Hewitt training six hours a day to crack tennis top 10: reports

Australia's former world number one Lleyton Hewitt is training six hours a day as he bids to recover from hip surgery and make a surprise return to the top 10, according to reports.

The Wimbledon and US Open champion has slumped to 67 in the ATP rankings after an injury-ravaged year and faces a make-or-break 2009 season, starting with next month's Australian Open in Melbourne.

The 27-year-old had surgery for a long-standing hip complaint in August after being knocked out of the Beijing Olympics by Rafael Nadal in straight sets.

"I want to have a crack at trying to get top-10 and get in the Masters Cup for the end of next year," Hewitt told the Sunday Telegraph newspaper.

"But you've got to play a lot of tournaments to be able to do that and that's where it comes back to the hip holding up, and every other body part."

Hewitt said he has been swimming, running, cycling, climbing stairs and stretching, all before picking up his racquet, which he did two weeks ago.

Australia's leading player said he has no doubt his tennis remains competitive provided he can remain injury-free. To do that he is training up to six hours a day, half of that time on court.

"I actually enjoy it. If you're fit you're playing most weeks on tour," he said. "So this is a good opportunity for me not just to look at the Australian summer, but also the 2009 calendar.

"Hopefully, I can get my body in as good a shape as possible to see me right through next year."

Hewitt was restricted to 11 tournaments this year and the hip surgery forced him to skip the US Open, the first major he has missed through injury since the 2005 French Open.

"I tried to go out this year and play the grand slams probably at 70 percent really," Hewitt said.

"It's tough to come back from any kind of surgery and especially with my style of game, with a lot of running, scrambling and getting a lot of balls back.

"I'm trying to strengthen the muscles around the hip again. The last couple of weeks have been getting better and better each day."

Hewitt's first tournament in the new year will be the mixed-teams Hopman Cup in Perth, starting on January 3, followed by the Sydney International ahead of the January 19-February 1 Australian Open.