Greg Rusedski

Born: September 6, 1973 in Montreal (Quebec)
Height: 1.93 m
Plays: Left-handed

July 1992, I first encountered this surname with typical Polish suffix “-ski”. At 19 years old, Rusedski shared a position of the most gifted Canadian in decades with fellow left-hander Daniel Nestor, who was only a year older (no Canadian in the Top 100 in those days). Despite their youth, they had already gained some experience at the main level, with Nestor making a significant mark by stunning Stefan Edberg in the first round of the 1992 Davis Cup, nearly clinching victory for Canada against Sweden before narrowly falling to Magnus Gustafsson in a deciding rubber. Nestor held the rank of 235, while Rusedski stood at 153 when as ‘wild cards’ they entered the Canadian Open ’92, where they were both outplayed by the eventual champion Andre Agassi in the second and third rounds respectively.
These lanky, tall youngsters, keen to attack the net after each serve, were heralded as the new faces of Canadian tennis, with a promising future seemingly laid out before them. Shortly thereafter, Rusedski emerged as one of the fastest servers in the world, swiftly climbing the ranks. Meanwhile, Nestor carved out his own successful path, becoming one of the most accomplished and enduring doubles specialists in the game.
Rusedski broke into the Top 100 in 1993, making his debut at Wimbledon where he played a tight four-setter against grass-court specialist Edberg. His victory at Newport followed shortly after, a title earned after battling through five tie-breaks in the last six sets. While Rusedski’s prowess on faster surfaces was evident, his luck at Newport didn’t seamlessly transition to other courts. Despite his reputation as a formidable server, Rusedski’s ground-strokes, particularly his offensive backhand, were deemed mediocre, prompting him to dedicate significant effort to improving his volley and forehand in order to challenge top players and clinch crucial tie-breaks against them.
The day after his lone clay-court final, Rusedski changed his nationality from Canadian to British, thanks to his English mother (his father of Polish and Ukrainian descent). This move afforded him special treatment during the English grass-court season. However, the years 1995-96 didn’t see his career ascend to greater heights; he found himself on the losing end of tight matches more often than not.
In 1997, Rusedski experienced a breakthrough season, defying expectations by soaring to No. 4 in the rankings within twelve months (following the Indian Wells final, at Key Biscayne ’98 he even had a theoretic chance to become No. 1 – he needed to win the title on the assumption four players ahead of him in the ranking would lose early). He excelled on indoor, grass, and hard courts, culminating in a memorable run to the final of the US Open ’97 (Princess Diana‘s death), where he faced off against Patrick Rafter. Rusedski’s tenure in the Top 10 spanned roughly two seasons, during which he began working with coach Tony Pickard, who had previously coached Edberg. However, their partnership came to an abrupt end after Wimbledon ’98, when Rusedski retired in the first round and accused Pickard of pressuring him to compete despite an injury.
Sven Groeneveld took over as Rusedski’s coach, and under his guidance, Rusedski with an enhanced backhand and having improved his own records in the serve speed, secured his two biggest titles (both indoors): Paris-Bercy ’98 (carpet) and the Grand Slam Cup ’99 (hard). The latter victory, which earned him $1.3 million, was absolutely unexpected two weeks before the final, akin to winning the lottery for Rusedski – he participated in the event because as many as five players withdrew! He followed this success with a title in Vienna, overcoming a 0-2 set deficit against Nicolas Kiefer erasing bad memories from a final in the same city two years before when he was within a few points to win 3-0 against his toughest opponent Goran Ivanišević. However, Rusedski’s form began to wane at the turn of the millennium, especially at majors and Davis Cup, leading to speculation that winning the Grand Slam Cup title might have negatively impacted his motivation to keep the physical fitness at the highest level. Nevertheless from time to time with the help of his killer serve, he was capturing another titles (San Jose ’01 is the most impressive among them as he defeated two top players).
As far as the main-level in concerned, in singles, Rusedski concluded his career on a high note in 2006, clinching a Davis Cup victory against Sergiy Stakhovsky, after saving a match point in the fifth set of the first rubber (Great Britain defeated Ukraine 3-2). It was a fitting conclusion for a player who had consistently thrived in high-pressure situations throughout his career. In 1998 Rusedski became just one of a few players in history to finish four consecutive matches in five-setters.

Career record: 436–287 [ 293 events ]
Career titles: 15
Highest ranking: No. 4
Best GS results:
Wimbledon (quarterfinalist 1997)
US Open (runner-up 1997)
Grand Slam Cup champion 1999