Greg Rusedski
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| Country | Image:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Great Britain | |
| Residence | London, UK | |
| Date of birth | September 6, 1973 | |
| Place of birth | Montreal, Canada | |
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (193 cm) | |
| Weight | 200 lb (90 kg) | |
| Turned Pro | 1991 | |
| Plays | Left | |
| Career Prize Money | US$8,912,531 | |
| Singles | ||
| Career record: | 434 - 284 | |
| Career titles: | 15 | |
| Highest ranking: | 4 (October 6, 1997) | |
| Grand Slam results | ||
| Australian Open | 4r (2001) | |
| French Open | 4r (1999) | |
| Wimbledon | QF (1997) | |
| U.S. Open | F (1997) | |
| Doubles | ||
| Career record: | 62 - 53 | |
| Career titles: | 3 | |
| Highest ranking: | 63 | |
Gregory "Greg" Rusedski (born September 6, 1973, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada) is a British tennis player who turned professional in 1991.
Contents |
[edit] Background
Rusedski was born in Canada to a British mother and a German-Canadian father of Polish-Ukrainian descent. He was a very promising junior player in Canada in the 1980's and subsequently caused some anger in Canada when he decided to adopt British citizenship and play for Britain in 1995 [1]. Rusedski has been with Lucy Connor for 13 years; they married in a Roman Catholic ceremony at Downside Abbey in England in 1999.
[edit] Career summary
His best tournament results were reaching the final of the US Open (tennis) in 1997, where he lost to Pat Rafter by three sets to one, (shortly thereafter reaching his career high rank of World No. 4), and winning the Grand Slam Cup in 1999. He held the record for the fastest recorded serve at 149 mph (239.7 km/h), although this has since been beaten by Andy Roddick.
In 1997, Greg won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award. However, his career has never reached such heights again and the next year fellow Briton Tim Henman eclipsed Rusedski as Britain's number one tennis player in both ranking and popularity.
Rusedski was defeated in the second round of Wimbledon 2005 by Joachim Johansson of Sweden 6-7 (10-12) 6-3 4-6 6-7 (7-5).
Following the disappointment at Wimbledon, Rusedski went on the have a successful few weeks in July 2005. First he defended his title at the Hall of Fame Championship in Newport, Rhode Island, beating Vince Spadea in the final. This was a great win for Rusedski as it was the first time he successfully defended a title and the third time he had won the championship; his win there in 1993 was his first ever tour title. He then went on to reach the semi-finals at both the RCA Championships in Indianapolis, being beaten by Taylor Dent, and the Canada Masters Series Tournament in Montreal, losing to Andre Agassi.
Towards the end of the season in 2005, Rusedski had risen back up to a ranking in the high thirties. A poor end to the season by Tim Henman meant Rusedski had almost played well enough throughout the season to overtake him as British number one again. But a defeat for Rusedski in the first round of the Challenger Event in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, left him ranked 38th, just one place short of regaining the British top spot. Rusedski finally reclaimed his British number one spot on the 15 May 2006, after managing to overtake Andy Murray by getting to the 3rd round of the Rome Masters Event. But later lost it on the 10 July after a poor 1st round exit at Wimbledon.
[edit] Rusedski vs. Henman
Overall, Rusedski has won more singles titles than compatriot Tim Henman, with 15 singles titles compared to Henman's 11; however, according to lifelong Henman fan and unofficial biographer Peter Butler, his Grand Slam record is less impressive, as he has never made it past the fourth round of the French or Australian Open. Nonetheless, Rusedski has been seen as being often overshadowed in the press by the popular Henman, especially at Wimbledon [2]. However, his continuing participation in the Davis Cup, most notably his single-handed win over Israel, and his heroic comeback from the near-wilderness, has led him to become more popular in recent months and emerge from the shadow of Henman.
