Greg Rusedski feels he has finally put his injury nightmare behind him after setting up a mouth-watering Wimbledon showdown with Andy Roddick.
Rusedski briefly contemplated quitting the game after operations on his foot and knee kept him out for nine months. But the British number two eventually made a comeback last month and claimed his 13th career title in Nottingham on Saturday to complete the perfect preparation for Wimbledon.
And the 29-year-old enjoyed the ideal warm-up for Wednesday's clash with championship favourite Roddick by overcoming another big server, Germany's Alexander Waske, in straight sets in the first round today.
"All that terrible stuff I can put behind me now," said Rusedski, who received a standing ovation after his 7-6 7-5 7-6 win on Court One. "I have closed the chapter on it. "I remember it sometimes to make myself stronger and keep fighting out there, but I think I've got over the worst part of it now. Now hopefully it's just good tennis like I've been playing the last six six or seven matches.
"You get on a roll and win a tournament and then you feel 'I'm back.' "It was great to get by the first round in straight sets and the crowd gave me as much support as I could ask for."
Rusedski admitted it was not a match for the purists, with rallies almost unheard of and only seven points won against serve in the whole of the first set, three of those double faults from Waske.
"For about nine games I wasn't getting a read on his serve whatsoever, and he was serving the corners really well," added Rusedski who climbed to 51 in the world rankings courtesy of his victory in Nottingham. That's the way grass court tennis can be."
"I thought I started to play well from about 5-4 in the first set but he played at a very high standard. "But I'm going to have to improve my level again against Roddick. I'm looking forward to our re-match."
Rusedski beat the fifth seed in straight sets at Wimbledon last year, but lost to the American in the third round of the Stella Artois Championships earlier this month. Roddick went on to win the title and is hotly tipped to go on and win his first grand slam, especially with top seed and defending champion Lleyton Hewitt now removed from his side of the draw.
"I can't look beyond that," Rusedski added. "I know Hewitt's fallen out of the section but I have to focus on my match. This is a huge, key match to my Wimbledon chances this year.