Thursday, August 17, 2000
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RUSEDSKI TURNS TO FORMER COACH

Rusedski wants to resuscitate his career © PA

With the US Open just ten days away and with only seven competitive matches to his name since the beginning of May, Greg Rusedski has decided to go back to his roots. As he prepares to make his latest comeback from the foot injury that has plagued him since the start of last year, Rusedski has enlisted the help of Scott Brooke, one of his former coaches.

Brooke knows Rusedski of old, having joined forces with the Great Britain No 2 when he was a young hopeful in 1994 and going on to travel with him for the next 12 months. Based at the Harry Hopman Academy in Saddlebrook, Florida, for the past 15 years, he was one of many sources of advice Rusedski turned to during that time, but, according to Rusedski, he was the most influential.

"Scott was the coach who helped me to make my breakthrough in tennis," Rusedski said. "I beat Michael Chang, Richard Krajicek and Wayne Ferreira when they were all in the top ten and I was only breaking into the top 100."

"I'm really excited to be able to reacquaint myself with Greg's game," Brooke said yesterday, "and I feel very optimistic that we can have Greg ready for a strong US Open challenge."

Rusedski left for Florida on Wednesday and will be back at work on the practice courts today. The plan is to assess the state of his fitness before deciding whether to play in the Hamlet Cup in Long Island next week or delay his comeback until the US Open.

At the same time, the two men will decide whether to continue their partnership further. Not a man of many words, what Brooke does say tends to make an impact. He speaks from a broad base of knowledge - several members of his family have played collegiate tennis in the United States and both of his brothers are professional coaches.

While Brooke does not travel the circuit, many of the top players on both the men's and women's tours go to Saddlebrook to prepare for the American hard-court season and have worked with Brooke over the years.

Martina Hingis and Jennifer Capriati are based there, while Pete Sampras and Jim Courier have both used the training programmes to prepare for their grand-slam campaigns. Magnus Norman, the French Open finalist, is preparing for the US Open there.

"It was Scott's decision to end the partnership in 1995 because he didn't want to travel so much," Rusedski said. "We parted amicably and have remained friends. I have a lot of faith in his ability." Since Rusedski limped out of Britain's dismal Davis Cup defeat to Ecuador last month, he has been in Germany trying to find a solution to his foot problems.

Last December, Rusedski had bone spurs and a cyst removed from his right foot but, while the operation was a success, he has struggled to regain his fitness and has aggravated the injury several times as he has stumbled around the circuit watching his ranking slide ever lower.

Now, however, Rusedski thinks he may, at last, be on the road to recovery. "I've spent a month in Munich and all my aches and pains have been fixed," he said. "All I'm lacking now is practice time on the court. I still have my goals for the next four months. I want to win a title and maintain my five-year run of winning at least one title a year."

That is a record Tim Henman would dearly love to hold. He is trying to capitalise on his spectacular run to the ATP Masters final in Cincinnati last week and is now eyeing the trophy at the RCA Championships in Indianapolis. He began his campaign on Tuesday with a solid display against Alberto Martín, winning 6-4, 6-3. The next obstacle will be Younes El Aynaoui, of Morocco, in the third round.

Alix Ramsay
Tennis Correspondent
The Times