Publications
Partners
Brisbane - Andy Roddick's left knee isn't perfect but he's hoping for a successful start to the 2010 tennis season at the Brisbane International.
Roddick had his first practice session on Thursday at Pat Rafter Arena in preparation for next week's first tuneup tournament ahead of the Australian Open from Jan. 18-31.
The 27-year-old American missed the ATP World Tour Finals at London in November because of the knee ailment. He had one of his best years on tour this season, reaching the semifinals at the Australian Open and losing to Roger Federer 16-14 in the fifth set of the Wimbledon final.
He is the No 1 men's seed at the Brisbane International.
Roddick's left knee was unstrapped on Thursday during a hour-long session with defending champion Radek Stepanek.
"It's coming around all right," Roddick 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."
The 2003 US Open winner said his 2009 record, including a fourth Australian Open semi-final 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."
