AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 18, 2005

Greg Rusedski

THE MODERATOR: First question, please.

GREG RUSEDSKI: No, I was. You know, I felt like I was striking the ball well even though I lost the first set. I just didn't feel like I was going after my second serve enough and he was really punishing me for not doing that. I felt I was making a lot of returns, and I just upped my level and played a really good second and third set. Then, you know, he lifted his game in the fourth and I managed to lift mine when I needed to. So very pleased to be through in four sets.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Well, I think with my experience and having played so much tennis, you know, it's not a break until you hold your serve. So I was always optimistic about getting a break because the last two sets I think I'd broken four times and had maybe six games with breakpoints. So I knew I had a chance to get back. No, it was definitely nice to finish off in four.

GREG RUSEDSKI: It was very important to get that early break in the second set. I got off to a great start winning the first game, then consolidating after being down 15-40. That really set the momentum for the second, and then the third set I was all over him. It's very important. There's two things you don't want to play over here, there's a Swede and probably an Australian. Those are the two toughest to play in Australia. It's great that the Swedish fans come down and support their players like they do, but there's a lot of British fans out there as well. They were having a little bit of banter, so I think it made an exciting match.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Much more peaceful.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I just have to put it behind me and forget about it, just get on with my tennis and enjoy it. I want to enjoy my last few years of tennis. Every match you win, you feel really good about it, especially at major championships. This is the first major I've actually been able to prepare for for two years. The last two years, with everything happening last year and then the previous year having the two surgeries, I actually had my first real chance to prepare properly for a major. So that was such a plus for me this year.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I don't even want to get involved. I've had enough of that. I'm not even going to go there.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Well, what I think is it should never be made public, these sorts of things, until all the facts are out, until there's a tribunal, until everything goes through. I feel sorry for the three girls who have to put up with it. If the organizer for the event said, you know, we have an exhibition and said all the girls, you know, were in the same boat. But he excluded some and he included others. So I just wish he just would have kept his mouth shut and dealt with it properly. But, you know, that's sport and that's the way things go sometimes.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Well, he's gotten the better of me most times, but I'm still undefeated at Grand Slam level with him, so that's a positive for me. But Jonas and I have had some great battles, especially that US Open semifinal in '97 where it could have gone either which way. So we know each other's games quite well and it's always an exciting match for both of us.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Well, I've been working quite hard. After I finished the week in St. Petersburg, I've been working with Jean-Pierre, the physio and physical trainer at the LTA for the past two months every day for four hours a day just to get stronger physically because I felt I needed to do that. After this tournament, the Australian Open finishes, I'm going to be looking for a coach to work with me when I'm at home or for the Grand Slams because I think I need that extra little added help right now. I'm feeling healthy so I think I can commit to someone in that respect as well. That's something to look forward to, because going into the next major, which is the French Open and Wimbledon, I'd like to have someone there just to bounce ideas off and just to help me prepare even better for the majors.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, I am. I'm still very committed to my tennis. I want to be the best I possibly can. I think I've never really taken shortcuts in my career, and I've always tried to get the best people and tried to do the best things I possibly can. So I'm still motivated to do well and give it a good shot this year again.

GREG RUSEDSKI: No, I don't really. But I'm going to sit down after Australia. I've got a lot to think about after the Australian Open, as you well know, about different issues. So, you know, I'm just going to sit down, try to sort out all those things.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Someone in the UK or someone I just respect, someone who can come in for a few weeks here and there. Tim has a good arrangement with Paul Annacone where he comes in for the major championships. Maybe something to that extent, someone I'm going to respect and someone I think can work well with me.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I think the win at Wimbledon was definitely one of my best matches I've ever played at Wimbledon. So that was very memorable. Then I played him the following year and lost my mind a little bit and, you know, had a memorable match there. So we've had two great matches at Wimbledon, at major championships. Now if he wins, it will be great to play him on a different surface at the Australian Open. I very much look forward to it. I think mentally I'm stronger now than I've been ever been. I think today's match kind of proved it with the tiebreaker and just coming back and just staying at one keel all the way through. I'll be looking forward to it.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Well, I thought he played very well in the Wimbledon finals against Roger. I think out of all the Grand Slam finals, I think he had a chance there until the rain came and Roger changed his strategy. I think he played very, very well that year. And had the rain not come, who knows, it could have been different. But he's one of the danger players. You don't finish No. 1 or No. 2 in the world two straight years without being a very good player.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I think it's a combination. It's very hard to deal with mentally and physically. I didn't have the best preparation coming in. Albert Costa is quite a great player, so it's a combination of a few things.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Well, I think it's a combination of both. Having gone through what I had to go through last year and the year before that with the injuries, you're either going to get weaker and disappear and fall off the planet, which I could have done when I was 168 in the world, but decided I was going to fight back and got to the Top 50, which I think is one of my best accomplishments as a professional tennis player. I think it's made me stronger. I'm going to enjoy it and give everything I can to this game.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yes.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, I'm -- I think Donnay bought Dunlop/Slazenger. So they've changed me into the full Dunlop kit and racquets. Yeah, I enjoy the racquet and like the new line of clothing. So I'm quite excited about it.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I don't know. I seem to be returning better with it. So I don't know if it's the racquet or it's me (laughter). I like the racquet I'm playing with, it's very nice.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I don't really mind, whichever way it is. I mean, Andy is obviously going to serve a lot better than Jonas did today. You're going to have fewer chances and you're going to have to take your opportunities. But also I think Jonas probably returns slightly better than Andy does. It's going to be a good match. I'm looking forward to it. I'm just going to have to make solid returns. I can't just bunt the ball back, because he'll just run around and hit the big forehand and dictate play, so I'm going to have to take some risks.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I don't mind. Whichever way. Whether I play in the afternoon or in the evening, I'm pretty sure we'll probably get maybe a centre court match, which would be exciting and I really look forward to.

