Lleyton Hewitt will have another surgery and be out at least four months, the Herald Sun reported. Hewitt, who had two surgeries in 2011, will undergo left foot surgery and is planning on returning for the hard-court season.
Despite having a mangled big left toe, former No. 1 Hewitt managed to play during the Australian summer and also at Davis Cup. But he said doctors told him the "joint in the big toe was completely stuffed. Something needed to be done. I've not had one pain-free day since surgery last year after San Jose (in March) and it got to the stage where, even if I stopped playing tennis at the end of the Australian summer, I would have needed something done so I could play with the kids," said Hewitt, who celebrates his 31st birthday tomorrow. "Pretty much every match I played, bar one or two, I needed a pain-killing injection, a local anesthetic to get through. This (problem) has been there for four or five years and it's just got worse because of the pounding on hard court."
Hewitt said he had no plans to retire as he has been "hitting the ball better than I had for probably four or five years. The way I was hitting the ball's given me a lot of confidence for the future."
Currently ranked No. 170, Hewitt will ask for a wild card into the London Olympics. "The Olympics are now out of my hands," he said. "But given my record in Davis Cup and support of the ITF, I'd be disappointed if I didn't get a wild card."