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Federer eyes 10th title ANOTHER Grand Slam
campaign means another chance for Roger Federer to etch his name in the
record books at the Australian Open.
But Melbourne's summer weather presents one variable that leaves
Federer's Australian coach Tony Roche a little uneasy as the Swiss king
of tennis prepares to win his 10th Grand Slam title.
The record-breaking Federer will be at Melbourne Park chasing a
seventh consecutive Grand Slam final appearance – the most by a man
since Australian Jack Crawford made seven major finals in successive
tournaments in the 1930s.
This year, Federer, 25, became the first man to win the Wimbledon and
US Open titles in the same year in three consecutive years.
His prizemoney in 2006 of $US8.34 million ($10.68 million) is a
record in the sport and he compiled a record rankings points total of
8370.
In early March he will break Jimmy Connors's 31-year-old ATP Tour
record of 160 consecutive weeks at No. 1.
The relentless drive of Federer to do justice to his talent has led
him to return to Dubai this month with Roche to undertake punishing
fitness and practice sessions at the end of his most successful season.
"The Rebound Ace courts don't worry him. He's won there twice before,
but if you get a match on a really hot day it can change things a lot,"
Roche said before the Dubai training camp.
"With the heat and the wind you can get in Melbourne, it can be more
difficult to win the tournament.
"The way he has played over the past two years in particular has been
phenomenal.
"The depth in men's tennis being what it is, he has still managed to
dominate.
"He is a complete player but he knows he has to keep on improving to
stay on top. He can win the French Open and even break the Grand Slam
record (of 14 Grand Slam titles, held by Pete Sampras).
"His record of winning Wimbledon and the US Open in the same year
three years in a row speaks for itself because no one else has done it."
Federer will be fresher coming to the 2007 Australian Open because of
a significant change to his schedule after his glorious but punishing
92-5 season, which netted him a personal-best 12 titles.
The dual Australian Open champion has given up at least $500,000 in
appearance fees and possible prizemoney by skipping the Doha, Qatar
tournament in the first week of January, which he has won for the past
two years.
Federer's only match practice before the year's first Grand Slam
starts on January 15 will be at the special event at Kooyong, from
January 9.
Opinions coming from the Melbourne Park camp that the resurfaced
Rebound Ace courts are playing faster than in recent years is good news
for rivals Lleyton Hewitt and Andy Roddick, but the pace may also suit
Federer better.
Since the start of 2004, he has won 247 of his 262 matches. Of his
five losses in 2006, four were to Rafael Nadal and one to Scot Andy
Murray.
Federer's losses to Nadal in their first four meetings of 2006 led to
harsher analysis of his prospects, but he stopped the bleeding with an
awkward four-set Wimbledon final win over the Spaniard and a semi-final
success at the year-end Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai.
But Federer's inability to win the French Open – he has lost to Nadal
in the semi-finals and final in the past two years – led John Newcombe,
among other analysts, to say the Swiss right-hander needed to complete a
career Grand Slam to be regarded as an all-time great.
Nadal, who still retains a 6-3 career edge over Federer, can be a
handful for Federer on Rebound Ace and does not make the public noises
of reverence and even helplessness about his rival's talent that top-10
players Roddick and James Blake have made.
Federer lost only seven games in three sets in embarrassing Blake in
the final of the Tennis Masters Cup.
Murray, ranked No. 17, was touted by Bjorn Borg this month as the
most dangerous opponent for Federer next year, which can be interpreted
as a sugar-coated line for British media rather than an assessment of
world No. 2 Nadal's position in the game.
"Maybe they (Murray and France's Richard Gasquet) need a bit more
time. It could be next year, but I'm not sure about it," Federer said.
Roche said he would do everything he could to help Federer win the
French Open in June.
"He wasn't that far away at the French Open this year. He has been
pretty spot on in his preparation the last couple of years," Roche said.
With nine Grand Slam wins from the 14 tournaments since his
long-awaited "graduation" at Wimbledon in 2003, Federer is a prohibitive
favourite to win his third Australian crown.
Roche did not travel to the US Open with Federer but was pleased to
hear that the world No. 1 spent his first half-hour after winning the
New York title sitting with his friends and his guest, Tiger Woods,
drinking champagne in the locker room.
"He deserves everything he gets," Roche said. "Roger does all the
hard work before he gets to the Grand Slam and when he gets there he
knows what he has to do. He has the people around him who he wants."
Federer, who took to wearing a sports coat – like players in
Crawford's era – after winning his Wimbledon and US finals this year, is
such a likeable, suave character that he agreed to put his name in
recent weeks to a fund-raising "Feder-Bear" to be marketed for his
goodwill ambassador role for UNICEF.
It's hard to imagine a Lleyton Hewitt teddy bear or one endorsed by
the steely Sampras.
"I'll be there as long as he wants me to be," Roche said.
"He's terrific for the game – the way he plays and how he handles
himself.
"He's a throwback to the Lavers and Rosewalls."
Roger Federer
- Age: 25
- Win-loss record, 2006: 92-5
- Titles, 2006: 12
- Career titles: 45
- Career Grand Slam titles: 9
- Grand Slams played since Federer's first win: 14
- Prizemoney, 2006: $US8.34million
- Career prizemoney: $US28.57m
Last six Grand Slams - How Federer fared
- Wimbledon, 2005: Won
- US Open, 2005: Won
- Aust Open, 2006: Won
- French, 2006: Runner-up
- Wimbledon, 2006: Won
- US Open, 2006: Won
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The
Australian Open is managed by Tennis Australia, formerly the Lawn Tennis
Association of Australia (LTAA), and was first played at the Warehouseman's
Cricket Ground in St Kilda Road, Melbourne. 2004 was the 92st staging of the
event (99th year due to interruption of the War years).
Novotel
Glen Waverley Melbourne
Sunrise Breakfast Balloon Flight over the Yarra Valley