Chris Woodruff says he is still playing catch-up after an injury suffered three years ago which put his professional tennis career on hold for more than a year.

And the US Davis Cup player hopes that next week's XL Capital Bermuda Open will turn out to be another step in the right direction in his continuing battle to make up lost ground.

Indeed, his chances of success in the $100,000 Challenger tournament at Coral Beach must be good, if his victory over the great Pete Sampras earlier this year is anything to go by.

Woodruff appeared well on his way to being a top 10 player after an excellent year in 1997, in which he reached number 29 in the world and won his first ATP title.

That triumph came in Montreal, where his impressive list of victims included Goran Ivanisevic, Mark Philippoussis, Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Gustavo Kuerten.

But in December, 1997, disaster struck. While kicking field goals in Atlanta, Woodruff sprained his left knee so badly that he was only able to play one match during the entire following year.

The 28-year-old American believes he is still clawing his way back to where he was before the career-threatening injury.

"I was having the best year of my life in 1997 before I hurt my knee,'' Woodruff told The Royal Gazette from his home in Knoxville, Tennessee.

"I missed a whole year and then some. I have just tried to put it all behind me, but I lost a lot of ground. I'm still recovering from it now.'' When he returned to the circuit in 1999, he made the biggest jump up the rankings in ATP Tour history -- more than 1300 positions.

Last year, his strong comeback continued as he starred in his Davis Cup debut, winning the decisive singles rubber against Zimbabwe's Wayne Black to give the US team a nail-biting victory. Woodruff also enjoyed his best Grand Slam showing by reaching the quarter-finals of the Australian Open.

He will come to Coral Beach at number 51 in the ATP Champions Race, having reached two quarter-finals and the third round of the Australian Open this year.

But the highlight was the 7-6, 6-2 win over Sampras in Memphis, something he was refreshingly modest about.

"I'd never beaten Pete before,'' said Woodruff. "It was an indoor tournament in February and obviously, Pete is struggling a bit with his game.

"His results have been nothing like he would like them to be. Needless to say, I was happy to take the win though.'' Woodruff is one of two men in the Open draw to have beaten 13-time Grand Slam winner Sampras this year, the other being 18-year-old American Andy Roddick who bears the weight of great expectations from his country.

"Andy has had early success and he's the first American to have done that for some time,'' said Woodruff. "Now people are looking to him to carry that on.

"At the Ericsson Open, he beat Sampras and a couple of other very good players, so he obviously has a lot of potential.

"It will take guys a while to figure out his game. But tennis is a game of the long haul. He's done well at junior level and now we'll see how well he does on the Tour.'' Woodruff will fly into Bermuda today for his first clay-court tournament of the year, aiming to do better than his last visit to the Island six years ago.

Woodruff on comeback trail From Page 15 "I played in Bermuda once before, in 1995 I think, and I got knocked out in qualifying in singles and doubles,'' he said.

"I'd like to think I have a good chance but tennis nowadays has become so hard and there are so many good players around that you always have to be playing at your very best.

"Being an American, we don't play on clay that much and I prefer a faster surface. But I've been practising hard this week on clay in Tennessee and I'm feeling pretty good.

"This year's been pretty good but it could have been better. I've missed a few good match-point opportunities. Hopefully, Bermuda will be a good start to the clay-court season for me.'' Woodruff hoped to continue his involvement with the US Davis Cup team, but he believed that a change of direction when Patrick McEnroe took over the team captaincy from his brother John would limit his chances.

"I played in Zimbabwe and then in Spain I played doubles with Todd Martin,'' said Woodruff. "But it seems to me that we have restructured our Davis Cup standards.

"Patrick McEnroe wants to get the younger players like Andy Roddick and Jan Michael Gambill involved. But if the opportunity presents itself again, I would be happy to play, of course.'' Qualifying matches start at Coral Beach this morning and continue tomorrow.

Admission for both days is free. Main draw matches start on Monday.