Former World No 1 Lleyton Hewitt will miss the action on tennis court until May as he is nursing a hip injury.

Hewitt underwent surgery on his right hip after his fourth round exit at the Australian Open by Roger Federer.

"After the Australian Open, I had to go and have hip surgery," said Hewitt. "It's been causing a few problems since the Hopman Cup at the start of the year," 

"I did one movement at the Hopman Cup in practice the day before my first match, and I felt something straightaway. I knew it wasn't that good.

"Right at that time I wasn't 100 percent sure whether I was going to be able to play any of the Australian summer." 

The former Wimbledon and US Open winner said that he had had no thoughts of retirement.

"That never went through my mind". He added "I've worked too hard to come back. I feel like I'm hitting the ball as well as I've nearly ever hit it.

Follow the Grand Slam of Asia Pacific with TennisEarth.com and get the minute-by-minute updates of the 2010 Australian Open.