NEWSWEEK CHAMPIONS CUP

March 13, 1998

Greg Rusedski

MIKI SINGH: Greg is a 2-6, 7-6, 1 in the tiebreak, 6-4 winner this morning over Thomas Enqvist.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I finished in the afternoon, 12:01.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I wish I was in the final.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I was pleased with the way I competed today. I thought I had a poor start. I wasn't hitting my serve well enough. I'm sure when I speak to Tony, he'll have a few choice words with me about the first few games of the match. I stayed mentally focused, started hitting my serve, being more aggressive, taking more chances, things came around positively for me.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I was trying to be aggressive on him. He was serving so well in the beginning; I wasn't serving very well, I wasn't finding my rhythm. With Thomas, if you don't serve as well, he has fabulous returns, he showed what happened in the first three games of the match.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I was just trying to keep him in play, wait for the short ball to get in really. It seemed to work well today.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I really don't think about that, to be quite honest with you. If I would have had 146, world record, and lost the match, I would have been very disappointed. Any day, I'd rather take a match win, because that's the most important thing, trying to get higher in the rankings. It's a nice little thing to have as a plus with the match today.

GREG RUSEDSKI: It's possible maybe to go to 150. It depends on the air. The air is a little dry here; the ball is going to sail through the air quicker. In this altitude, it's possible. Let's hope it's not happening against me.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I think I've played quite a few in my career. With my game vastly improving, I'm playing a few less, which is nice. The week in Rotterdam, I played two very disappointing tiebreakers against Krajicek. It was a very positive thing for me to come out and play a good tiebreaker in such a big match this week. That was very much a positive thing for me.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Actually, I've been up every day since 5:00 here. Maybe I'm too early a person. Maybe that's my problem.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Was a little bit of a surprise. I kept my head together. I started to serve properly. I got that first game. Things started to roll. Even his first service game, I had two or three deuces. I was playing close on his service games, even though he was winning them. I knew if I could just get that little extra, I had an opportunity to get back in the match. Fortunately for me today, it happened.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Forehand 150, backhand a little bit above 100. I haven't clocked the velocity of my other shots. I think the serve is probably the fastest thing you could clock. If they could find a way to clock a return of serve off a hard serve like that, then maybe they could choose the velocity.

GREG RUSEDSKI: He did. That was breakpoint to get back on serve at 4-5. That was a tremendous return by him to win that point, to get back on serve in the second set. I wasn't too pleased to see it come back, though.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I looked afterwards. I thought I hit a good serve. I hit it too close to him, block. He managed to hit a good forehand return. Players like Agassi, Bjorkman, if you hit it to their zone, they can bring back anything.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I think it's a good thing for me. I can look over and say, "Why is this guy returning my serve so well today?" I use it as a tool to help myself, maybe I'm not hitting my serve hard enough, not going for the corners. You can check to see what the speed of your serve is. In the first few games, I missed a lot of first serves, but my speed wasn't up to a high enough standard. It kind of helps you in that respect. You don't look at it, "I hit 146, let's go for 148." You use it to taper it to see if the guy is really playing that well or if it's because you're not serving hard enough.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I think probably my second serve is anywhere between 105 miles an hour to about 123. So it's a little bit slower because you're going to play it a little bit safer, so you have more slice or kick on the ball, so it's a little bit different.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I think I had a few today. I'll leave those to the statisticians.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I think I toss the ball the same on both serves, my first or my second serve. Just try to get a good, high ball toss, then just go after it really.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Well, I like having it there because I use it to help my game. But if it's not there, I think I can realize what's happening. I think it's a little bit of a help for me.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Definitely. I'm really pleased because my last Super 9, I made the quarterfinals. To get into the semis this week is tremendous. I want to keep on going in the event. I have a good opportunity tomorrow playing either Muster or Medvedev. If I can hit some of the form I had in the tiebreak in the third set, then I have a good possibility to continue in the event, which would be fantastic. It can move my rating up and get me to closer grasp of the top three players in the world.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Second serve probably bounce higher than the first serve. The first serve is flatter, the trajectory, won't bounce as high off the court.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, I think so, definitely. I had some good chip and charges. I think I only made one unforced error, which was on the third point of the tiebreak on a backhand slice I missed up the line. I think besides that it was a flawless tiebreaker. I think that really helped me.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah. That was what clinched the tiebreaker, really. It was 4-1, slice up the line to give me 5-1. I think he felt a little bit of pressure at 5-1. I got a second serve, he gave me a double-fault, then finished it off.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I think he's a good professional. I think it's always difficult when someone is serving well. In the beginning of the first part of the match, he was serving well; I was having a bit of trouble. Then I managed raise my standard, which helped a lot. Hopefully, if I can serve well, might not keep people as positive, which would be nice.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I used to enjoy watching McEnroe and Stefan Edberg play because of their serve and volley style. McEnroe was so unique because he could hit shots most people could never hit in their lifetime. Edberg was a fantastic volleyer. He moved so well; was a graceful player to watch. I don't think I'm in the same sort of viewership as them. I'm a little bit different.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I don't know. I've always had a good serve. It was something that always came pretty natural to me. I guess I always had it since I was a young age. I wouldn't say I was hitting as many aces as I do now.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Probably. I could probably not see over the net too well (laughter).