Australian tennis player Lleyton Hewitt expects to be fully fit for the upcoming Australian Open despite suffering a back spasm during his loss to Spain's Tommy Robredo at the Hopman Cup in Perth.
The world number 22 repeatedly grabbed his back and hip during the first set, in which he served five double faults in his first two service games.
Hewitt called a medical time-out after dropping the first set in 37 minutes and moved more freely on his return to the court but succumbed to Robredo in straight sets 6-2 6-4.
Hewitt says he isn't feeling fully fit at the moment but is confident he will have recovered in time for his first match of the Sydney International tournament, which starts on Sunday.
Hewitt suffered serious hip injury in 2008, but he says his hip feels fine after the incident.
