Jimmy Connors has let it be known that the break-up of his partnership with Andy Roddick — who did not seem too shattered by it given his scintillating displays at the Barclays Dubai Championships last week — is not the prelude to a second long-term disappearing act from a sport he once dominated as no other.

Connors, who was tempted out of retirement in 2006 by the promise of inspiring Roddick back to the grand-slam pinnacle, will enjoy a spell away from the hurly-burly of the circuit and then set his mind to helping to build his country back to the force it was in the game when he was its No 1 player, helping himself to a record 109 career titles in a 22-year professional career.

The closest Roddick came to cementing the alliance with a grand-slam success was reaching the final of the US Open later in their first year together, the most frustrating his loss in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon last summer when he led Richard Gasquet, of France, by two sets. The cause of their separation was Connors’ reluctance to travel to all corners of the world.

“Andy and I developed a great relationship and my admiration for him is unwavering,” Connors said. “I instilled in him some of my love and passion for the game and have given him all the necessary ingredients to challenge the best. It is up to him to trust it and incorporate it into his game. It’s always been my view that maximum success as a tennis professional requires a 365 day a year commitment and I know he can do it.”

Unlike those Americans whose heads were turned by the offers of huge sums from the British LTA to try to develop some semblance of talent here, Connors wants to search out excellence in his own country. The thought of unearthing an American gem and instilling the virtues that made his own journey so remarkable, is one that seizes him. “Trying to develop the next American champion is a challenge I would gladly accept,” he said.

Roddick, meanwhile, played some of his finest tennis in recent months to steer a course to victory in Dubai — a tournament he was playing for the first time — with successive wins over Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, the world No 2 and No 3, and then Feliciano Lopez, the unseeded Spaniard, in the final. He did not drop his serve in 55 games in the week and did not give up a break point on his serve in the final.

“I stated a couple of weeks ago that I wanted to get a shot at the top players and I was able to do that," he said. “I felt like I was playing well, every point I was confident I was going to play the next point the way I wanted to. I was literally asleep before my first match in the player lounge on the floor with people stepping over me. I didn’t know what to expect coming in and maybe that’s why I played well."

The next stage of the tour incorporates the first two Masters events of the year, in Indian Wells, California, starting on Wednesday, with Key Biscayne, Florida, immediately on its tail. For Roger Federer, the world No 1 who lost to Andy Murray in the first round in Dubai, these are exacting times. He now reveals that the illness which left him bereft of strength in the Australian Open in January and has hindered his practice regime since, was mononucleosis, which can produce extreme, lingering fatigue.

“The doctors said I must have had it for at least six weeks, which went all the way back to December," he said. “When I heard it was mono, I was actually even more happy to have made the semi-finals of the Australian Open, because another doctor might have said ‘you’re not allowed to, or can’t play’."