GREG RUSEDSKI: He's good because he's got a physiotherapy background, and that's what he does as main. He can look at the body and suggest specific exercises as well as balancing me out. As tennis players, you're quite dominant on the left side. So he's doing a lot of work to even out both sides and make me more symmetrical so I don't get so many injuries. That's a very positive thing.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Not really similar. It's just different. He's looking at the physical side of things from movement to, you know, just balancing. So then my right shoulder goes a little bit lower and I'm just a little bit more symmetrical, which helps the body. So it's a good thing.

GREG RUSEDSKI: There's three kids I look at that I think have a good chance. But the question mark will be is, do they have that hunger, that desire? I mean, you've got to look at someone like Lleyton Hewitt. I mean, there's a guy who has so much desire and wants every ball and every point. You know, you can teach that, but you can't teach that. It's the ones who are going to want it, the hunger of it. I mean Alex Bogdanovic has got a lot of talent, Andrew Banks has a big game, a lot of talent. Murray is a good player as well, but he has a stronger mind than the other two, I think. So those three guys have a good chance to do well. And they're going to have to step up and start making those breakthroughs, which they're trying to do at the moment, and hopefully they will.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I haven't been talking that way for ten years.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I was hoping five years I wouldn't have to be talking about them and they would be here already.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I think a great example for tennis is the Russian women. I mean, you should talk to them about their desire and what they want and their hunger for tennis. I mean, what they've created is phenomenal. You know, they know they have to win tennis matches. There's nothing coming easy to them. That's a desire and hunger. I mean, look at McEnroe. He was from quite a nice background, upper middle class family, but he still had the hunger and desire and needed to win every single match. That's what you need to be a good tennis player - if not a great one.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I think it's getting better but there's still room for improvement. I'm still playing at the moment. And, you know, I'd still like to get involved and help out any which way I possibly could to encourage those young kids. You know, they have a window, to try to figure out, like myself personally, when I was playing, 21 was the cutoff date. If I didn't make it by the time I was 21, I was going to get myself a different job. You have to make a cutoff date and figure out what you want from the sport. That's what they have to decide.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, we worked physically very hard in the gym with Jean-Pierre, trying to work, help him out, see what we possibly can do. Let's keep our fingers crossed for those three youngsters.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I think he right now is playing better than anybody I've ever played, from Sampras to Agassi. I mean, in Doha, he wasn't even at full tilt yet and he was pretty phenomenal because there's not really a noticeable weakness. I think Pete had a better serve than Roger does, but Roger disguises it very well and builds the point. He can come forward, he can stay back. I think Roger, if he continues the way he's playing now, can go down as maybe the greatest player to ever play the game. That's hard to say, considering I played most of my tennis during the Sampras era, which everybody said there's nobody that's going to come along and do what he accomplished.

GREG RUSEDSKI: His backhand used to be a weakness; now it's a weapon. His return of serve, I think he's one of the best return-of-serve players in the world. And he can basically do everything. I think the only way to come at Roger is to come at him and just serve and volley and try to knock him off the court with big serving and just try to come forward. But he's handling every sort of tennis at the moment extremely well.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I don't think there's any weakness there. I've never seen a No. 1 so relaxed and so well-liked by all the players. I think he's a great guy, a great world No. 1, a great ambassador for the game. I think the players have nothing but respect for him.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, I'd like to try to get back in the Top 20, if not try to get back in the Top 10. I like to set high goals. If I accomplish them, great. If not, it's better to be higher than lower. You need something to fight for and to strive for. That's what I look forward to doing and playing well at the major championships. So, you know, I'm excited about Thursday's match because that will be another step forward to see where I am. I've played Federer, the world No. 1. I played Joachim Johansson, probably the next guy who's the hottest. Now I'll play Andy Roddick most likely. It will be exciting to see where I am.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Probably 2002. I thought 2002 I'd be back in the Top 20, if not the Top 10, after losing that match to Sampras. Didn't go too well for me the next two years. Back end of 2002 I think I really had a chance at the Open and major championships. I'd like to get back where I can compete at that level and feel like I can win matches against players of that standard and progress. That would be nice.