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Greg Rusedski (born 6 September 1973) is a British tennis player.
He was born in Montreal, Quebec and turned professional in 1991.
He has been with his wife, Lucy Rusedski, for 13 years and
they married in 1999.
Rusedski, who has a British mother and a Canadian father,
decided to adopt British citizenship in 1995. His best tournament results
were reaching the final of the US Open in 1997 where he lost to Pat Rafter
(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.
Despite Rusedski's on-court successes and being Britain's
number two tennis player (Tim Henman was number one), he was never regarded
as a popular player in the hearts and minds of British fans. 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 grueling 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 tested positive for nandrolone in January 2004, but was cleared of the
charges in a hearing on 10 March 2004.
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 championships;
his first 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.
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