TMS - THE ERICSSON OPEN

March 22, 2001

Greg Rusedski

THE MODERATOR: First question for Greg, please.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Well, I think, you know, the first nine games of the match to 40-love were really good quality. I thought both of us were playing well. He was getting some good passing shots. 40-love on, I just got on a roll where I played five pretty solid points and he made two unforced errors, the first unforced errors of the whole match. From there on, it seemed to flow my way. He got a little bit frustrated and I think he was just frustrated at himself, 5-4, 40-love, you expect to go to 5-all, maybe get into a tiebreaker. I managed to step it up.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, I heard that. I'm quite pleased about that. It's nice to get a win, and he's a very difficult player. He's played well here in the past. I think he's beaten Kiefer. He beat Tim in Adelaide this year. He's a very good player. I think he's one for the future. He competes very well. He runs extremely well. He's one of the quickest guys on the court. I was a little bit surprised in the second set. He must have been a little bit frustrated.

GREG RUSEDSKI: No, he was returning very well, hitting fantastic passing shots. I was having to hit two, three, four volleys to win a point on him. He played very well. I thought the quality was very, very good, especially those first nine games.

GREG RUSEDSKI: He was definitely hot. He was, you know, for the first nine games, he had more chances than I did. But, you know, I managed to keep him at bay and I knew he couldn't play any better than he had those first nine games. I think that's probably what built in the frustration when I broke. He knew he couldn't raise his game any higher or hit the ball any better. I raised it a little bit, and he dipped slightly. That was the story today.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I think it's a tough, tough surface this week because it's actually quite slow where, you know, it will suit a more baseline sort of player, like an Agassi per se, or Rios, someone to that standard I think. I mean, it's a nice court to play on, it's pretty wide. The ball's kicking. Every match you play on the court is going to get bigger, so that's something I like.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I hit on it with Corretja two days ago. I think the Stadium is even quicker than Grandstand.

GREG RUSEDSKI: That would be great.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I don't mind whoever I play. If I'm in the third round, that means I'm playing well. I play Prinosil next, who I beat the last two times. We spent a long time together in the rehab clinic.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I don't care. If I'm there, that would be good.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I knew I was going to struggle with him from the back because his forehand is very heavy, his backhand. I just had to keep coming forehand, then I started getting slick, having stick on my slice, more angle on it. I took a few more chances with my forehand. That's my style, that's my game, that's the way I'm going to win.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I feel physically great. I think I have fantastic preparation for this week. Indian Wells, I had very poor preparation going into the tournament. This week, I got here on Thursday night. I trained three hours Friday and Saturday, Sunday, Monday, had a light hit on Tuesday and Wednesday, but, you know, I managed to get the hours, get used to the courts, take the time. I think it really helped and paid off for my first-round match here. So preparation's been fantastic.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, in the beginning --.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I think in the beginning of the match it was a lot more windier. It really settled, which is always nice for me. But, you know, you expect that here. Yesterday was a much more difficult day to play in, but, you know, that's tennis and that's what makes this event exciting because you have to handle all the conditions.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, we've given each other a hard time because we actually got operated on in the same hospital. We had different surgeons but the same doctor looking after us, the same people. We've had quite a laugh together. We're looking forward to our meeting since the rehab clinic. We're having a little bit of a joke with each other.

GREG RUSEDSKI: No, we haven't. It's been a long time since we've played. We get on pretty well. We're both looking forward to the match. Whoever wins will probably give the other guy a pretty hard time afterwards.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Well, no, I don't blame the doctor. The doctor was good, they were all right. So no complaints. But it should be fun.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, I think it was a tough first match. I thought Pat played well. I was actually surprised when he lost to Sampras. I thought he had a good chance to go all the way. I got on the court the next day, and I learned from my mistakes. I went out and practiced my return of serve, looked at my serve technique. Even though I hit double-faults on two of the three points I lost my serve on, my technique was looking good on my serve. The return, my strategy was very poor so we went back to the court and worked on it. You're obviously disappointed when you lose, but now at least if I lose a match we get to work and we figure out why, what happened the next day, look at the video, figure out where we're going. So, you know, it's another week. Preparation was good this week. Next year I'm going to have to have a different preparation probably for the desert air with the flying of the ball and everything.: It's like no other tournament.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Well, it is very useful for me because, you know, it was more of a tactical mistake than technical. I looked at the returns technically and technically, I was doing things well. If the ball's getting up here (indicating) and I'm trying to return, there's no way I'm going to make it, and I'd have to stand further back, closer in. If you looked at Andre that week in Indian Wells, he was about three steps inside the baseline returning some serves because the ball just does things in that desert air that it doesn't do anywhere else all year on the Tour.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I do. (Laughing.) No. Well, I think, you know, Brad's done a good job. I think he's helped. I mean, it's important to make that backhand pass to win the first set. And, you know, we're still working on it to improve it. We want to have the flat, top, slice one. If you get on the clay if you're not complete, you're going to really, really struggle out there. It needs a little bit of work but it's a lot better.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I think Brad, who's the biomechanist, he studies it on the video and explains his theories. He studied it ten years. He knows what he's doing. He's very good. That's what's starting to help. If I miss one, I know what I'm doing wrong, whether it was my foot, my body, my head. I can figure it out. It's nice to have.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I think that's why this year my results have gotten better. Being healthy. I've always been able to compete, but if you're going to beat players like Agassi, Sampras, Kuerten, top guys, you have to have areas where there are not really any weaknesses. If you have any weaknesses, they'll punish you.