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EUROCARD OPEN


October 28, 1998


Greg Rusedski


Germany

Q. You were having a bit of a problem hearing because of the cold?

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, just a little bit of a head cold I have this week. It was unfortunate because I thought I had a first serve there, but I had a good chance to finish it off in two sets, I served for the first and served for the second. I think he played a good game on the 5-4 game in the second set. I mean, up 40-15, I think he hit three or four great forehand and backhand passing shots. Then the tiebreaker, I got a little bit of a bad call. He raised his game. I don't know if it was a bad call or whether it -- it was just controversial. I didn't hear a let. I had thought it was first serve. I let it bother me a little bit. Then I managed to get my game a little bit together in the middle of the third set. I can't complain. I could have easily lost that set in the third, but fortunately things turned all right.

Q. It was just about to go over? You did kind of lose it a little bit at the start of the third set.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, I did. I was down a breakpoint early in the third set on my first game of service. I managed to bring that one back and then I held reasonably comfortably. I mean, it was like 30s and stuff like that. Then I had a chance at 15-40 to break and played two good points. I think I just managed to stay in there.

Q. You are not normally in any way, shape, or form a guy that gets angry, but you did seem really pissed off at that point as if you had been dealt quite an injustice?

GREG RUSEDSKI: Well, I guess sometimes you get a little bit cross out there. It is only normal because you want to go out there and do your best. I served for the first set twice-I mean, once and I served again for the second set. Then I had a matchpoint at 30-40 returning at 5-4, so I let a lot of opportunities go. I think I must have had like five or six matchpoints. I just didn't want to lose this match because it was another opportunity to play the Rafter/Gustafsson and these are the Super 9s where you want to play your best tennis. So for me it was important to try finding a way to win this match. By me getting upset, but managing to contain it actually helped me a little bit.

Q. Was there a specific moment you could remember sitting there maybe at the changeover and saying to yourself: Now, come on, pull yourself together, stop getting angry, put it out of your mind?

GREG RUSEDSKI: I had to. If I didn't after I held my first serve, down breakpoint in the first set, I probably would have been here losing the match. For me it was great that I won, but it would have been nicer if I could have finished it off in two sets. Hopefully get a good massage, a little bit of rest and a good meal and get on with the next match; whether it is Rafter or Gustafsson. The courts this week are very, very different. I mean, if you hit a good serve, you get the benefit out of it, but if you don't really stick your volleys, they don't -- they just sit up and it is so easy to hit the passing shot. It is just such a strange feeling indoor court. The balls are heavy, yet if you hit it flat and well, it really moves, but if you don't punch it exactly right, the ball sits, you have so much time. It is very different, I find.

Q. After that controversial point obviously -- we you thinking about Vienna and I musn't let that happen again?

GREG RUSEDSKI: I let it get to me a little bit against the match against Kucera. I didn't want that to happen again. It was nice to get over it, win the match. I still got to deal with those situations better. And, today I was fortunate to get through, but against top players like if it's Rafter or Sampras or Kucera, I don't think I am going to get through a match like that without -- I guess if I have the same situation when I am playing Pat or whoever it is, I am going to have to handle it a little bit better.

Q. Tennis was mostly very good.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Very pleased with the beginning of the first set. First two returning games, I was really pleased. Up to about 5-4 in the first set until I hit that one doublefault, to start off serving for the first set, I think I was very pleased with the standard of my tennis. I thought I returned well, hit some good passers, I thought it was pretty solid. It is getting there. That was just that little more intensity of closing those games out like 5-4 serving for the set, that I really need to work on. If I can do that, then hopefully I can jump up the next level. It should be exciting again if I get my rematch with Rafter again from Vienna, so I will be looking forward to that. If he wins against Gustafsson, it will be another test for me the next day.

Q. Dominant on serve early (inaudible) --

GREG RUSEDSKI: One doublefault and one -- two doublefaults.

Q. When you served for the set and for the match your game composure seemed to just dissolve. Why was that?

GREG RUSEDSKI: I was up 40-15 in the second one, so it didn't dissolve that badly. Came up with some good tennis first one; but in the first one, I hit a doublefault which is the worst way I would possibly start off serving for the set; then after that, he hit a good passing shot, backhand, I missed an easy volley; got it back to 30/40; then he hit a drop shot second serve return, so, I think it is just stepping up to the line and just being a little bit more aggressive and more positive maybe with the ball. If I can do that like I did throughout the set, then that will be a good step forward.

Q. How difficult is it to really get worked up in that sort of atmosphere or lack of atmosphere because it was -- the hall itself isn't cold, but all around must have been --

GREG RUSEDSKI: I mean, with the sort of draw they have this week, I mean, if you look at center court, you have got Rios, Becker, Sampras, I mean, you are only expected -- I wasn't expecting to play on center at all. To be on Court 1 is absolutely fine, because with the draw they have this week -- we have Ivanisevic/Ferreira on grandstand court, which is unbelievable, Philippoussis/Kafelnikov. It is a little bit harder, but --

Q. Obviously we know the circumstances, but I was asking whether or not it is more difficult for the players to really lift their games in a situation like that?

GREG RUSEDSKI: I think you have to be professional and be able to lift your game no matter what. (inaudible).

Q. Aside from perhaps your hearing not being exactly on at the moment, how much does this cold incapacitate you?

GREG RUSEDSKI: It is fine. It is just having to deal with it. It is more a mental issue than a real physical issue. I am not getting as much air as I'd like. That is just taking your time and being smart. I mean, if you look at some of the past championships, I think Lendl won the Masters with a cold one year and players can play well, so there is no real excuse having a cold. You have a cold and you still do your job, so there -- it shouldn't be any different for me.

Q. No flu; you don't feel --

GREG RUSEDSKI: No, I got it on Saturday and I just haven't practice as much as I'd like the last few days. I practiced like 45 minutes a day, so I would like to have played a little bit more, but I am still here still going and hopefully I can continue keep on playing well.

Q. You seem to resorting to quite a selection of drinks there, kept getting out different powders and pouring --

GREG RUSEDSKI: It is my magic potion, I guess. It seems to be working. I mean, it got me out of the Indian tie somehow against Paes so it seemed to get me out today.

Q. What about the tape at the center of the net? Was it twisted on the top?

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yes, but it was out of position so I thought the ball - when I served it - had put it out of position, so I decided to change it. They twisted it that way to keep the net height right which seemed -- (inaudible)

Q. He was explaining that there should be a screw there, but they haven't got one so they have to twist it that way to -- (inaudible)

GREG RUSEDSKI: Very, very bizarre.

Q. You are hitting the ball very well indeed. Any sense when you are coming back from an injury there is a sense wanting it too much?

GREG RUSEDSKI: I guess you can want it too much. The injury is past already. Everything is 100% healed and I don't feel any pain. I feel like I am moving well. I feel I am hitting the ball well. It is just tightening up those little areas. I have done a few. Vienna was a big step for me. Now I have to tighten it up where I play a person like Stoltenberg where it is 5-4 just try to close out those matches so I am not out there for, say, three hours; I am out there maybe for an hour and a half.

Q. Do you feel you are a bit overkeyed --

GREG RUSEDSKI: I think every player always goes out there a little bit overkeyed. Then when you start winning matches and get on a roll, you know, then it is easier, but I have been winning matches, but it could be a little bit of that, but it is better to be overkeyed than underkeyed, shall we say.

End of FastScripts….

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