Hewitt confident of Townsville tie
Hewitt confident of Townsville tie 
By Robert Grant
Former Australian Captain March 31, 2008
AUSTRALIA No.1 Lleyton Hewitt is confident of playing in next week’s Davis Cup tie against Thailand despite sustaining a hip injury.
Hewitt, who first noticed the complaint during his loss at Indian Wells a fortnight ago, said it had not improved on Sunday, despite treatment.
Australia are scheduled to play a key tie against Thailand in Townsville from April 11-13. The winner will advance to a place in the September play-offs for the chance to return to the World Group.
Hewitt was on his way back to Australia after going down to Argentine Jose Acasuso in straight sets in the first round of the Miami Masters on Sunday.
He is likely to have an MRI scan to gauge the extent of the problem but has told Australia Davis Cup captain John Fitzgerald he expects to play in the Cup tie.
“I’ve spoken to him since his Miami match and he’s very keen to come to Townsville and he’s very confident,” Fitzgerald said.
“I know he’s had a few issues but injuries are something they deal with most weeks.
“Sometimes they pop up from time to time, I don’t know of occasions he’s had this too often before, but we all get overuse issues with elbows and shoulders and knees.”
Hewitt said he had been restricted by the injury during his past couple of matches and had tried rest as well as treatment.
“I just couldn’t quite move properly,” Hewitt said after going down to Acasuso.
“I’ve been battling a little bit of an injury since I lost to Fish. I went out there and tried and just couldn’t compete the way I wanted to.”
Hewitt said he took time off after the Indian Wells event and thought the injury was improving but it re-appeared as soon as he began to practise for the Miami tournament.
Hewitt has been named in the team alongside Chris Guccione, Peter Luczak and Paul Hanley.
Fitzgerald said he believed Thai stalwart Paradorn Srichaphan, who has been off the tour for the past year, may be returning for the match, but he is also concerned about several other Thai players likely to be in the team.
“They’ve got a doubles team (brothers Sanchai and Sonchat Ratiwatana) that have won a couple of ATP doubles titles, so that’s always worth thinking about.
“And they’ve got another kid who’s a pretty tough competitors, Danai Udomchoke, who’s been ranked as high as 100 in the world.
“Potentially they’re quite a tough outfit,” he said.
AAP