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NASDAQ-100 OPENMarch 25, 2006Greg RusedskiMIAMI, FLORIDA THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Old Key Biscayne breeze was the problem again? GREG RUSEDSKI: No, I don't think so. I think I made a few too many unforced errors on some big points. He's obviously going to be tough. He's playing very well, Chela. And I think you really have to pick your balls and you have to come in here and, as I explained before, you have to stay back. I'm just trying to find that balance. So maybe it will put me in good shape for clay court season because I've hit more groundies in the last two matches on a hard court event in America than a long while. It's just a different sort of tennis you have to come, like I was talking about before. You have to be that much more consistent. He's obviously playing well from his results this year, so far. So it's not an easy match. Q. You had a point to break at 3-2. GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, I kind of didn't go after it enough. I went for the block return rather than coming over it. It was kind of trying to find that aggression. You don't realize how slow it is. Then, in the second set I think he served very well and I really never got a chance into his service games. The game I got broken, you know, I hit one double-fault, 30-15, then he hit a complete miss-hit forehand that he was going for a crosscourt passing shot for that turned into some lob in the wind. Then I missed a second serve by an inch. So, one or two points that you have to take on. You have to sort of bring a real different approach to it which I'm trying to get used to this year because it just seems that tennis is slower and slower now. I thought last year was reasonably slow, but this year is extremely, extremely slow. I just feel it's -- you just have to completely change your game and adjust with the times. Q. Courts and balls? GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, it's just a combination of the two. So, you know, tennis is changing. They've made it that way. They want that sort of matchup with Nadal and Federer. Federer is a great volleyer but you don't see him ever go to the net and he's probably one of the premiere volleys of the game. I think even Tim, you know, it's great that he beat Hewitt, but I don't think he's coming to the net that much from what I've seen lately either. I didn't see the match today. Q. It becomes very much a test of patience, doesn't it? GREG RUSEDSKI: It becomes a -- Q. Slice backhands you had to keep playing today to keep in the rallies. GREG RUSEDSKI: When I put my mind to it and I come over it, like I did on one of the breakpoints, and that's fine, but I just have to in practice change that mindset to do that, and maybe the clay court season will give me that opportunity to do that. It's such a different thing because my game is like chip and charge and coming in and now it's having to just rethink it completely, and go with the times now because you're forced to with the way they've made the setups. Q. When you do what you do well, enjoy doing, does it make it more fun? GREG RUSEDSKI: It makes it more of a challenge. You're used to a certain style, big first serve, big second serve, come in all the time. It makes it interesting. I'm glad I played in the '90s, let's put it like that (smiling). It was a different style of tennis back then. Q. Can you put a percentage on how much slower it is now to when you first started? GREG RUSEDSKI: I don't know. I'd have to say minimum half as slow. Q. Really, that much? GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah. Because we used to play on Supreme Courts indoors with very quick balls. So, you know, I think the solution is either, you know, have a slow court, quick ball, quick ball -- I mean slow ball, quick court. There needs to be a little bit of mix. I guess that's what they want to do and that's what the public wants and that's what they've decided to do. You know, it's kind of a shame because, yes, it was too quick before. Then you need to get a balance. You know, I think the best tennis matches are, you know, Sampras-Agassi, the returner against the serve and volleyer. Borg-McEnroe, you know. It's always nice to see two opposite players. Now all you see is great tennis, but you just see two baseliners with someone coming to the net to shake hands or to get passed (smiling). You know, it's really a different game now. Q. Do you think the public really does want that? GREG RUSEDSKI: Well, Federer is such a great player that, you know, he hits dropshots, he hits angles, he does stuff most people can't do. Nadal is a great competitor, stands 20 feet behind the baseline, runs after every ball, with dogged determination. Agassi, even though he's been injured, he's not able to get through anybody and he's the best ball striker in the world. That itself proves there's a little bit of a change. Q. The tennis public surely want to see serve and volley, don't they? GREG RUSEDSKI: I hope they do but name me a serve and volleyer that exists from a youngster now? There's none. Name me anybody who's under 25 that serves and volleys? Q. Do you see British kids coming into Queen's who do it? GREG RUSEDSKI: No, I don't see anybody who does it anymore. I think you can officially write it as dead. You know, that's unfortunate. I mean, Mirnyi is over 25. I think Taylor Dent is 25. After that, try to pick one. I was kind of a McEnroe fan growing up, so I used to love to watch that chip and charge, block it, play it well, do all those things. You know, the wind, it's obviously more difficult. Edberg, Becker, guys like that. I think you need to have that -- modern tennis isn't doing that anymore. Q. If you were a coach starting out tomorrow with a young kid -- GREG RUSEDSKI: Don't bother going to the net. Q. It would be pointless? GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah. Even in Wimbledon, I remember I played the first time in '93, I played Stefan Edberg on the Graveyard Court. You know, we both serve and volleyed every single ball. It was a tight match. The grass was sliding through. If you stayed back, you were told in the old days when I played on grass, you take everything out of the air, you don't let it bounce. Now it's - let it bounce, it bounces clean enough, and play from the back. It's just a different game. You have to adjust with the times. Thank God that my game I had built for that time was the right period. Q. Is it fair to say you're quite looking forward to Glasgow? It will be speedier. GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, I think we both agreed that it would be nice to have a quick court. We got the court that was against Thailand with, I think, a hard base with some Wilson US Open balls. So it should be pretty quick, which will be