His ankle injury kept him out of the court for nearly five months and although Anup Sridhar made a comeback early this year, the same injury and other fitness problems are still giving him sleepless nights even on Sunday.
Sridhar twisted his ankle in March last year and after playing in the Beijing Olympics he was left on the sidelines before making a comeback early this year.
He says he is learning how tough it is to return after an injury lay-off.
"I'm learning as I go along that it is really hard getting back after an injury. I mean while physically I'm quite close to being 100 per cent in my ankle, there are a lot of other issues that need attention," Sridhar said.
"The five months that I was out of action took a lot out of me. I feel my general fitness needs to be at least two levels higher than it is currently. The ankle also needs a lot of attention."
"Actually I need to do a lot of work in all areas, including technical and strategy but the most important things now are the ankle and the fitness," he added.
"But I'm young, eager and determined to get back and move much ahead of what I was earlier, so I'm confident I can make it," Sridhar said.
Returning to the court in January this year, Sridhar played in the Malaysian Super Series, the Korean Super Series, the national championship, German Open and recently-concluded All England super series, where he played well to qualify for the main draw before going down to second seed Dan Lin in the first round.
"I guess I would've been happier if I'd pushed the match against Lin Dan to three sets at least and see what happens in the third. I can't really say I'm satisfied," he said.
