THE LIPTON CHAMPIONSHIPS

March 21, 1998

Greg Rusedski

Q. Well done, nice and quick.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, I was pleased with the way I played today. I think the conditions were quite difficult with the wind. But I managed to serve reasonably well today. And I brought a lot of balls back and played my normal style, so it was satisfying. He is a tough, little player. He has had some good results. He took Sampras to -- he was up 4-2 in the fifth in Australia last year, so he is a good player and just managed to control it today.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I knew I had my chances, because I was making a lot of returns in the beginning. He was hitting some very good ground shots. I knew I could take my chances, my opportunities. And I have been doing reasonably well against breakpoints this year.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I think I have been consistent all year so far. I think from the beginning of the year I really haven't lost too many bad chances. Even the matches I have lost have been relatively close. So I feel like things are getting better. The outdoor season is going well. I think just -- my game is improving every day and getting better. I am not having the difficulty of transition of outdoors to indoors and so forth. I'm excited about -- looking forward to the clay this year, which in the past I haven't been that excited about.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I don't think so. I think that just the help with the work I have done with Tony and just working on my game and improving every day. I think his knowledge of the game keeps on helping me, keeps on motivating me. So I owe a lot of credit to him. If I can keep listening to him, keep learning, then I have a chance to get better and keep on improving, because he didn't do too badly with someone called Stefan. So it would be nice if I could do a few things that he accomplished.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I ring him about once a day at least, sometimes twice. We chat on the phone every day. And he seems to be in. He is watching the matches whenever he can on the teli. Whenever the tennis comes on, he is there. We seem to do reasonably well on the telephone.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I haven't rung him yet. He probably knows the result already. But I will definitely give him a ring in the morning or even tonight again.

GREG RUSEDSKI: That is just a personal thing for a player. I have always been a little bit of an independent person in the way I approach things. I think sometimes it is good just to have a little bit of space. But for other players it might not be the best thing. Certain players, like an Andre Agassi, every week he is with Brad Gilbert, and seems to do the trick. Or Pete Sampras who is every week with Paul Annacone. I just think it depends on the player, really. It is a very personal thing.

GREG RUSEDSKI: We just sit down and discuss it, and I say "Which weeks would you like to come to?" And he says "These." And, I usually say, "That is fine." And that is the way it goes.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I am not really worried about it. It is the captain's choice to pick who he wants for the doubles team and who he thinks is best. And I don't think there should be any problem. I think we are trying to do well for Britain and we are trying to get us back into the World Group. If that means we have to play doubles, then we play doubles.

GREG RUSEDSKI: No, I don't know. Someone -- someone said The Times, they had this big article how we sat down and discussed everything. All we did was go to dinner and that was it, so...

GREG RUSEDSKI: No, myself and Steve, and my physical trainer and we just had a meal and had a little laugh; that was about it really.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, I have been trying out a new racket. It seems to be going along quite well. The company seems to be doing their best efforts and we will just have to wait and see.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I am not really concerned about that, no. I mean, if the racket works, then I am going to play with it. If it doesn't, it doesn't. But, it is coming along very nicely.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Well, at the moment, I am just trying the racket out. Just going to see how it goes.

GREG RUSEDSKI: No, you have to try it out in tournaments, definitely.

GREG RUSEDSKI: No, I haven't at the moment.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Just want to do your best for the country. And, I mean, myself and Tim playing, we are obviously the top two players in British right now. If it means we have to play doubles or whatever, that is fine, we just get on with the job; I think everything will be absolutely fine. And, we are going to have to perform well because Medvedev is starting to pick up his tennis and playing the tennis he used to. Last week he had a great week at Indian Wells. This week he has come off quite an impressive win against Brian MacPhie who is a big server. So it might come down to the doubles match like it did in Kiev, so it is very important for us to play well in all the matches.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I haven't played doubles. I think I have played maybe doubles once after that, so I can't remember the last time I have played doubles. So, it should be fun to see. I think it was at New Haven was the last doubles match I played with David Wheaton.

GREG RUSEDSKI: No, I haven't played one this year. Just concentrating on my singles.

GREG RUSEDSKI: It is for choice really because I really want to focus on my singles. I think that is the most important thing, just save your energy to try to go later on in the weeks; that is why I have chosen not to play any doubles.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I am looking forward to that. I am going to have a week holiday off. Newcastle, get a week's preparation on the red clay; play Monte Carlo, Munich, Hamburg, and then Rome, and then a week off and then the French Open.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Unfortunately I haven't been able to link up with anybody, so I am going to go to Hamburg instead.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I think it would be absolutely absurd actually. Because they have spent all this money on such a fabulous facility, you always get all the top players here. The Americans game style, per se, would be better on a hard court, so, why would you want to risk hurting your own players. So I don't understand that. I think just it should be kept the way it is. There is more than enough clay court tournaments during the year.

GREG RUSEDSKI: No, I was at the basketball matches Sunday.

GREG RUSEDSKI: No, I don't think he should. But, I mean, obviously the Spanish players and the claycourters would favor it because I think they want to even out the Super Nines with having an extra clay court event. That is probably what their thinking is for it. If you have spent all this money on a facility it is ludicrous to tear it up and put clay courts.

GREG RUSEDSKI: That would be nice. I would vote for that, but I am not sure a lot of other players would.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Well, obviously, I'm going to try and peak for Wimbledon this year. That is why I am not going to be playing Nottingham this year. I am going to be playing at Queens. If I have a good run at Queens, then I won't be playing Nottingham, but they are holding me a wildcard just in case. So, yeah, I am trying to do my best there and that is like looking at the Grand Slams as the most important, so I want to do well at the French Open this year and I want to do really well at Wimbledon. So, those are the two events this summer and especially Wimbledon.

GREG RUSEDSKI: No, the reason I did it was twofold because I had a fabulous week in Antwerp; came down to London and played Battersea; lost in the first round. That, to me, that was disappointing. I don't want to have that -- leave all my best tennis on the court when I hit Wimbledon. Like last year when I played Pioline, I was a little bit physically and mentally tired, so, going into Wimbledon I want to be as fresh and able as possible; not have a lapse like I did right after winning Antwerp and then have what happened to me at Battersea.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Never knew they were called the Handsome 8.

GREG RUSEDSKI: (Laughter).

GREG RUSEDSKI: Well, I think a lot of the players in the past, I mean, they had better wages than most people had when they were, than they were earning during their time, but they didn't have the sort of money we have nowadays. And, we have got to say many thanks to them and appreciation because of what they have done for the game, from bringing the sport to such a high standard of professional. I am -- they always competed more for the joy of it. They had to behave themselves properly or they didn't get invited back to the tournament. So, it was a different era and we owe a lot to them and all I can say is really thank you to them.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I don't have a clue, but the sooner the better.