Sydney, Jan 10 (DPA) Four time champion Lleyton Hewitt has reportedly overcome the back spasm which hampered him this week in Perth and will compete as planned at the Medibank International.
The Australian was treated on court for the back problem during his loss to Tommy Robredo at the Hopman Cup in Perth Thursday.
“I plan on picking up a few more matches in Sydney next week and I’ll feel confident going into Melbourne (from Jan 18),” Hewitt said in Perth. “It’s fine.
“I had a bit of a back spasm there in the first game of the singles, which loosened up as the match went on, but it was a bit frustrating at the start.”
The 28-year-old underwent hip surgery in summer 2008 and has a personal physiotherapist who has been treating him since the loss.
But the relatively secretive Hewitt camp says the back problem is unrelated to the successful surgery.
Hewitt won the event for the first time in 2000 and notched his fourth title five years ago.
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