Happy Hewitt Headlines ATP Adelaide

In practice this week Hewitt has given his approval to the upgraded Plexicushion surface, the same surface that will be debuted late in January at the Australian Open.

"It's obviously a different look for coming to the tournament here, and the courts are playing reasonably well I think," Hewitt said. "I don't think it's going to suit any players in particular, I think it's a pretty neutral surface and hopefully it suits everyone."

Other seeded players in Adelaide are Paul-Henri Mathieu, Jarkko Nieminen, Gilles Simon, Radek Stepanek, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Juan Martin Del Potro, and Sebastien Grosjean.

In press conferences this week, Stepanek will likely be fielding less questions on tennis and more on the reported marriage licence he and WTA Tour player Nicole Vaidisova filed for in Florida, with Stepanek fresh off his former engagement to another WTA Tour player, Martina Hingis. Playa!

Unseeded players of interest include American Sam Querrey, fellow Americans Vince Spadea and Mike Russell who open against seeds, Russian comer Evgeny Korolev, Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic and Aussie Chris "Penthouse" Guccione.

Hewitt opens against Israel's Dudi "Where's My Car?" Sela, while the No. 2-seeded Mathieu will first face Frenchman Julien "United Colors of" Benneteau.

Guccione reached the 2007 final, losing to top-seeded Novak Djokovic who this year has opted to represent Serbia in the Hopman Cup team event.