SAN JOSE – Andy Roddick is pressing the reboot button on his 2012 season.
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After struggling with knee, hip, shoulder and abdominal injuries in 2010-11, Roddick found himself in frustratingly familiar territory last month: Pulling up lame just when he seemed to be getting back on track.
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At the Australian Open, the American retired in the second round to Lleyton Hewitt when he partially tore a tendon in his hamstring.
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"At this point, I feel like I'm starting over," Roddick said Sunday as he prepared for the SAP Open in San Jose, where he has captured three of his 30 ATP Tour titles.
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Roddick has been part of the conversation for so long that even when he struggled with injuries no one doubted he was a player capable of momentum runs that could position him to challenge for big titles.
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As the 29-year-old enters the latter phase of his career, he is having to adjust — or as he says, "renegotiate" — his short-term expectations.
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"My mindset right now isn't winning Wimbledon," says Roddick, whose early-season Mohawk no longer protrudes. "It's getting healthy and getting right and putting numerous matches together in a row."
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Though he extended his streak of winning titles to 11 with his win against Canada's Milos Raonic at Memphis last year, Roddick finished 2011 out of the top 10 for the first time in a decade and went 1-7 vs. top-10 players.
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The Nebraska-born Texan has not reached the semifinals of a major since his rousing run to the 2009 Wimbledon final, where he fell to Federer 16-14 in the fifth set.
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In 2011, Roddick lost to Stanislas Wawrinka in the Australian Open's fourth round, missed Roland Garros and exited the third round at Wimbledon to Feliciano Lopez. He beat No. 5 David Ferrer of Spain in a spirited U.S. Open campaign but ran out of gas against Rafael Nadal a round later in the quarterfinals.
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He remains a respectable No. 17 in the rankings, but he is unfamiliar with being the third-highest-ranked American behind No. 8 Mardy Fish and No. 14 John Isner.
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It's not a number the 2003 U.S. Open champion and former No. 1 will ever find satisfying.
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"I wasn't going to be there for 20 years — it's a hard thing to do," he says of his top-dog status in the USA pecking order. "I'm fine with it. Do I want to get back there? Yeah. Do I feel like I can? Yes. But again, it's going to be a process. It's not something that's going to happen in two weeks."
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Roddick knows the script in tennis can change quickly. He points to No. 1 Novak Djokovic, who last year went from perennial third wheel to the Federer-Nadal duopoly to nearly unbeatable almost overnight.
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"I'll have you guys writing the same old story again quickly, hopefully," he says.
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Still, Roddick is focusing on incremental steps, which includes playing three consecutive weeks (San Jose, Memphis and Delray Beach) — something he has done once in the last 2½ years.
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"I've felt like a part-time tennis player," says Roddick, whose 50 matches last season were his fewest since 2000 when he was just coming on tour.
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The bigger issue for the prideful Roddick is staying relevant in a time when even he admits the top four players — Djokovic, Nadal, Federer and Andy Murray— have established a gaping hole with the rest of the field.
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"There is a very wide margin," he says. "I'm not in the business of predicting the future, but if someone wants to crack it, they have a long way to go right now."
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If Roddick is candid enough to admit he and his peers are playing catch-up, he remains sensitive to outsiders' critique of his play — notably that he needs to stand closer to the baseline and take more chances with his stronger forehand wing.
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His view: With nearly 600 wins under his belt, give him some credit for knowing something about the game.
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"I'm not an idiot," Roddick says. "I understand the process of tennis. I know how to play tennis. I've done it for a long time. I have been very good at it."
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Where others have relied on their athleticism or racket skills, Roddick has thrived on his work ethic and his workhorse mentality. But his penchant for punishing his body might have contributed to his rash of injuries.
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The key is staying strong and getting matches, which is why he spent a good part of the offseason strengthening his serving shoulder and making sure his base and core are in tip-top shape.
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Another area that concerns Roddick's coach, Larry Stefanki, is his biggest weapon — his serve.
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In 2011, the American dropped off significantly in several key statistics, among them points won on first serve (77%) and service games won (87%). Both were his lowest since 2000.
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"If you're not really hitting your spots on the serve, which has made Andy great, it's going to be difficult for him," Stefanki says.
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Roddick is optimistic he can relaunch his season in a part of the calendar that has traditionally been a sweet spot.
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Eight of his titles have come in the February indoor and March outdoor hardcourt events in the USA.
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"It's a surface and a time of the year I feel pretty comfortable in," he says.
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In addition feeling snakebitten by injuries, Roddick is carrying the loss of his longtime agent and close confidant, Ken Meyerson, who died in October. Meyerson was 48.
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"It still is one of the tougher things that I've gone through," says Roddick, who spoke at the memorial service. "In my entire career, he probably had more consistent faith in me than anyone. … It's something that I think about every day."
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While Meyerson's death forced some unwanted perspective into his life, Roddick hasn't tired of the process of training, practice and globetrotting that is part of a tennis player's life. He remains eager, hungry, dedicated.
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"Andy is like a diesel engine," Stefanki says. "Give him some confidence, get him some wins, and good things are going to happen."
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Roddick turns fan for Davis Cup
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Andy Roddick, the most successful American Davis Cup player of his generation, doesn't see the team competition on his plate this year after sitting out last weekend's stunning defeat of Roger Federer-led Switzerland.
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"It was exciting," Roddick says of the 5-0 sweep in Fribourg, Switzerland, on red clay. "I was proud. It was like I was a fan again. It was awesome."
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Roddick believes John Isner and Mardy Fish have earned the right to represent the USA in singles.
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"It's not even worth me talking about," says Roddick, who led the USA to its last Davis Cup championship in 2007. "It's their team. The last thing I'm going to do is come here and create headlines by saying I want back in. It's not even in my thought process right now. They deserved it. They both won. It's their team right now."
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Roddick has made himself available to captain Jim Courier, but only if injuries come into the mix.
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"I mean, if they get hurt, then it's a conversation," he says.
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The Davis Cup warrior also is carefully calibrating his schedule in a packed season that includes the Olympics on his favored grass at Wimbledon.
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"Jim's been great," Roddick adds. "He's made it known to me that the door is open, but first of all, I'm the third ranked guy."
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The USA will travel to France for its quarterfinal matchup April 6-8.
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