A left wrist surgery in August may have checked Prakash Amritraj's fine run but the Indian feels those days off the circuit taught him a few lessons that will stand him in good stead.

"Before I was happy winning a couple of matches each week, now I want to win every day. I have learned to live the moment, literally embrace it," Amritraj said here on Sunday.

"It doesn't matter who you are playing, Nadal or Moya, or some qualifier in the first round of the Futures, you've got to give it all you have. Do the best you can in every situation that you are in."

The 24-year-old Indian, a wild carder at the $436,000 Chennai Open, kick-starts the new season against qualifier Alexandre Kudrayavtsev of Russia.

It remains to be seen how his wrist holds up. "It's still not 100 percent," Amritraj said. "The wrist still hurts when I play, but it's not like the pain I had when I hurt myself. I'm strengthening my wrist and it hurts because it is still a bit weak. But every week I notice a change, it's getting stronger," the India No 2 said.

For Amritraj, ranked 279 in the world, the two-fisted backhand is his bread and butter shot. In the last two years or so, the wrist has been bothering him. It has been showing in his game, rather the backhands without the desired sting in them.

At the Chennai Open last year, he played the single-handed backhand while losing to Ivo Karlovic in the opening round. Despite his feared backhand firing in fits and starts, Amritraj had a good summer. He made the quarterfinals at Newport and the semifinals of a Challenger event at Aptos the following week.

"I went from 817 to about 260 in the rankings. The way I was playing I was headed to the top-100," the Indian said. It was during that semifinal loss to Donald Young in July that his wrist snapped. But he went to the doctor only after losing in the US Open qualifiers. The Indian underwent two surgeries and was in a cast for a little over seven weeks.

"Unlike last year, I continued working on my body," Amritraj said. "I just kept myself in shape and also started played the single-handed backhand during that time."

As regards his goals for the season, Amritraj said he has not set any. "I have no ranking goals. My aim is to have 12 healthy months and enjoy my first full season on the Tour."

Amritraj, who is scheduled to play the Australian Open qualifiers after Chennai, is also looking at a travelling coach. After the Aussie Open, the Indian has two Challengers lined up. With the Davis Cup tie against Uzbekistan round the corner, Chennai provides him the best opportunity to test his wrist and his game.