US OPEN

August 30, 2000

Greg Rusedski

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I was really pleased with the way I played today. Magnus is a very, very good competitor. I think he's one of the guys who you really have to go out there and beat him; he doesn't really give you much. I've been training hard the last six, seven weeks. I got a good ten days on the tennis court before the event started so it's been pretty good.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I wasn't really concerned whether I won or lost today, to be honest with you. I wanted to get through the match, play the sort of tennis I know I can, and it's always a bonus to win. But for me right now the key is to be healthy and be able to move and run the way I want on the court. Today I managed to do that. Hopefully I can continue to do that.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I don't think I felt like that the whole year, so maybe last year. So it's been a little bit of a struggle obviously with my fitness, and it's been a difficult thing to go through. And hopefully it's behind me. But you never know, and I'm just taking it one match at a time and just enjoying winning the match that I have today and just trying to stay healthy for the rest of the season.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, I think I served smart today. I mixed it up. I went for the big ones when I needed them. I served the kick. I served the slice. I think my volleys were solid. I think I only made

maybe -- missed one bad volley, actually two bad volleys today out of three sets. So that's quite satisfying.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Canadian coach? American.

GREG RUSEDSKI: That's all right.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Well, the only reason is because Sven and I decided to call it a day

after -- we worked really well together, but we felt it was time for both of us to move on. Scott, I've known him for many years. We worked together at Saddle Brook. And, you know, he decided to help me out and be here for the Open. I don't think he's going to be able to travel the full year because it's just not possible for him. But he's a good friend and helping me out this year.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I don't know yet. Maybe a few weeks I will be there a little bit more.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I just had a foot -- the foot was bothering me again. I couldn't get any lift out of it so just the same foot problem.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Just not moving. I don't want to go into too many specifics on it.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, I think it's nice to get the win under my belt. The best thing is to come out and be able to go into the locker room and have the match done and everything's in place - the foot's feeling good, the body's feeling good, and there's no aches and pains and everything is ready to go.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, I was very nervous about today's match. Probably the most nervous I've been before a match in quite a few years to be honest with you. I think that's only normal, and sometimes it's very good. It brings you out extremely sharp and hungry. I think from the first four or five games I played I couldn't have played much better tennis.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I look at it like this: You know, the most important thing for me was to come off the court and feel healthy, and to get a win on top of that is a bonus. So I think it's helped me. It's a step forward. It's a building process. This year is a year where, you know, I want to be healthy. I want to play good tennis. I might not be able to win tournaments, I might not be able to beat, say, guys who are playing in the Top 5, Top 10 in the world at the moment, but I'll be able to play well. And that's important to me. Because if I build and keep building and building, then I can really make up for it in 2001.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yeah, I don't really want to remember it, so... (Laughter.)

GREG RUSEDSKI: I think I've played some really good tennis. The match against Todd I should have definitely won. He went on to the Finals, which was a great result. The fourth round was a good effort for me, in '97, to get to the Finals. So I have fond memories of New York. I enjoy the city. I enjoy the courts, the public and everything about this event.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I couldn't hear anything. I couldn't hear anything today. I was very focused. So maybe --

GREG RUSEDSKI: No, I couldn't hear anything. It was fine.

GREG RUSEDSKI: That's why I chose to not start serving. Usually I always choose to start serving. Today I decided I was going to give myself a little bit more time by receiving and take a little bit of pressure off myself. I've worked hard on all the other aspects of my game because I know that my serve, the last few months, hasn't been that great. So, you know, to return to start, to get a break really puts it into my position. I think I've worked and improved the other aspects of my game. If my serve's not going as well, I can rely on other aspects. It was nice to get that break early. I think what I'm doing better now as well, I'm attacking more, chipping and charging, coming to the net, getting aggressive rather than staying back a little bit more. With my footwork now, I am moving much better. I can do that again.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I'm just happy where I am right now. I'm not really going to put a percentage, "I'm this," "I'm that." It's very unrealistic for me to do that. This is one match. Tomorrow's a new day, another match. But, you know, I'll take a lot of positives away from this.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I think it was just getting back to basics. You know, just, you know, just chipping-and-charging more, just being more aggressive. You know, just working on my volleys, working my movement on the ground, and I haven't been able to really do that, to be fair, the past really nine months. So now I could finally put that work in that I needed to do. And in those ten days, we managed to get four hours a day on the court, which I haven't been able to do at all this year. So that was a real plus. It was -- it's actually a blessing I didn't make it to Long Island, because I got to play with Norman the week before Long Island, I got to play with Rios, sets every day. It turned into a positive, even though I didn't get any matches before the Open.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I think it's just the way the courts are made. I think the balls are slower. Guys, they return so much better than they have in the past. I think there's a lot of aspects to that. And so that's the reason, because, you know, it's hit the first serve as hard as you can, hit the second ground stroke as hard as you can. Guys are returning bigger, so it's tougher for the volleyer to play. There's only about two guys, Max Mirnyi and Taylor Dent, who serve-and-volley now.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I think it heightens the challenge. You have to serve the corners much better and hit solid volleys. Last night you saw Rafter lose to a player you could never imagine him losing to, to be quite honest, because he has time to hit the passing shots. Pat's shoulder might not have been as good as he'd liked, but that's the way tennis is going to be now because of all the changes that have been made to the game. I think you're not really going to see many more serve-and-volley players.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yep.

GREG RUSEDSKI: Yep.

GREG RUSEDSKI: I don't know if Pioline's going to win yet because he's playing Sargsian. That's going to be a tough match for him because Sargis is the sort of player most guys don't like to play, to be honest with you. But I just look at it as a great chance for me. I look at it as an opportunity. I can't look ahead of that match, whether I'm playing Pioline or Sargsian, because I haven't played enough matches. Pioline, I have a horrible record against, I think I've only beaten him once out of five tries. One that I'm looking forward to, if I get the opportunity, and, you know, it's really hard for me to say. I can't be sitting here like a Pete or Andre and saying, "I got six matches to go to win the title," I'd sound like a complete idiot having been off two months. I'm not even looking that far ahead.