Lleyton Hewitt says Australia was right to choose clay for its Davis Cup tie with Great Britain, despite admitting he's several years away from mastering the surface.

World No.1 Hewitt said that clay would give Australia important advantages and would also aid its back-up players if injury-prone Mark Philippoussis was ruled out.

After consulting the team, Tennis Australia went out on a limb by choosing to host a tie on clay for the first time in its 103 years of Davis Cup competition in the first round in Sydney from February 7-9.

Hewitt reinforced the decision, recognising there could be doubt over Philippoussis' ability to back up after the Australian Open because of his troublesome knee which has required several bouts of surgery.

He said second-string players Wayne Arthurs and Scott Draper would be more likely to succeed against Britain's best two players Greg Rusedski and serve-volleyer Tim Henman on clay.

"I think probably against Rusedski clay's more important than maybe against Henman," Hewitt said.

"But I think for the other guys, we really don't know with Flip (Philippoussis) how the knee's going to pull up after the Australian Open with five-set matches.

"He got injured in the last grand slam, the US Open.

"Then we have to look to our backups, Wayne Arthurs and Scott Draper ... I think those two guys, their best chance against those two big servers is on clay.

"As a team I think it's the right decision."

But based on Hewitt's record, it is clearly not his best surface.

Of his 17 career titles, 11 have come on hardcourts, including the 2001 US Open and the past two Masters Cups, and five have come on grass, most notably this year's Wimbledon crown.

He has won just one ATP title, at Delray Beach in 1999, on clay.

Asked about his biggest challenges for the upcoming year, he conceded he would find the French Open, the only grand slam tournament played on clay, the hardest.

"The French is going to be the toughest to get out of the four at the moment, I think I'm still a couple years away from playing my best tennis on European clay," he said.

He also admitted it would have been unimaginable for Australia to host a tie on clay in past decades.

"I hope it's a claycourt that will hold up well, it's a little unknown as everyone said, it's the first time in history," Hewitt said.

"If you went back and asked (Rod) Laver and (Ken) Rosewall and those guys in their day if you were going to play on clay they would have laughed."

Hewitt predicted if Australia could overcome Great Britain, it was a good chance to win the Davis Cup.

"The draw could open up, we're going to have to come through a very tough time in February to try to get into the quarters, but there's a good feeling around the boys, if we've got a fully fit team I think we could go all the way," he said.

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP