUSEDSKI: No, no. I thought I was playing good tennis. I lost a match I should have never lost against Todd. I think that happens once every five years in my career, so I'll be retired by the next time the one comes around so that won't happen again.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Who knows? Probably be playing the Senior Tour when it becomes under 30 (laughter). No, I think it will be a good match, and one I'm looking forward to winning. I don't like losing to guys in a row. That was what was nice about beating Kiefer in Vienna and now beating Haas again this week, it was very satisfying. I'd like to try to get a victory against Todd.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Last year I was No. 1 statistically indoors; had the most match wins. I think I've won a lot of tournaments indoors. I think I was No. 1 in the world on all the statistical categories indoors. I feel very comfortable indoors. But I think my game's improving in all sorts. I need to transfer the way I play indoors outdoors more. That's what Sven and I are working on next season to get ready for the Slams. I think I'd like to do that all season long, even when I'm outdoors. But indoors it's definitely an advantage.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I don't really think about it. I'm just thinking about playing tennis, going out there and winning matches. If I get to Hannover, that's great. If I don't, I don't. I'm not really putting a big emphasis or big pressure on myself to make it to Hannover. I don't think that's my goal at the moment. I've been to Hannover two straight years. It's great to be there. It's great to play. Last year I won two matches, was undefeated, and was sent home. So I didn't really feel that was too good, because in '97 I would have been in the semis. I think I'm really concentrating more on the Slams because that's what's important for me right now in my career because I haven't won one and I'd like to win a major. That's what I'm really, really focusing on, thinking about. I've got maybe two, three more years where I have a real legitimate shot of winning a major, then after that it's not as good.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Well, that's Andre. He's had a few more breaks than me in the 30 years he's played.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I think Andre is a different body, different game. He doesn't play a serve-and-volley game. I think serve-and-volley tennis is much more demanding. He's a very gifted player when it comes from the ground and the baseline. Not a lot of people can do what he's done, to come back and to go out and come back and go back. I mean, he's taken off -- probably in every two years he takes six to seven months off. He's a young 30 out there, to be honest with you.

GREG RUSEDSKI: But mine aren't because I want to take them off. Mine are more forced summers off than his choices (laughter).

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yes.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I don't like the point about the zero pointers. I mean, if someone has a legitimate injury, and they haven't come up with the ruling yet to decide how many zero pointers are going to help your ranking. I think it's unfair, for example, when I hurt my ankle at Wimbledon in '98, I get a zero pointer at Wimbledon, zero pointer for Cincinnati, zero pointer for Toronto. It's really not my fault. We're talking about a sport that goes 11 months of the year. We're not talking about a sport that you're saying, "Okay, seven months of the year, eight months of the year." We're talking about one that starts in January and finishes the end of November, sometimes even middle of December if you're still in the Davis Cup. For myself personally, I'm not really happy about that. I don't think a lot of players are happy about that. But it's done. It's gone because of the deal with ISL. They had to guarantee that when they did the deal of the zero pointer clause. That's in there. So for five to ten years, whatever it is, we have to put up with it whether we like it or whether we don't. That's just been done. I don't think the players can do anything about it.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Well, I think that helps. I think when I'm healthy, when I feel good, for some reason when I have two months off, I'm fresher, I'm stronger, I'm fitter, I'm not having niggles or nacks or injuries to deal with. That's why next year my schedule is going to be so much lighter, I'm playing a maximum of 23 events. I'm going to be focusing in on playing well at the Majors, be fresh and healthy. I think I've been fortunate since I've come back that my health is very good. When I'm healthy, I feel I can beat anybody in the world. If they beat me, they beat me because they played good tennis. That's always a good feeling.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I'm getting married, I'm having a honeymoon, I won't be training too hard.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I don't know about those things, Barry.