Keep Open In January Says Australia`s Hewitt

`For an Australian, it fits in so well with obviously the school holidays and getting kids out there`, Hewitt said.

Former world number one Lleyton Hewitt has bucked the seemingly consensus feeling among his fellow players and said the scheduling of the Australian Open should not be changed.

Rafel Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray have all said in the buildup to the year's first grand slam that they would prefer to see it moved back from January to February.

World number one Nadal also said the majority of his fellow players on the ATP tour would support moving the tournament back to give them a greater opportunity to prepare and lessen the chance of early-season injuries.

Australia's Hewitt, however, said he would prefer it to remain in its current slot and also recognised there were legitimate commercial reasons for keeping it there.

"This is the time that I've always known it as the Australian Open...since I was coming here as a young kid to come and watch," Hewitt told reporters.

"For an Australian, it fits in so well with obviously the school holidays and getting kids out there.

"I think for the sport of tennis in this country, that really helps as well that the young kids can come out and watch a lot of it, even on the back courts.

"Sport wise there's not a lot on at this time of the year either, so it sort of stands out by itself as well. Obviously there's a lot more to it than just worrying about the players for a couple of weeks.

"The tournament has to worry about obviously ticket sales, kids being around the place, a whole lot of other things."

The timing of the Australian Open has been a contentious issue for several years, with some of the top players in Europe and the United States deterred by the long flight to Australia and the scorching summer heat, where on-court temperatures often exceed 45 degrees Celsius.

Organisers have been reluctant to move the tournament, with commercial factors a major concern, as well as the potential headache it would cause the ATP and WTA in reworking the entire season calendar.