Yet Hewitt's chance of today becoming just the third active player to record 500 match victories has been compromised by the 90-minute rain delay that forced him to miss his flight from Houston to Europe, where he has been granted a wildcard into the Monte Carlo Masters and drawn to play Marat Safin.
Along with hitting partner Nathan Healey and physiotherapist Ivan Gutierrez, Hewitt was instead flown privately to Dallas by a local businessman and was not due to arrive in Monaco until lunchtime on Tuesday. After about 17 hours of travel, Hewitt will be required on court that same afternoon - even with his manager, David Drysdale, having requested the latest possible Tuesday scheduling.
"It's not ideal preparation, but it's good to have the win, that's the main thing," Drysdale said. "It's just going to help him get a bit of that self-belief back as well."