Even With Victory, It’s No Day to Cheer

NEW YORK — Under normal circumstances, not only would New York’s news nuts be having a field day with Venus Williams vs. Martina Hingis--one can see the headline now: VENUS AND MAR COLLIDE!--but the British tabloids would be in tennis heaven. After all, Greg Rusedski, or “Our Greg,” as they could ennoble him, is playing for the U.S. Open’s championship.

But on his 24th birthday Saturday, before defeating Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden, 6-1, 3-6, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, a subdued Rusedski, hoarse from a bacterial infection, spent part of his morning in front of “the telly,” as the Canadian expatriate calls it in his affected British accent, viewing Princess Diana’s eulogy.

For a twist, it was a service that broke a tennis player. “Very sad,” Rusedski said. “It was nice in the respect how the nation paid tribute to Di, how much the nation cared for her.

“I thought her brother gave a tremendous speech.”

And so, sorrowfully, Rusedski accepts his place in the shadows of the world’s news, receiving only a modicum of attention back home, in England, his adopted land. England, where tennis is a sport of kings and queens, and, yes, princesses. England, which has eagerly awaited one of its own lads to emerge this way, for lo these many years.

It was just last spring when Brian Teacher became his, well, teacher, the former UCLA player and 1980 Australian Open champion volunteering to raise Rusedski’s game to the level where it belonged. They spent three weeks in Los Angeles together last December. They even practiced at a Beverly Hills friend’s home for an hour or two on Christmas Day.

Remembering that, Teacher, 42, smiled here Saturday and said, “We didn’t miss the whole holiday, or anything.”

Nevertheless, the notion of Rusedski improving to the point of becoming, say, U.S. Open champion was beyond any Christmas wish list.

Rusedski had the serve . . . up to 142 mph.

He had the nerve . . . his self-confidence borders on conceit.

But the left-hander had little to show for it. He did make the fourth round of Wimbledon once, before Pete Sampras gave him a sound thrashing. Otherwise, Rusedski’s highest singles ranking before this year was 33rd. At previous U.S. Opens, he had never even won a match.

That was fine with a lot of people in Canada.

Rusedski’s popularity there is comparable to that of Albert Belle’s, the baseball player, in Cleveland. A few weeks after becoming a British citizen in June 1995, he played Los Angeles’ Michael Joyce at a tournament in Montreal. Objects were thrown at him. Rusedski was booed by Canadians throughout the match, leading one ATP Tour official to remark: “Michael Joyce has never had so many fans.”

People were warmer in Britain. Not unanimously, because there were many who resented this overt attempt to “become” an Englishman. A few scoffed here Saturday at his use of the words nil-nil in place of love-love, or zero-zero. His honorary membership at the All-England Club, at a time when he was Britain’s top-ranked player, rankled a number of Wimbledon’s regulars. They thought his Union Jack headband quite tacky.

Rusedski keeps a stiff upper lip about it.

“I think they embraced me from the start,” he says, chuckling over his first encounter with the Fleet Street press. “When I first came over in ‘95, I lost my first two matches. I was in the papers called ‘True Brit,’ because I lost two in a row.

“I think they’ve been extremely supportive. The press have been very kind. The people have always written me letters of encouragement. Even in the locker room here, I had people call from Leeds and all over England to wish me well on such a sad day, which was very kind.”

Such a sad day. How odd.

There he was, rallying to oust Bjorkman, overcoming a weakened condition that required a doctor’s care, playing the match of his life. Rusedski had difficulty breathing Friday. There was a question of whether he could practice. His coach, Teacher, thought back to the time Rusedski skipped a Wimbledon practice because he couldn’t hail a taxi. Cedric Pioline drubbed him the next day.

A newfound determination made Rusedski a new man. Teacher says, “You’re seeing here a player emerge all of a sudden and hitting his peak. He’s improving not only in front of my eyes, but in front of everybody else’s eyes, too. That’s a beautiful thing.”

Should he defeat Patrick Rafter today for the Open title, the No. 4 ranking in the world could be Rusedski’s.

In Great Britain, that would be great news.

Saturday was not a day for celebration there, alas.

“I’m going to celebrate my birthday next weekend,” said Rusedski, an Englishman in New York, who would never forget the day he turned 24.