[edit] Controversies
His career has featured some controversies. In the 1999 US Open, Rusedski's temper caused him to squander a lead against Todd Martin and lose the fourth round match; notable about that match was Rusedski losing 14-plus consecutive points during the fifth set. Rusedski had made derogatory comments about Henman after a loss to his fellow Briton during the 2002 season. In the US Open of that year, after being dispatched by Pete Sampras in the fourth round after a gruelling 5-set match, Rusedski made unsportsmanlike comments, calling Sampras "a half-step slow", and predicted that Sampras would lose his quarter-final to young German star Tommy Haas. Sampras however went on to win the tournament. In the 2003 Wimbledon, during the second round, Rusedski swore at the umpire after not being allowed to replay a point after fan interference, losing his temper and ultimately losing the match to Andy Roddick 7-6 7-6 7-5.
Greg Rusedski has been plagued by injuries in recent seasons. He also tested positive for nandrolone in January 2004, but was cleared of the charges in a hearing on 10 March, 2004.
[edit] Grand Slam singles finals
[edit] Runner-ups (1)
| Year | Championship | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
| 1997 | U.S. Open | Image:Flag of Australia.svg Patrick Rafter | 3-6, 2-6, 6-4, 5-7 |
[edit] Masters Series singles finals
[edit] Wins (1)
| Year | Championship | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
| 1998 | Paris | Image:Flag of the United States.svg Pete Sampras | 6-3, 7-6, 6-4 |
[edit] Runner-ups (1)
| Year | Championship | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
| 1998 | Indian Wells | Image:Flag of Chile.svg Marcelo Rios |
[edit] Singles Record
[edit] Titles (15)
[edit] Singles finalist (12)
- 1993: Beijing, lost to Michael Chang.
- 1995: Coral Springs, lost to Todd Woodbridge.
- 1997: Zagreb, lost to Goran Ivanišević.
- 1997: San Jose, lost to Pete Sampras.
- 1997: U.S. Open lost to Pat Rafter.
- 1997: Vienna, lost to Goran Ivanišević.
- 1998: Split, lost to Goran Ivanišević.
- 1998: Indian Wells, lost to Marcelo Ríos.
- 1998: Toulouse, lost to Jan Siemerink.
- 1999: London, lost to Richard Krajicek.
- 1999: Boston , lost to Marat Safin.
- 2004: Moscow , lost to Nikolay Davydenko.
[edit] Doubles Record
[edit] Titles Won (3)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents in the final | Score |
| 1. | 1995 | Newport, USA | Grass | Alen Antonisch, Austria | Kent Kinnear, USA and David Wheaton, USA | 6-4 3-6 6-4 |
| 2. | 1996 | Bournemouth, Great Britain | Hard | Marc-Kevin Gollener, Germany | Rodolphe Gilbert, France and Nuno Marques,Portugal | 6-3 7-6 |
| 3. | 1999 | London, Great Britain | Carpet | Tim Henman, Great Britain | Byron Black, Zimbabwe and Wayne Ferreira, South Africa | 6-3 7-6 |
[edit] Finalist (2)
- 1994 Vienna with Alex Antonisch, lost to Mike Bauer, USA and David Rikl, Czech Republic
- 2000 Copenhagen with Guillame Raoux, lost to Mark Keil, USA and Peter Nyborg, Sweden
[edit] Performance Timeline
| Tournament | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996 | 1995 | 1994 | 1993 | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Open | - | 2r | 1r | - | 3r | 4r | - | 2r | 3r | 1r | 1r | 3r | 1r | - | |
| French Open | 1r | 1r | - | 1r | - | 2r | 1r | 4r | 1r | 1r | 2r | - | 3r | - | |
| Wimbledon | 1r | 2r | 2r | 2r | 4r | 4r | 1r | 4r | 1r | QF | 2r | 4r | 2r | 1r | |
| US Open | 1r | 1r | 1r | 1r | 3r | 3r | 2r | 4r | 3r | F | 1r | 1r | 1r | - |
[edit] External links
| Preceded by: Damon Hill | BBC Sports Personality of the Year 1997 | Succeeded by: Michael Owen |
es:Greg Rusedski fr:Greg Rusedski ja:グレグ・ルゼドスキー pl:Greg Rusedski
