Mark Philippousis says he's ready to do whatever it takes to resurrect his struggling career, despite claims from former players and coaches that he is lazy.
The 31-year-old's ranking has been in freefall since suffering another knee injury in December, the two-time grand slam finalist now rated at No.1,115 in the world.
While his injury-protected ranking is 112, it's still not high enough to get him direct access to lead-up events such as Sydney and Adelaide and he'll rely on the goodwill of tournament organisers for wildcards.
If not, it will be a rare visit to the qualifying rounds for the former world No.8.
"I'm not looking for miracles in the first few tournaments back," Philippoussis told reporters in Adelaide after hitting up with Davis Cup coach Darren Cahill, who he's working with on a casual basis.
"I've got to be very realistic and for me that is building up my strength and my game and we'll take it up from there."
Philippoussis has come under fire from a number of former players in recent weeks, including former Davis Cup teammate Pat Rafter and American great John McEnroe.
Rafter, who beat Philippoussis in the 1998 US Open final, said in December's Australian Tennis Magazine that Philippoussis had "burnt many bridges" during his career and had "made some very poor decisions".
Philippoussis was philosophical about the comments.
"What can you do - people have the right to say what they like," he said.
"I'm training my butt off, I love this game, if I didn't I wouldn't put myself through it every single time."
McEnroe's comments - that Philippoussis was lazy and hard to coach - must have cut a bit deeper though.
When a reporter raised what McEnroe, who briefly mentored Philippoussis, had said in England's The Times, the Victorian terminated the informal press gathering.
