US OPEN

September 3, 2024

Mike Russell

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Talk about what it means. Obviously it's an emotional day for him to get there. We've been talking about it for a long time. Just all that it means for him and for the team.

MIKE RUSSELL: Yeah, of course. Two quarterfinals this year, quarterfinals last year, so he's been on the cusp of getting to the semifinals, and then to do it here at the US Open, I mean, it's fantastic.

Obviously he's super excited and so is the team. Obviously there's always a lot of talk of the next American to win a Grand Slam, and pretty far from it still, but, you know, one step closer. I thought he did a great job of managing his emotions today.

Yeah, we're just really proud of the way he handled the situation. You know, mini celebration, you know, as you say, and then tomorrow, you know, just get right back to work.

Q. Taylor talked on court afterwards about how you guys have been working to mix up his game. What kind of work have you guys been doing this year? When did it start? Because he's had such a nice year at the majors?

MIKE RUSSELL: Yeah, it's been a constant theme not only to create better fitness and endurance and explosiveness over the last few years, which you can kind of see in the consistency of his results that he's been able to get deeper into the Grand Slams and Masters Series events. But now we're really trying to get him to recognize when he's hurting his opponent and moving forward.

There's still work to be done but his transition game is getting better. The fact he's seeing it pay off, especially here at the US Open in some big points just like in that fourth-set tiebreak, where he snuck in, was able to finish a volley. He's starting to buy into it and believe it. It's good to see. That's a big step that we've been really emphasizing for him to, you know, win these bigger stages.

You know, you can't just serve and be on the baseline.

Q. Before the US Open last year, Taylor had made one quarterfinal in his career but he was a top-10 player, established. Now obviously he's made so many. What to you is the difference between him then and now?

MIKE RUSSELL: I think it's a combination of being in the situation, the experience, and also not having the complacency. Sometimes you come into tournaments and you're, oh, quarterfinals is a great result, which it is, but at the end of the day you show up at tournaments to win tournaments. Easier said than done.

But, you know, it's the constant recurring theme and verbiage that we always use that every day it's a new match, new opponent. As soon as you step on the court, you're in an equal playing field, and you can't let the pressure and the self-expectation get into your own head.

You know, I think he's done a really good job of managing that this year, and especially here at the US Open.

Q. Did you talk much about the elephant in the room, so to speak, that he was once again at this spot where he hadn't been? And sort of along those lines, like, last week, Ben Shelton said that, as he put it, when I became the American No. 1 for four-and-a-half minutes, Taylor Fritz came out pretty hot. So, like, curious when you think of today and getting over this line, that you may or may not have addressed, whether that might have been some sort of jumping off point.

MIKE RUSSELL: Yeah, to the No. 1 American, I know Taylor covets that a lot. When he loses that to whether it was Ben or Tommy, it kind of gives him that little extra push and motivation to work even harder, because he really wants to have that label as the No. 1 American.

Then as far as getting over that hump of making quarterfinals, no, we would never talk about, hey, you haven't been to the semifinals of a slam before, because you're not really breeding the positivity factor to it. It's more about you've been in this position before and come out here and use your weapons that you have and use the new weapons that we're trying to create and just go out there and play your game, use the crowd, love the excitement and the actual competition and battle, which he does, and just go feed off it.

Q. What do you try to use from the guys who are the biggest obstacles, Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, to help Taylor?

MIKE RUSSELL: Well, I mean, playing Novak has been a battle for Taylor, which for a lot of people he's had some really tough matches. Just looking at those guys, the winning percentages and how they just approach the game and the practices and just the mindset every single day, you know, it's a different breed.

So usually those type of guys, we try to take a little bit from them and just, if we can kind of mesh that into Taylor's mentality where just the minute he walks on court and just the professionalism and just the belief that he is one of the best players in the world and can be the best player in the world and can be a Grand Slam champion, you know, you have to constantly reiterate that until you believe it.

Q. How does the kind of changing of the guard, the roadblocks moving away, at least a little bit, help the belief and the performance?

MIKE RUSSELL: No, it helps a lot, because those three, the big three, they dominated the sport for decades. So now, you know, they're stepping away. All of a sudden there's new blood in the mix. All of a sudden you have new champions. All the guys see that, hey, it could be my turn now. Not to say they can't beat those guys, but they really did dominate to the point where they were never losing matches. Now you've got new winners, new guys coming up, and all these guys, including Taylor, they think they can win Grand Slams.

Q. When you look back on his career, do you think there is any specific tournament or match where everything clicks together or he started believing in himself?

MIKE RUSSELL: Definitely winning Indian Wells, beating Rublev in the semi and then especially Rafa in the final after Rafa won Australia, you know, he was coming in undefeated, and to win a Masters. He wasn't really picked to win, you know, a Masters at that stage in his career, and I think that just catapulted his belief in his own game, that, hey, I am one of the best players in the world, I can beat all these guys.

That definitely helped his game and his belief.

Q. Taylor seems like a pretty steady guy naturally. Wonder what strides you've seen him make, his resolve, determination, whatever you want to call it. Obviously coming back from two sets behind at Wimbledon. Didn't seem bothered by anything today really, let a couple set points go, lost the second set and seemed to kind of just move on.

MIKE RUSSELL: Naturally he's kind of a quiet, shy guy unless you start talking about tennis or gaming or fashion basically.

But, yeah, I thought he did a great job of handling himself in those moments because it's easy to get a little disappointed not converting on those breakpoints and having opportunities.

But he didn't show any signs of negativity. He was positive the whole match. Then tried to use the crowd as much as Taylor does, because he doesn't get crazy excited. So I thought he did a good job of using the crowd and being positive and just not showing Sascha any negativity, which sometimes those little intangibles can be a few points here and there that make the difference.

Q. Why do you think your relationship with him has lasted as long as it has, and why does it work?

MIKE RUSSELL: I just think we have good synergy. He respects him; I respect him. He knows my work ethic even when I played and still now. I mean, I work extremely hard just to make sure that he's as successful as possible. I know it sounds cliché, but I do. I sacrifice a lot to make sure he's in the best possible situation. He knows that I'm doing everything I can to make him successful. He appreciates that.

I think it just meshes well. I see how he plays and trying to get him to improve, and we also mesh well off the court.

Q. What's your favorite memory of Taylor on or off the court?

MIKE RUSSELL: Why do you got to make me think so hard, Andrew?

Q. It's my job.

MIKE RUSSELL: I mean, tennis-related I think part of it is winning the Indian Wells event. You know, coming in as I think he was ranked, like, 18 maybe at the time when he won Indian Wells, that was just such an elation. And to beat Rafa in the finals, where, you know, Rafa was undefeated, just such a game changer for his career. And to see him that emotionally uplifting and excited, you know, it was pretty cool to see.