Richard Gasquet takes on Lleyton Hewitt in a must-win tie for Australia in the Hopman Cup on Tuesday.
Hewitt is playing his first competitive event since he re-injured his foot in September and the veteran Aussie is desperately hoping that his body will hold together for another Australian Open campaign. It all looked good on Sunday as he pushed Fernando Verdasco right to the wire before losing 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 in Australia's 2-1 defeat to Spain but the key test will be how his body recovers for today's clash with Gasquet.
'You have to try to block out the pain as much as possible and concentrate on what you need to do on the court,'' Hewitt told the press after the Verdasco match. ''That's a bit of a juggling act. I would like it to get a bit better but, for me, the best thing was to last three sets and well over two hours against a quality player like Fernando.''
This is a must-win tie for Australia and if they are to have any chance, Hewitt will probably have to get a result in this match as Jarmila Gajdosova will be a heavy underdog against world number nine Marion Bartoli in the other singles rubber. However Gasquet looked sublime during France's 2-1 win over China on Saturday, thrashing Wu Di 6-1, 6-1.
Hewitt and Gasquet have not played for nearly five years, making the head-to-head a little irrelevant but Hewitt won their only completed match at the 2006 US Open.
However expect Gasquet to take this one in straight sets.
