World No.1 Lleyton Hewitt says he will feel no more pressure in the upcoming Australian Open than he did on his way to winning Wimbledon last year.

The South Australian was a shock 2-6 6-3 3-6 loser to world No.7 Jiri Novak in his first match of the year at the Hopman Cup in Perth last night.

But the 21-year-old said he was still some way from his best before the first grand slam of the year starting in just over a week at Melbourne Park.

Hewitt, gunning to become the first local since Mark Edmondson in 1976 to win the men's singles title at the Australian Open, will shoulder the bulk of public expectation when the tournament starts on January 13.

He will enter the tournament as the top seed for the second year in a row after falling at the first hurdle after being struck down by chicken pox 12 months ago.

But the fiercely-competitive baseliner felt his experience of winning as top seed at the All England Tennis Club showed he could handle the pressure.

"I think the way that I handled the situation being No.1 seed at Wimbledon, that's a pretty prestigious event, and go through (and win) the tournament," he said.

"Apart from one little hiccup there in the quarter-finals (when I was taken to five sets against Sjeng Schalken), I played pretty faultless tennis there.

"I don't think it's more any more pressure on myself than going into Wimbledon as No.1 seed."

He welcomed Peter McNamara's prediction the Rebound Ace surface at Melbourne Park would be about ten per cent faster than last year.

Hewitt said the quicker surface would suit him better and disadvantage the claycourt specialists.

"If it's a little bit quicker, I think it's probably a good thing," he said.

He said the unpredictable Melbourne weather had a large bearing on the way the courts played.

"The ball is going to be a lot quicker if you're playing a day match where it's 35 or 38 degrees, rather than overcast," he said.

"There's a good chance that I'm going to be playing night matches as well ... that's going to be a totally different situation.

"A night match is going to be a lot heavier conditions. It's going to be tougher putting the ball away."

Hewitt started well at the Hopman Cup only dropping six games in his opening two singles rubbers against Italian Davide Sanguinetti and the Slovak Republic's Dominik Hrbaty.

And he bounced back from his loss to Novak to combine well with Alicia Molik and seal a berth in tomorrow's final with a stunning come-from-behind victory over the Czech Republic.

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