BRISBANE, Australia (AP)—After missing the ATP World Tour Finals because of an injured left knee, Andy Roddick is back on the court and preparing for the Brisbane International.
The 27-year-old American said his knee isn't perfect after his first practice session Thursday at Pat Rafter Arena. Roddick is the No. 1 men's seed in the tournament, which is a tune-up ahead of the AUstralian Open from Jan. 18-31.
It's coming around all right,'' he said after an hour-long session with defending champion Radek Stepanek.It was disappointing to finish the year like I did, especially considering I felt like I was having a really good year until the injury came about.''
Roddick had one of his best years on tour last season, reaching the semifinals at the Australian Open and losing to Roger Federer 16-14 in an epic fifth set of the Wimbledon final.
That was disappointing but on the flipside, I'm probably a little bit more mentally rested than a lot of these guys, maybe a little bit more eager to get out here,'' Roddick said of sitting out with the injury.I've been playing a lot. I'm definitely not coming in under-practiced.''
The 2003 U.S. Open winner said his 2009 record, including a fourth Australian Open semifinal appearance, gave him extra belief he can claim a second career Grand Slam title - possibly in Melbourne in January.
Obviously I feel like maybe I could have played a final there before,'' he said.It hasn't quite happened but there's not a lot of people walking around that can say ... that they've played in four semifinals.''
Roddick said he still flashes back to the tough Wimbledon loss against Federer.
It's like anything that's hard in anyone's life,'' Roddick said.You just keep going and do the things you enjoy and slowly, maybe, I'll only think about it four times today.''