Greg's ready to rock

"I believe I've got another two or three good years left in me. Not many people win Wimbledon for the first time past 30, so I've not got a lot of time left.

"People don't realise just how brutal tennis is. Players who have been around for years lose a few matches, drop down the rankings, and suddenly they're gone - you never see them again. So you have to make the most of it."

Rusedski's best display at Wimbledon came in 1997 when he lost in the quarter-finals, but he is philosophical about the fact he has not gone further. He said: "I have never accepted what people say about the luck of the draw.

"The truth about winning Wimbledon is that you have to beat the best players. The best guy always win, whatever is said about the draw opening up.

"You can't fluke a Slam, you've got to win seven straight matches against the best players in the world, and that's very tough.

"You can talk about all the top players - Lleyton Hewitt, Marat Safin, Andre Agassi, Tim Henman,

Pete Sampras and so on - but it's hard to say who all the contenders are for Wimbledon.

"After all, who would have picked Goran - a wild-card entry and 125 in the rankings - to win last year?

"But he was on a mission, and he turned out to be unbeatable, so it could be anyone."

In a sport where every tiny edge can help, Rusedski says that at Wimbledon he has one extra factor on his side: the crowd.

"The fans can give me a real lift, I love it when they get really pumped up, it gives me a great shot of adrenaline and it's bound to intimidate my opponent a little.

"That's why I love the People's Day when the real fans pack the main stadium courts. The atmosphere is so passionate, so intense, you can reach out and touch it. To my way of thinking this is the way forward for tennis.

"The game needs to be modernised. Going to a match isn't like going to church, people want to have fun and not to be told to be quiet all the time. Let's have a bit of rock and roll. After all, what's the difference between a rock concert and a tennis match? In both cases the crowd want to be entertained and have fun as well as being part of what's going on.

"There's always been this argument by the purists that tennis should be quiet and played in a cathedral-like atmosphere. Well, I'd like to see it more rowdy with the crowd going wild on the big points. It would make it more fun."

While that revolution might be some time coming, Rusedski is planning something of an upheaval in his own lifestyle.

Missing part of the clay season may have upset his grass-court campaign, but it fits in with his resolution to play less competitive tennis and give his aching body a chance to recover during the year-round grind of the circuit.

"In the past, I have been playing around 32 weeks of competition a year, and that's too much. It's tough on your body and mentally very draining. I intend to reduce that to around 25 weeks and prepare better for the bigger tournaments."

That campaign starts on Monday at the Stella Artois.