Greg Rusedski targets minds of British talent

December 7, 2008

Greg Rusedski needs a psychiatrist. He admits it himself and his reasoning is sound. In definitive books on Bradley Wiggins and Chris Hoy, the Olympic gold medal-winning cyclists, entire chapters are devoted to Steve Peters, the psychiatrist without whose input, the athletes say, they could not open up a desk drawer each day, gaze at a piece of gold and remind themselves how special they are.

Rusedski read about Peterss impact and would like to make contact. Not for his personal use, but in his role as a talent-spotter for British tennis, which has spent enough time on the couch in the past few years that a few more appointments could not hurt.

He Peters said that he couldnt help a player in six weeks, but he could over 12 months, the former British No 1 said after defeats of Guy Forget and Stefan Edberg made for a typical Rusedski start to his attempt to win this weeks BlackRock Masters that continued with a win over Pat Cash last night. Id like to speak to him because I had an empathy with what he said, about athletes going the rational or the emotional route, because most kids dont want to work hard and those who do arent always the rational ones. My biggest challenge in my role with the LTA is getting into the mind of these young players, understanding their personalities, trying to get them to be their own best friends.

I challenge our best young players every day to improve. I dont care so much if they win or lose, as long as they are competitive. That is the essential part because all great players and Im surrounded by them this week had that. We have beautiful ball-strikers in this country but its not about that, its about really wanting to get stuck in.
Since his emotional farewell from the professional scene in Birmingham in April 2007, having reached No 4 in the world and given Britain, his adopted country, someone other than Tim Henman to agitate about, Rusedski has Danced on Ice, eased into the commentary box, become unofficial lead talent scout at the LTA, captained Britains junior Davis Cup squad and is spending this week being as tough to beat on the seniors tour as he always was when it mattered.

I played some horrible matches but I never liked being beaten, he said. It is about refusing to want to lose because if thats your mindset, even if you do end up losing, it stands you in good stead in the long term. A 7-5 third-set win always had more benefits than a 6-2, 6-3 because you learnt more about yourself.

These messages are being passed down the line to what Rusedski senses is a group taking it all in. He travelled with three of them, George Morgan, James Marsalek and Ashley Hewitt, from training camps in Spain and France to Mexico in September for the junior Davis Cup, where they fostered the kind of spirit and understanding that Rusedski, as captain, will require if he steps up to the senior position, one he covets. They can be the team of the future, thats what we are working towards, he said.

Morgan, the biggest and strongest, will be 16 in February, although, as Rusedski points out, when he was an under-14, his strength and size were great assets and now everyone else is as big and strong as he is. Marsalek and Hewitt are 17 early next year, the first very laid-back, the other a workhorse. I was setting them tests in Mexico, stretching them, and then seeing how good they were without me around at making choices for themselves, he said. That is what this sport is about.

And what of the widely ridiculed story penned here a couple of months back, that Rusedski had not given up hope, at 35, of playing in the Davis Cup once more?

Like everyone else, I was very disappointed we are not in the World Group, he said. Other than Andy Murray, we need to get others through the transition period. It is up to one of those to step up into No 2 singles. The doubles, I dont know. If that wasnt a yes, I dont know what is.