NASDAQ-100 OPEN

March 22, 2002

Greg Rusedski

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Greg.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yes.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Well, I think, you know, I didn't mind the wind. That doesn't really bother me so much. But if it was a little bit warmer today, like it was when I played my first match, I think I would have stood a better chance. The balls on the court are extremely heavy and, you know, if you give Andre time, I thought I hit a few good shots here and there. And he seemed like he had 100 hours to pick where he wanted to hit his passing shot or his lob or whatever he wanted to do with the ball. So, you know, it was difficult conditions. You know, I was a little bit flat, I'd say the first bit and a half. Then I came out and decided I might as well go for broke and go for it. He just stepped it up and hit the ball even better. So credit to him.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, I wish we were on grass. Might have been a little nicer for me. But, no, that can happen here. You can get some strange weather here once in a while. You're used to getting the wind and sometimes a little bit of rain. But that's just this part of the tournament, something you have to deal with.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah. The only plus point is now I can get ready for -- get a week off and get ready and do my physical training and, you know, refocus and get my schedule ready for Wimbledon basically. And that's about the only thing I can see of that. You know, I played -- I win one match and I'd lose one match, but I've had some tough draws and I haven't played as well as I could in some of the matches.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, he played very well today. Credit due to him. He stepped in, took the ball early, if the conditions are like this, I would pick him to win the tournament without a hesitation right now. But the conditions aren't going to be like this the whole time. It's going to heat up, it's going to get quicker. But if it stays like this, if someone asked me to put money on somebody, you know, I'd probably bet my house on it.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Well, he anticipates and rates the ball very well. That's why he looks so quick. He reads a play probably a second faster than most people. And, you know, he sees the ball a fraction earlier. He's kept himself in good shape, and, you know, he played very well and he's a great player.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yes.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yes.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yes.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Well, I think the conditions, instead of getting hotter, it slowed down. Because it gets cooler and a little bit windier. You know, he handled those better and it played into his favor a little bit more and he took advantage.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, doesn't help. I got it back to deuce twice. He didn't miss one return on two break points, I hit two good serves. Decided to get aggressive, serve and volley really quickly, get into the net as quickly as I could and put more pace on the serve, but didn't really work for me at all today.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Just get yourself into the 32, that's all. It's the same for everybody if, you know, I think it's always been like that. It gives the guys who are higher ranked a few days extra off, and if your ranking is in the 32, well, you deserve it. That's the way I look at it.

GREG RUSEDSKI: If the tournament wants to do that, that's their choice. It's a great tournament. I enjoy it. If they want to do that, it doesn't make a difference to me.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I like Indian Wells and Key Biscayne to go straight after each other.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, just put them straight back-to-back. I think a lot of the European guys would like that better, especially if they've come over - I might be wrong - but that's what I think. Just put Indian Wells, Key Biscayne. Because then I think guys would play a little bit less, and they're just back-to-back like they do with the rest of the Masters Series.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yes.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, I think it's a great idea. I like the concept. A lot of the doubles guys I talked to don't like the concept. I think it's proving valuable. You're getting guys playing, you got Hewitt playing this week, Tim's played the last two weeks, even though they don't have the system here in this place. But if you get the top guys playing doubles, it's great. I think that's what the public wants to see. They want to see the big names going into tournaments playing somehow. If it's good for the game, why not do it.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Maybe on the clay. On the clay, hopefully. I might play some doubles matches, because it's not as punishing on the body. Fair enough, it's cardiovascularly different, but it's not as physically punishing.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Exactly. They know that the doubles is going to last no longer than an hour and a half probably. Two sets can't -- I mean, in Indian Wells they had one match where, I'm pretty sure, which was four hours (laughing), but that's a rarity.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I haven't figured that out. I have to sit town and talk to Sven and figure it out. What I know from now, I'm taking a week off. All I know is I really got to punish myself in the gym like I did in December. It paid big dividends going into the Australian Open. And, you know, if I can get a month to five weeks where I'm doing twice-a-day sessions like I did in December, I thought I went down to Australia and played very well. I'd like to be at my maximum potential for Wimbledon.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I don't know.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I haven't figured that one out as well. I have to talk to my physical trainer. He's going to get me altitude training in the mountains somewhere. So wherever he wants to take me or put me, that's where I'll go. He's the boss in that respect.