As Roger Federer prepares for his 18th consecutive appearance at the Australian Open, he finds himself in a position that he have never experienced before.
In what has become a rich tradition at the Melbourne event, Federer will be cheered by his army of fans, he will be bombarded with questions from the media and he will likely dominate headlines throughout the two-week tournament. On the other hand, this time round there is a sense of uncertainty about what to expect from the 17-time grand slam champion.
Hampered by illness and injury throughout last year, the Swiss ended his season in June to help heal his knee problem in a move that he had previously never done before. Federer returned to action last week at the Hopman Cup after a six-month hiatus. His comeback was one celebrated by both fans and organisers of the sport as the attendance record of the exhibition event was broken. During his Perth comeback, the 35-year-old displayed glimmers of his brilliance with straight sets wins over Great Britain’s Dan Evans and France’s Richard Gasquet. His only blip occurred at the hands of rising star Alexander Zverev, who battle to a close three-sets victory.
It is hard to judge how significant his run at the Hopman Cup was due to the fact it was an exhibition event with no player going after ranking points or prize money. The true test starts on Monday.
For the first time since 2002, Federer will be seeded outside of the top 10 at 17th at the Australian Open. As a result, the Swiss faces a double test. No only will he be playing in his first competitive tournament since the Wimbledon Championships, he also faces the prospect of playing some of the tours big guns early in the tournament.
“I hope it’s not going to matter for me because I’m playing that well that it doesn’t matter who’s going to come against me,” the 35-year-old told CNN.
“Maybe it’s even better to play the better guys earlier because I might be having more energy left in the tank. That’s one open question … how much energy do I have left in a best of five set match or after a lot of tough matches in a row?
“I hope the other guys are going to follow this draw and think, ‘Oh I hope the number 17 seed is not gonna be in my section,’ rather than me thinking that I hope I’m not going to be in their section.”
In the first real tournament of his comeback, Australia may not be the place for Federer to clinch the title this year as Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray continue their rivalry. Nevertheless, a strong performance in Melbourne will fit in nicely with an even bigger Plan of the Swiss.
“I’m keeping expectations low just because of the very little I’ve played. Playing matches is a completely different animal to practising, [but] I hope after the first three months I’ll have a great opportunity to prepare for Wimbledon and the US Open.” Federer said last week.
The lust and desire for more major trophies is one of the things that fuels Federer’s ongoing offensive on the tour. Already the most decorated men’s singles champion in grand slam history, he hopes 2017 will be when he can finally end his four-and-a-half-year grand slam trophy drought. This goal of Federer is one former player Rod Laver believes he can achieved. Laver is the only man in history to win a calendar grand slam twice.
“It depends on the draw in some ways to know,” Laver said about Federer’s chances in Melbourne.
“If he has a lot of tough matches early, maybe he doesn’t have the best left in him for the final.
“But I think at the same time he’s certainly capable of winning another slam, yes.”
Federer’s record at the Australian Open is one that some of his fellow rivals can only dream of. Since 2000 he has won 86% (80/93) of his main draw matches, winning the title on four occasions. Furthermore, he has reached at least the semi final stage of the tournament in 12 out of the past 13 years (2015 being the one exception).
A run to the title at the first major of 2017 might too much of a big ask, but a strong performance could set Federer up for even greater things in the future.
