TMS - ROME

May 7, 2001

Greg Rusedski

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I don't know. I thought it was pretty tough conditions. But, no, I was really pleased. I was really looking forward to this match because he beat me pretty badly in Miami, and I wanted to get my revenge on him. So I -- Brad and I sat down, worked out a good game plan for today's match, and I thought it was going to be a little bit mentally tougher out there today, especially in the first set, with the difficult conditions and the rain and the clay being so soft.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, that's about as tough as it's going to get for me definitely. It reminded me a little bit of Hamburg - when the clay's really wet, it's really slow. Usually, Rome is a favorable surface for serve-and-volleyers and attacking sort of players. Historically, the balls are quicker. This year they're using the Penn ball, which was a lot slower than the Dunlap ball we used in Monte-Carlo, so it's actually changed the way it plays this year in Rome. It's not as quick as normal.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, I went to Barcelona. I've been training, I worked with my physical trainer for ten days straight. We just did a lot of running, weights, a lot of fitness, a lot of conditioning just to get stronger for the Grand Slams coming up. So that was very, very good. Then Brad came in on the Tuesday, and we worked for four days prior to getting here on the Saturday. So that was great.

GREG RUSEDSKI: No, I didn't pick up a racquet. It was just gym session, gym session, running. We did court drills where I ran on the clay courts, but not with -- not hitting tennis balls.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, it was great. It was -- we had a little bit of rain on and off, but every day we managed to get two sessions in of fitness which worked out great. I got to do the swimming pool, do running exercises, run in the hills, work on the clay court. It was very good. I think it helped me this week, because I felt I could physically stay out there even with the tough conditions today.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I was just working a little bit with Brad. We were working on a few of the returns and technical things, mixing up my returns with the long returns, short returns. Marc-Kevin Goellner came to stay at the house with me, and we worked as well with my clay court game. So he came down for a few days as well.

GREG RUSEDSKI: No, I think it is. I think it becomes more of a physical contest because you can't really serve and volley and get the cheap points that you want to out there. And it just comes to where the mind sort of breaks, and who's going to physically be out there and last there. Because, you know, these clay court guys are good enough to return the first serve if a serve-and-volleyer is coming and hit the good return. So it definitely becomes a battle like that.

GREG RUSEDSKI: No, he isn't. It was actually quite a good draw on the clay. I beat him last time at the French Open in four sets. He lost in Monte-Carlo to Pioline 1 and 2. For me, as an opening match, it was quite a favorable one, but still one that I wanted to play well because of the revenge factor for Miami. But I think my next round will be two guys who are pretty adapt on the clay. I think Wayne Ferreira has won a few clay court tournaments, and Dominik Hrbaty, semis at the French, finals in Monte-Carlo. So whoever wins that one, it's going to be a good test.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I think the extra physical strength, just getting to practice on good clay courts, just having the benefit of, you know, hitting partners. And if I want to drive in to Barcelona and play with any of the players there, I can do it. It's just great to wake up and know you're going to have a clay court there always ready, not having to worry about it. And being able to do your physical training, which is so important, you know, rather than having to do it inside all the time, you know. I think it just helps during the season.

GREG RUSEDSKI: No, I'm just about an hour outside of Barcelona. I have a house that is --.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, it's got courts there, all different sorts of things. It's very relaxing and very good for me to work for the season.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, I'm in the mountains where I can do mountain biking, all sorts of different things, run up the hills. You know, it's been very, very good. I felt I played pretty well in Monte-Carlo. Even though I lost to Pavel, I think both sets I had a chance to win. You know, each set I felt, you know, I could have won the first or second set. But I played well. Then this week I felt I played a good match. Hopefully, I'll continue. Tim had a great week in Monte-Carlo and proved he can play well there. That's a great effort.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Probably for a few days. I'll go definitely for a few days to do some more training before the French and get to the French on a Wednesday and get practice three or four days on the French Open courts and get the right work done.

GREG RUSEDSKI: No, I don't own it. I'm just renting a place at the moment.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Well, there's a court and there's two clubs there. One has four courts and another one has another few courts as well.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, they've got tons of clay courts and tons of people that come up and practice. You can invite whoever you want down, or you can go back in to Barcelona if you need any partners or anything.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, I know him well. We played doubles together, and we get on very well socially. He's great practice. I think he's playing some very good tennis, and hopefully he'll get his ranking back up there. We get on well.

