Former world No. 1 Andy Roddick will end his nearly three-year retirement this week as he partners with Mardy Fish at the ATP Atlanta Open.
The American hung up his racket after the 2012 U.S. Open, the scene of his only major victory nine years before.
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Almost three years later, Roddick, 32, is set to return to action alongside his close friend Fish — hampered by an irregular heartbeat in recent years and due himself to retire after this year's Grand Slam event at Flushing Meadows — in men's doubles in the ATP 250 hardcourt event.
"I feel like I'm the guy who is too old to go back to a high school dance," Roddick said. "I've always enjoyed playing here. It's where I won my first title and my last title.
"Being able to play with Mardy again, with the end of his career around the corner. So we've kind of made some bookends of it. So it's to have the opportunity of all of those things coming together.
"I am glad he is getting this opportunity. It was so hard to watch what he went through, without people fully understanding what he was going through.
"I love the fact that he is comfortable walking people through what he has overcome."
Roddick and Fish, wild-card entrants, will take on Lu Yen-hsun and Jonathan Marray in their first-round match later in the week.