The 21-year-old, from Kingston, has endured more than her fair share of injury during her rise to a career-high ranking of 251 in the world in June this year.

 And once again, injury struck just as the upward curve was starting to truly trend.

After winning her doubles event in Singapore as well as the opening round of singles, a second round appearance was on the cards but Hives was forced to withdraw after waking up with some serious, unexpected pain. She had developed bone stress on her rib, something she is still unclear on how it developed in the first place.

Nonetheless, this was the beginning of a three-month lay-off in what she describes as the worst injury she has had.

“It was the worst injury I’ve had,” Hives said. “It was strange, because it was more of a rowers injury than a tennis player’s injury.”

It took eight weeks for genuine improvement to occur, and slowly but surely Hives upped her training schedule with an all-too-familiar return from injury campaign.

Last week she got back on the court for a competitive match, playing in the Cairns Tennis International. Hives went out in a tight three-setter in the first round. 

Then on Thursday, Hives made the second round of the Darwin Tennis International, beginning to find her form.

“It will take a couple of tournaments to get into the swing of things again...my training has been going well, I’m hitting it better, but it’s just about putting it into a match.”

Hives has her sights set on getting plenty of tennis under her belt over the summer, eyeing four tournaments in Australia before going to America to play for a month before a return to her homeland for the traditional summer calendar.

Hives is hopeful of defending her crown at the Ballarat Open Platinum AMT.