MELBOURNE, Australia -- World No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt will play American Todd Martin on Friday in his first match since being hit by chicken pox.
The 20-year-old confirmed that he will play in the warmup event at Boroondara Tennis Centre in the Melbourne suburb of North Balwyn.
Hewitt, who contracted chicken pox while representing Australia at last week's Hopman Cup event in Perth, felt that he needed match practice before the start of the Australian Open on Jan. 14, his manager said in a statement.
Hewitt will play Martin, a former Australian and U.S. Open runner-up, in the second match of the day.
The U.S. Open champion's presence is a major boost to the new event, which had lost major draw card Mark Philippoussis.
Philippoussis chose instead to play a match at the Kooyong Classic in Melbourne, an offer that also was extended to Hewitt.
Philippoussis delighted his hometown fans by winning his match 6-3, 7-5 against Richard Fromberg.
Hewitt is bidding to become the first Australian to win his home Grand Slam since Mark Edmondson in 1976.
Medical experts believe he could be weakened by the virus, and the lack of match practice will not help.
But defending Open champion Andre Agassi thinks Hewitt will be just as much a threat to his crown when the action starts at Melbourne Park.
"He is a great fighter, the kind of player he is, and has the ability to get into this tournament whatever his preparation has been," Agassi said. "I don't think it will make any difference.
"When I look back and think about when I've done well at Grand Slam tournaments it is always different. Sometimes it has been out of the blue and sometimes I have been incredibly well prepared so you never know.
"Certainly he has the ability and the spirit to get right into this."
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