Lleyton Hewitt has backed Bernard Tomic to bounce back from his French Open flop and called for patience as the youngster continues his recovery from hip surgery.

Tomic’s attitude and work ethic were again called into question after a meagre first-round showing against 12th seed Richard Gasquet at Roland Garros on Tuesday.

Despite making a good fist of the third set, many on social media accused Tomic of not giving his all during the 6-2 6-1 7-5 loss, with former great Fred Stolle saying in commentary: “to not give it a go is disappointing”.

But Tomic, still lacking in fitness and intensity following a double bout of hip surgery after the Australian Open in January, found some support in Davis Cup teammate Hewitt.

“It’s a tough little time for him at the moment,” Hewitt said after losing his first-round match to Argentine Carlos Berlocq.

“He’s got to try and find a way through it and I have no doubt he’ll be back up there.”

Hewitt knows all about coming back from injury and said the challenge facing world No.80 Tomic should not be underestimated.

“I know what it’s like to come back from two hip operations,” Hewitt said.

“I had mine at different times. He obviously had them basically at the same time.

“It’s not an easy thing to come back from.

“It took me a little while to push through that and get your confidence back in your movement.

“It’s not going to happen overnight.”

Both Hewitt and Tomic view clay as their least-favoured surface and are looking forward to turning their focus to the grass, beginning at Queen’s club in London next month.

Tomic reached the final 16 at Wimbledon last year and is not ruling out grass court success again if he can improve his fitness.

“I believe I can switch it on and anything can happen on grass with me,” Tomic said.

“Hopefully I can settle with my hips.

“I’ve got to get settled in the next 10 days.”