Rusedski expects tough year
Greg Rusedski admits 2004 could be his last season in tennis but is determined to fight hard to prolong his career.
The British number two opens his campaign against a qualifier in Adelaide on Tuesday.
He missed the first four months of last year through injury and then saw his season ended after the grasscourt season with a back problem.
"I'll see how this year goes and hopefully be around for at least another year or two," he said.
The 30-year-old insists he "feels fresh" but admits that another season like 2003 could prove too much.
"You just have to be realistic," he told The Guardian. "I don't want to be playing qualifying and slipping back down the ladder all the time.
"I've put in too much work and too much effort over the last few years to get myself back to a decent standard to just let that happen.
"I don't think I will have a year like last year though. I don't think it's possible."
And Rusedski is convinced that the fighting spirit that helped him reach number four in the world seven years ago can see him make an impact again.
"I always bounce back, I always find a way," he said. "I think that's one of my charcateristics.
"Whatever anyone thinks of me or whether you think I'm a good tennis player or not, at least I'm still in there fighting, trying every day to get back and do the best I can."
And, like compatriot Tim Henman, Rusedski goes into the new season without a coach and planning to travel alone most of the time.
"It's quite a nice feeling in a way because it's a bit like being 17 again and being back out on the tour alone again," he said.
"I don't have a coach, I don't have a physio and I'm not going to worry about the injuries, I'm just going to do everything I can to prevent them and then just go out there and play."
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