(SportToday)

Mark Philippoussis makes his late start to the tennis year tomorrow at the first of two tournaments that will help determine his Davis Cup availability.

Returning from a second bout of minor knee surgery which kept him out of the Australian Open, Philippoussis is seeded second behind Pete Sampras at the Kroger St Jude tournament in Memphis.

Two weeks of hard work with coach Peter McNamara at his Miami base have completed the Victorian's preparations for his comeback at a tournament he won in 1998.

With a bye into the second round, he faces Spanish qualifier Juan Albert Viloca, who posted a 6-1 6-4 victory over Brazilian Andre Sa.

Speaking at a teleconference before the St Jude tournament Philippoussis was hardly encouraging when questioned about his availability for Australia's difficult Davis Cup second round away tie against Brazil in April.

"You play five tough weeks and when it's your time to recover, that's when they put on Davis Cup," Philippoussis said of his upcoming schedule.

"It's unfortunate that it's at the moment where I need to relax...or keep my knee in shape or recover physically, so it's going to be tough."

Philippoussis's manager John McCurdy was more sanguine, saying the Scud will liaise with Cup captain John Fitzgerald after he completes the next two tournaments.

Philippoussis, who ended last season in 11th place on the ATP Points Race, will play a tournament in San Jose next week then have a week off before the two big Masters series events in Indian Wells and Miami.

While Philippoussis has been criticised previously for his on again, off again approach to Davis Cup, his camp is wary of overtaxing his body when players already face such a hectic tournament schedule to maintain their place among the game's elite.

There's a feeling that his big frame could make him susceptible to injury if overworked.

However, Fitzgerald would be keen to have him on board for such a difficult assignment, especially given Philippoussis's brilliant performance on clay in the 1999 Cup final win in France.

His presence would also give Fitzgerald greater flexibility in propping up his shaky doubles combination, perhaps by having Pat Rafter or Lleyton Hewitt team with regular Todd Woodbridge.