TMS - INDIAN WELLS

March 11, 2001

Greg Rusedski

MODERATOR: Questions for Greg. He plays Patrick Rafter in the first round, coming off a San Jose title a few weeks ago.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, I am. I had a hit last night. Wasn't the hottest weather, but there wasn't any wind. I pulled up well and I'm really looking forward to this week. I've asked for a Tuesday start, if I play Monday, I'll be fine as well. Everything feels good, ready to play, and looking forward to the match.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, it's good. It was just a little bit of a tweak; just a slight spasm. I didn't want to take any risks on it. I didn't feel that it was worth it. I'd rather have had the extra two, three days' rest and treatment just to make sure. Especially with the way the new system pans out and the way things are, you don't want to take any risks or chances. It was just something minor; it's gone; I'll be ready.

GREG RUSEDSKI: No, it won't be. It won't be a regular problem. You know, it will be absolutely fine. Just looking forward to the future and looking forward to this week.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I worked with Sven Groenveld, my last coach, and he suggested I should give Pat a call after we split up in Wimbledon last year. We're really good friends. My body had been suffering quite a bit. We sat down, we talked briefly at the US Open, and then we decided to sit down at the end of the year in November and talk together. When we sat down, he suggest to add few people to travel with me, Brad Langevad, who is my biomechanist, a physio, Ryan Kendrick, and Mark Reid. He put together a whole team. Pat has been there only at the Australian Open. We call and e-mail him, speak to him on the phone. That's how he got started. He's not traveling with me every week. I have the other people that are traveling with me, taking care of me. He'll be down in Miami.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Well, I think he brings the knowledge. I mean, he had a lot of injuries, a lot of problems throughout his career. I think, you know, he knows the best people and the reasons for it. I tried every doctor, everything I possibly could do. I had to come to the extremes of changing my game and techniques in slight areas, doing different things. I think that's what he's brought to the table. Just the experience and knowledge of being there.

GREG RUSEDSKI: On my groundstrokes, on my return of serve, on every area. Some have been subtle; some have been more dramatic changes. By doing so, it takes stress off my body. Basically Brad Langevad, the biomechanist who is traveling with me the last three and a half months, will be continuing with me in the future for the rest of the year and the rest of the time doing those things with me.

GREG RUSEDSKI: It was just really cold. When I went for a ball, I really stretched. It was like the third game of the match. It was still warm and felt all right, but next day I got up, went to practice, and I was a little bit sore hitting my forehands and serves. It wasn't going so well. So I tried the next day after that I had a practice session before the match. It didn't feel exactly right. So, you know, I didn't want to put it under any risk or any -- or under any extra tests. You know, I had a hit last night, felt good. I'm going to have a hit today at 1:00. If you want to come by and see, you're more than welcome (smiling).

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, I'm really looking forward to it. Actually, I feel very confident going into the match. Pat I think has played pretty well this year, getting to the semis of the Australian, losing a tough match. Getting his rhythm. I'm sure he's looking to peak this week, for Indian Wells and for Key Biscayne. Last two times I've beaten him indoors. Last few times he's beaten me in tight matches outdoors. I think it's a good style contrast here. I think the courts are a little bit slower this year. The balls are a little bit slower. Gives me more time to test out my returns and my passing shots. These two areas, I'm quite pleased with.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Rios proved that theory wrong, having won back-to-back tournaments. I think Agassi and Sampras have played sometimes well in both. I mean, if you win one or get to the finals of one, it is quite difficult the next week to try to win it back to back. But you can still perform well because there's three days in between.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I prefer anywhere I'm winning. I mean, it doesn't really matter right now. I think this draw is fantastic. I mean, this is what tennis is all about. I mean, I looked at some of the match-ups on paper. You have Rios against Kafelnikov in the first round. You have myself and Rafter in the first round. You have Johansson-Safin in the first round. You have some wonderful matches. You have Arazi plays Agassi, who beat Agassi last year at the French. There's some interesting feature matches. I think this is what tennis is about. It puts the best against the best. It's a good thing for the game.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Well, if you don't improve every year, your ranking is going to go down. I think every year it gets stronger, gets better. There's more depth. New players. I think Clement, Grosjean made a big jump this year. Kuerten, Safin have established themselves as Top-10 players. I think the players that are ranked 200, 300 these days are a lot better than they were, say, three, four, five years ago. So I think the depth of the men's game keeps on improving, getting better. Obviously, there's more prize money, more players from South America coming up, more things going on. Your standard always has to be better.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah.

GREG RUSEDSKI: We're really ahead. We're absolutely delighted with the way things have gone. If someone would have said to me I would have played this well, with all the changes I was making in November and December, I would have probably said, "That's great, I'll take that, please." So, you know, I'm just really satisfied. There's still areas we can work on. We're always looking at new things to improve. My topspin backhand I feel is getting better. Just areas where I can differentiate the three backhands, the topspin, the flat, and the slice, know what I'm doing wrong. Just looking at opponents, learning things. There is always something new going on. The process is a non-stop process where I'm learning all the time. We're really ahead of schedule. I mean, I'm just delighted so far, being healthy, fit, doing the things I need to do.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Well, what I've heard from Andre and what I've heard from, you know, the guys in the locker room, people, they've all said to me Andre thought I played a great match. Didn't matter if he was out there an extra hour, I probably still would have won the match no matter what on that day. I don't know whether his comments or whatever were taken out of context or what was said. I think he had a lot of respect for the way I played on the day.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I don't worry myself. At the end of the day, if I've beaten three No. 1's in less than a few weeks' span, you know, I think I must be doing something right. I can feel my game improving, I can still feel like I can get better. That's an exciting prospect. At the end of the day, to win a Grand Slam or a tournament such as that, you have to go out and do it. You can talk about it as much as you like. You can say you're building towards it. But to win one, you have to go out and do it, no matter how much you can talk about it. Until you've won one, it doesn't matter.

GREG RUSEDSKI: So they must be getting a little bit more confident. There must be a few more bets going in.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Okay.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, I have. I'm going to be definitely heading to Monte-Carlo, going to be my first week. Then I haven't figured out whether I'm going to go Barcelona or not. I was looking to do two weeks of training in Spain and Barcelona anyways, just physical training with Mark Reid, to get really strong because I need to find a period where I can build my fitness and get stronger. I think that's really what helped me to win in San Jose, was I had those two weeks where I got myself in the gym and I lifted a few weights and I did some exercise to get myself strengthened to get through those five matches. I need to find another period for about two weeks. I'm thinking Monte-Carlo, two weeks of intense gym work, with a few light tennis balls before Rome and Hamburg, week off and then the French Open.

GREG RUSEDSKI: If I get in, of course. Depends how I do these two weeks. I think I'll probably be in there. I'm going to play all the designations I have to in the Masters Series. But I'm looking after Davis Cup to do some fitness periods before Monte-Carlo, and then after Monte-Carlo to build up. I need to have that strength for when I come to grass court season. That's the only real period of time where I can make that extra build, that extra push to get stronger.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Most likely. At the time being, that's the theory. That's what I'm hoping to do.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Well, I think I'd trade all my matches I've beaten him for to take that one. That would have been nice. You know, it was a tough match to lose, but Pat played awfully well on that day. I think it's a new match for both of us. I think I'm a better player than I was when I lost that US Open final. You know, we always look forward to playing each other because I'll have the big serve. He'll be the one to kick and run, come in as quick as he can to the net. I'm looking forward to the match. If I could trade all the matches I won against him the last two or three times, I think I'd take that US Open crown instead.