One-time world number one Lleyton Hewitt today resumes his lifelong quest for grand slam glory in his own backyard - after admitting the hip operation which kept him off court until today's Hopman Cup clash with Germany was a last resort to save his career.

Hewitt will line up alongside local hero Casey Dellacqua as Australia begins their Hopman Cup campaign against Germany at the Burswood Dome this morning, with both making their comebacks from injury in the mixed doubles event ahead of this month's Australian Open.

Hewitt has not played since the Beijing Olympics, where his degenerative hip injury got so bad he flew back to Australia and had surgery the next day, while Dellacqua has been sidelined since September after finally succumbing to a shoulder injury.

Hewitt says he is delighted to be launching his Australian Open preparation in Perth - despite contracting chicken pox on one of his previous visits to the Hopman Cup - and is confident he has done everything to get back from his crippling injury.

"I’d tried absolutely everything before and ended up having it done, but it got to the stage where at Wimbledon I was struggling quite a bit," Hewitt said.

"I put up a great effort there, but then went to Beijing and after one match my whole leg basically shut down.

"And that pretty much told me that I had to have something done. So I flew straight back to Australia, had it done the next morning and have been out of action since.

"I've done everything in my power to get back to as close as a hundred per cent as I can. And, yeah, I still feel like I’m good enough to knock off anyone on any given day

"For me this is great preparation as well. I've not played for close to five months or so, and to come out and be guaranteed three tough matches straight up, for me it's the perfect preparation for the Australian Open.

"I'm really looking forward to getting out there Monday and hopefully to a good start."

That start will be made by Dellacqua in the event she grew up watching, and the place Woodvale's world No.53 will unveil an altered her service action designed to ensure the complaint does not flare up again.

"I had a few problems at Wimbledon this year, and just progressively didn't get better. This change in serve is something that I've just had to do for longevity in my career," Dellacqua said.

"I want to play tennis obviously for a lot more years, and I just had too much pain while I was serving. So we've changed a few little things, and I think for the better.

"For a better serve, and for my shoulder. It's coming along well.

"It was the one tournament for me that obviously as a kid you could watch a lot of elite tennis and I used to love coming down and getting my face painted and just watching whoever it was.

"So to be playing this year, it kind of feels a little bit funny but it feels really special to be in my home town and to be playing in front of all my family and friends."

The Aussies are seeded fourth in the tournament and will tackle the sixth-seeded Germany, Slovak Republic (seventh seed) and the US (top seed) in group A - with Hewitt looking to continue imposing records against all his opponents.

Nicolas Kiefer will be Hewitt's first challenge, after Dellacqua has opened the tie against Sabine Lisicki .

Hewitt vowed despite his injury worries he was planning to come out with his usual wholehearted style.

"I don't leave too much in the sheds normally when I go out on the court," Hewitt said.

"I've had good success against him (Kiefer) in the past. He's an attacking kind of guy and he's obviously got a lot of weapons out there. He's got a big first serve. He's an all court player as well. So he's going to try and make life difficult for me.

"Obviously (American James) Blake's probably the form guy out of the group in terms of ranking and being a top ten player. He's been able to prove that on a week in, week out basis in the last two or three years. So he's going to be the challenge."