GREG RUSEDSKI: He's living in London.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Still there, yep.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I'm not sure. He might, or I might go in to Barcelona. I've got Sergi Bruguera's number, and all the guys gave me their number. With Barcelona an hour away, it's not going to be a hard time to find anybody.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Not really. Not too, too much. I've been keeping myself a little bit away. I'm keeping myself top secret right now. (Smiling.) But they've given me their numbers, so I'm -- they've been playing the last two weeks. But if there's a few days off, it's more than easy to call them.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, I've heard quite a bit -- quite a lot of talk on it. I don't think it's really going to affect me this year, so I don't really have to worry about that one. So that's a nice thing. The second thing is you can -- whichever way you're going, you're not going to make some people happy because some of the guys who are like 20, 25, who played well historically on the grass are going to be disappointed that they didn't get seeded. Then you're going to have guys that say, "I worked hard the whole year, I deserve my ranking." (Inaudible)... are guys that don't necessarily play well on clay. They have to come down and make a decision on which way to go. For me, to be honest with you, whichever way they go I'm happy with. As long as the other players feel that's right, it's fine. I don't think you can please everybody, but you've got to make a decision one way or the other. If they decide to seed off the ranking list, for example, Kuerten would be No. 1 going into Wimbledon.

GREG RUSEDSKI: He's been to the quarterfinals of Wimbledon, that's not a bad effort. But I don't know if it makes sense. Grass is such a specialized surface, they don't have enough seeds. So, you know, I don't -- I can't really worry about it, ranked 52 in the world right now as well.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, I guess so. They could do that. I think -- I'm happy one way or the other because I think, you know, if they go off the seedings that are right now, 1 through 16 and seed accordingly, none of the clay court guys are going to have any excuse why they don't show up. So if they go that way, from Kuerten, Safin, Agassi, exactly on 1 through 16, then anybody who doesn't show up should be severely punished if it's not a legitimate excuse. Because then the other way, every time you keep changing, changing the theory and the format on it, you know, it gives them an excuse not to show up because there's always an argument, "Well, I should be seeded this, I should be seeded that." If you go off the list, then they don't have any argument for not showing up with the way the system works. That's the only positive I think.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I think 32 seeds in a Grand Slam's a great idea. I actually think I'd like to see that. I think, you know, if you're 30 or 32, the 30th or 32nd player in the world, you're a hell of a good player so I would kind of like a 32 seed in a Grand Slam. I don't think that's a bad idea at all.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Exactly. Because then, you know, if people 1 through 32 are seeded, I think it's very, very just.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, it's hard not to rank Sampras No. 1 at The Championships. He's won, what, seven out of eight years? It's very difficult to not, say Pete, as defending champion, has a tremendous winning streak there, not to seed him No. 1. It's very hard to argue that case. (Inaudible.)

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, realistically, I mean, I have been to the fourth round.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Well, I think the clay court guys have gotten awfully good on the indoor surfaces and on the hardcourts. So, you know, I don't think -- I think Wimbledon is the last one that is going to have that sort of issue. The other thing as well, you have to look at if there was a longer grass court season, which I'm highly in favor of, and maybe a Masters Series on it, it would be great. Until you get to that, I don't think they'll have surface changes. It's pretty good for most of the surfaces.

GREG RUSEDSKI: It depends how I play. If I have a good week at Queen's, I'm probably going to take the week off. If I don't, then I'll be looking to play some more matches definitely. So right now I'm entered in Queen's and then Wimbledon.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I did watch him a little bit. Yeah, I think he's got a lot of talent. I think he strikes the ball well. I think he's won one tournament and finals --.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Okay, two back-to-back. I think that's a great effort. He's, what, 18 years old? He's up and coming. I always think it's easier to get there, but it's great prospects for America if you have an 18-year-old coming up like that. It's only a plus thing. I think, you know, Brad's had a good look at him, I've looked at him. He's a good player.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I don't mind who I draw at Wimbledon to be quite honest. I'm more relaxed with myself, more relaxed with my game. I kind of know what I have to do out there a little bit more. If you're going to win Wimbledon or do well there, you have to win seven matches, and it doesn't matter who's standing in front of you.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Exactly. It's probably easier to get him in the first round than to get him in the finals. I don't know if he's ever lost in the finals. The other thing I look at, I always take the example of Krajicek when he won the title. He wasn't seeded, Muster pulled out, got seeded 17, went through Sampras, Stich, then won the title. That's a great effort. So I kind of look at it like that. If you're going to do it, you have to win seven. Look at Kuerten when he came out of nowhere at 16 in the world. These players just do it if they're that good and it's meant to be and it's supposed to happen; they find a way.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I don't know. I think, you know, I mean it's tough conditions.

GREG RUSEDSKI: No, we'll wait and see. We'll find out. You never know with Pete, do you? You just have to wait and see.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Not this weather today, I don't think.