It’s been six months since Andy Roddick’s heart-breaking Wimbledon final loss to grand nemesis Roger Federer.
With the calendar now changing, Roddick admits he has a sense of perspective about the haunting near miss against a man who has single-handedly denied him four Grand Slam titles.
He prefers to look positively at the achievement of making a Wimbledon final and playing a record long deciding set.
“My worst day, as far, is the way I feel after that match, is a lot of people’s dream, that’s not lost on me,” Roddick said on Thursday as he prepared for his return from injury at the Brisbane International.
“It’s like anything that’s hard in anyone’s life. You just keep going and do the things you enjoy and slowly maybe I’ll only think about it four times today.”
One of tennis’s most endearing and enduring characters, Roddick showed he was in good form on and off the court despite ending 2009 with a three-month layoff with a knee problem.
The tournament top seed and main men’s drawcard, the 27 year old will start 2010 “chomping at the bit” in Brisbane and confident he will be a genuine contender at the Australian Open.
The knee, unstrapped during a sharp hour-long hit with defending champion Radek Stepanek at Pat Rafter Arena, isn’t perfect but it won’t hinder him on court, Roddick says.
“It’s coming around all right,” the American said.
“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.
“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.
“I’ve been playing a lot. I’m definitely not coming in under-practiced.
“I feel like I’m hitting the ball really well in practice it’s just a matter of getting that to translate.”
Considering he has long been one of the biggest servers in the game, it’s remarkable Roddick has never suffered a right shoulder injury, and partly put his fortune down to a tip from Andre Agassi.
“One thing I have been smart about, and actually Andre taught me: ‘Listen to your body. You don’t have to be a hero every day you step out there’,” he said.
“Maybe you’ll lose something short term but as long as you heal properly and give yourself a chance to be better long term.”
The world No.1 in 2003 after he won the US Open, Roddick 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.
“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 – there’s probably one that’s active right now [Federer] – that they’ve played in four semifinals.
“It could be better and I want it to be better.”
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