Hewitt sidelined after more hip surgery

Lleyton Hewitt refuses to give up on his grand slam dream despite revealing on
Saturday he underwent a second round of career-saving hip surgery this week.

Hewitt, who turns 29 next month, has vowed to return before the French Open in May
after going under the knife on Friday in Hobart.
Dr Michael Pritchard, who repaired the former world No.1's left hip in August 2008,
operated on his right hip this time around after Hewitt first suffered the injury
before his opening match at the Hopman Cup in Perth earlier this month.
"I wasn't a hundred per cent sure whether I was going to be able to play any of the
Australian summer," he said.
"At least I gave a hundred per cent and tried to block it out as much as possible,
was able to get through the summer."
Hewitt battled through the pain barrier for four rounds at the Australian Open,
eventually succumbing in straight sets to world No.1 Roger Federer.
"I had a tear in my labrum, which is around my hip joint, so I pretty much had torn
that off the bone. I had a few issues with my ligament," he said.
His latest injury rules Hewitt out of Australia's Davis Cup playoff against Taiwan
in Melbourne in early March - almost certainly meaning skipper John Fitzgerald will
call up rising teenager Bernard Tomic.
All Hewitt is concerned about is hopefully returning to the tour in April after a
couple of months of intense rehabilitation.
The former US Open and Wimbledon champion said he "absolutely" still had the urge to
play on and challenge for major spoils.
"I'll be looking to get back on the clay at some stage before the French Open," he
said.
"Obviously, what I play for these days are the grand slams. If I waited any longer
to have anything done, it would have been very similar to 2008 where I sort of
prolonged it because I didn't exactly know what was going on and ended up missing
the US Open because of it.
"For me having it done right now, I'll be back, ready for the French Open."
Hewitt insisted retirement has never entered his mind.
"I've worked too hard to come back," he said. "I feel like I'm hitting the ball as
well as I've nearly ever hit it.
"How I was feeling, the bloke I lost to at the start of this week, he's as good as
you get right at the moment.
"I don't feel like I'm that far away, my ball striking, from doing some damage in
the grand slams.
"Obviously it's frustrating because I felt like I was in such good shape and I felt
like I'd done everything possible coming into the Australian summer to give myself
as good a shot.
"I still gave a hundred per cent. I lost to the best player in the world at the moment.
"The obvious goal, the next one will be Wimbledon. It's a place where I feel
comfortable at. It's a place I played extremely well last year.
"I was only one or two points away from making the semis there. I feel like if I can
get back and play some matches before Wimbledon, I have an outside chance of doing
well."
Should Tomic make his Davis Cup debut against Taiwan, he would become - at 17 years
and 135 days - the youngest player Australia has ever used in the century-old
competition.