Wimbledon A Lure For Arthurs To Say Farewell

Sun Herald

Sunday January 28, 2007

By ADRIAN PROSZENKO

WAYNE Arthurs says his career is at the crossroads after the troublesome hip injury that ruled him out of Australia's first-round Davis Cup tie in Belgium next month.

Arthurs, whose Australian Open came to a premature halt after he had a freak reaction to a pain-killing injection last week, hasn't ruled out making one last appearance at Melbourne Park next year.

But after MRI scans revealed he had a minor hip tear which would put him out of actions for three weeks, Arthurs said he would use the time to decide whether he was up to the rigours of another ATP season.

"I'm going to take two or three weeks off to decide whether I want to go out and battle away for another year," he said.

"It's not easy when you're ranked 165 or whatever [163] I am and to go out there and battle away.

"I've got a daughter now and those sorts of things are luring me home.

"I'm still calming down from the Australian Open. It's easy to say that was great and now it's time to get back out on the road because everything was flying. But it's not so easy after you've had two or three weeks off to do the hard slog again, doing tournaments I don't want to be at.

"I need time to think about whether I really want to have one more year."

Asked about the prospect of returning for a more fitting Australian Open farewell than his third-round retirement against American Mardy Fish, the 35-year-old said: "That's still a long way down the track. I'll see how the year pans out. That may still be a better send-off than losing qualifying in the middle of nowhere.

"I have to weigh up all the pros and cons. It was a bloody good farewell, even if it wasn't the right circumstances."

The left-handed serve-volleyer, the oldest player on the tour, hinted a Wimbledon finale was a possibility.

"Wimbledon has always been the priority when it comes to grand slams," he said. "I've always had my best results there. If I do play, I'd be gearing myself to having a good Wimbledon."

Complicating his decision is his unexpected surge in form, which began with an upset win over world No.6 Tommy Robredo in Russia in October and continued into the Australian summer.

"There have been times when I have been playing qualifying and not really getting anywhere," he said. "Then suddenly I have a good tournament at the end of the year, I beat Tommy Robredo and start to think, 'Hey, I can still play this game'.

"Then I have two pretty good wins at the Australian Open and it's just a roller-coaster ride."

© 2007 Sun Herald

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