Just to summarize the entire experience: I was hitting tennis balls against the wall at 5-1/2 weeks; hitting against the ball machine at 6-1/2 weeks; hitting with my wife and my friend (who had his knee replaced by the same doc three days after mine!) from 8-10 weeks; and got clearance from my surgeon to actually resume playing at 10 weeks (Sept. 24). By the 14 week mark I was playing 5 to 6 times each week, and haven't slacked off since. Playing every day but Sunday now, sometimes twice a day. You can't see the scar unless you know where to look and really look for it..
I still hit the exercise bike every morning before play, and every evening. The knee is great, and the hamstring is probably at 90% of maximum strength. By my six month target, January 14, I should be where I had hoped to be.
Today I gave all my paraphernalia -- ice machine, walker, cane, and assorted PT equipment away to another tennis buddy who's having a knee replacement on Jan. 4. I kept Nurse Cratchett (my wife) though -- she's indispensible.
But along the way I figured out that when you get one major problem fixed, it unmasks all the other smaller problems it had been concealing. I'm still creaky for five or six steps after I've been sitting for an hour or more -- you can't beat Father Time!