nice. So I'm looking forward to it. It's going to, obviously, take a little adjustment, but it will be a nice adjustment. Q. What is the quickest court now? GREG RUSEDSKI: I think Zagreb was. I think Zagreb was. The ATP didn't want Ivanisevic to put down that court. He said "I'm going to put the old style court on, the quick court, because that's what we played Davis Cup with". I heard through the grape vine they didn't want to let them put down the surface to play. Unfortunately, I couldn't make that event. Q. Do you ever say anything to the ATP or tournament? GREG RUSEDSKI: Well, I don't -- I don't have the power, you know. Let's be honest. It's the new generation, okay, you know. It's the power of people who, you know, it's Federer, it's Nadal, it's all the guys in the Top 10, the Agassis, the Roddicks, the Blakes. For them, they've got a game that's molded towards that, so they're not having any problems with it because they either play -- take the ball extremely early and just tee off and, you know, come in once in a while and, you know, predominantly play an aggressive baseline sort of tennis. That's the authority, is the thing. Tennis changes. You have eras, if you look back in the past, they say it's too slow, then you have eras they say it's too quick. It always balances out. I'm sure five years from now they might have a mix if they speed it up. Q. You have a voice at Wimbledon. Tim has made his views plain over the last two, three years. Do you endorse what he has to say? GREG RUSEDSKI: Well, I think there's no question that it's slowed down. I mean, you just have to watch the matches. But then you look at it, okay, for Andy, who's the man of the moment and the one who's going to be there for the next ten years that you're going to be following, you know, might be ideal for him to be slower. So, you know, for this new generation, it might be the new thing. I'm -- I've -- I have to say, you know, I've had my best years in my tennis behind me, which is a big statement to make (smiling). But, you know what I'm saying. It might be ideal for our youngsters coming up. Q. There was that year, wasn't there -- GREG RUSEDSKI: Look at Hewitt in Australia this year. I heard Australia was slower than anything and you'd think they'd make the courts quick for him. He's still a young, young guy. I think the way the Australians play a quick court in Melbourne would have been a nice thing, that's not too hard to do with a hard -- a Rebound Ace surface. Grass, it's different because you've got the grains that you've grown and the courts that are made up. To make such a reversal change probably takes a few years. But you'd probably have to talk to the groundsman. Q. Well, it was the year Malisse made the semis. GREG RUSEDSKI: Don't remind me. I lost to him (laughing). Q. That was a bizarre year, wasn't it? GREG RUSEDSKI: He had Nalbandian, Malisse, Hewitt, I think Tim was in the semis that year. Q. But then you got Andre Sa in the quarters or something like that. GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, I just think you have to get with the times and find a solution, whether it's, you know, making your racquets lighter or heavier, just trying to find a way to deal also with the strings and the balls and just trying to find the right combination. You have to just search away to continue to play at this level and always try to find solutions, which aren't easy. Q. Well, talking about your plans going into Wimbledon, not necessarily the clay, but going into Wimbledon, is Bomber still your coach? GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, just Bomber is helping me out once in a while. You know, he's traveling predominantly with younger players, from MacKin to the younger players. I speak to him on the phone once in a while. But that's his main focus at the moment, but Bomber helps me out when I'm in London. So he will probably help me when I'm at Queen's and when I'm at Wimbledon as well. Q. If you play the French, will he be with you at the French? GREG RUSEDSKI: I'd assume he would. I'll have to see what Jeremy -- I mean, Jeremy was here this week which was great. If Jeremy comes down, maybe Bomber will come. So we'll see who's going to be down there. Q. Who else is still in your corner, if you like, Jean Pierre? GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, Jean Pierre who works with Andy and Tim and myself, all the boys from the LTA. I'm still doing it myself and trying to get the most joy out of it in the last few years. Q. Do you have a feeling this Davis Cup is going to be close? GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, it's going to be a very difficult tie. I mean, Djokovic, he played very, very well in his first match. I mean, you don't beat Mathieu 1-3 without being a good player. Pashanski is more of a clay court player, that's why we chose a quicker court. Tipsarevic can play very well. I played him actually in Luxembourg in 2004. So they've got a good team. And Zimonjic, who's a doubles specialist. This isn't an easy tie whatsoever. It's probably one of the hardest second round groups. They went to Israel and beat them pretty convincingly. It's going to be good tennis. Hopefully, Andy is healthy, which I think he will be. We're going to have to play well. It's going to be -- we need a lot of support up there in Scotland. Q. How about you playing three days, five sets? GREG RUSEDSKI: Well, we've got to talk to Jeremy and see how it goes, you know, and assess how the first day's score is and how things are, you know. Hopefully, we'll have a dream start with a 2-0 lead or it will be 1-1. We'll just have to wait and see what happens. That's what makes the Davis Cup exciting. This is actually a very, very good tie. I think maybe the general public looks at it and says Serbia-Montenegro, maybe not. But you look at the younger players that are on the team, I mean, they've got three players in the Top 100 and two guys around 60 and 50 who are 19 years old, or 21. So that shows, you know, they're going to be a good team for the future, if not already the present. Q. How familiar are you with Auck's game if you have to pair up with him? GREG RUSEDSKI: I know him pretty well. I practiced with him a few times at Queen's. He's going to obviously like the quick courts. He's our highest-ranked player in doubles at the moment. It's kind of funny when you haven't played doubles in a while, then you come to play doubles again, it's a hard combination to get. Q. Your last doubles match was Davis Cup? GREG RUSEDSKI: Last doubles match was, no, I played in Marseille with Taylor Dent. I only choose a partner who serves bigger. I tried with Karlovic last week, but we didn't get in. I said I have to choose someone who serves bigger to start serving so I can rest my shoulder (smiling).
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