Hewitt relieved to be back

Lleyton Hewitt was relieved to be back on court and competing at the Stella Artois Championships on Tuesday following a three-month injury break.

The Australian world number two was first sidelined with a toe injury in March then had to delay his return after fracturing a rib last month in a fall at his Sydney home.

"It's been frustrating to sit back," the 2002 Wimbledon champion said after he began his preparations for the grasscourt grand slam with a 6-7, 7-5, 7-5 victory over Belgium's Xavier Malisse.

"You know, (missing) the French Open was probably the most frustrating because recently my grand slam record has been pretty good

"Even though I would have been going there under-prepared a little bit because if the ribs did heal in time, which was highly unlikely anyway, not having any matches on clay was going to be a tough ask anyway.

"But then again, not a lot I can do about it. That was the sort of the mindset I had when I was back home and started hitting on grass.

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Before his season suddenly ground to a halt, Hewitt had reached three finals out of the four tournaments he had competed in since the start of the year.

Having triumphed in Sydney in January, he fell at the final hurdle at the Australian Open and in Indian Wells.

Since then he had been reduced to playing the waiting the game.

"After the first injury I couldn't get on the tennis court for about three weeks. I was on crutches for two weeks," said the 24-year-old.

"And then the rib injury, I couldn't get on the tennis court for two weeks. So obviously then I couldn't hit a lot of balls in that time."

Despite his lack of match practice, Hewitt felt winning a second Wimbledon title was a distinct possibility.

"My fitness is never something that's going to let me down," he said as he eyed a fourth Stella crown in the buildup to the start of Wimbledon on June 20.

"I've been looking forward to the grasscourt season as it's one of my favourite times of the year.

"But if I bombed out today, I still would think that I've got a pretty good chance of getting through to the second week of Wimbledon and then anything can happen."