Hungry as ever and finally back to full health, Roger Federer has boldly declared his intention to not only match Pete Sampras’s 14 grand slam titles but smash the American’s all-time record.
If Federer was feeling the strain on the eve of the Australian Open, where the Swiss can equal Sampras’s benchmark tally, he certainly wasn’t showing it ahead of his first-round clash with Italy’s Andreas Seppi on Monday night.
The second seed and three-time Open champion said he had nothing to fear despite his turning 28 this year – an age when, historically, players start to decline – and the number of genuine grand slam contenders growing by the day.
“I want to do well not only this year but many more years to come. So I don’t feel like this is my last chance to either win the French Open or pick up a few slams more easily,” Federer said on Sunday.
“They never come around easily. Let’s not forget who I had to beat in all my slam finals to get them, who I had to beat on the way.
“I know a lot of people are always saying like this seems like a tough generation right now with Murray, Djokovic, Rafa and everything.
“I don’t think it’s that much stronger than when I came about. We had Agassi, Roddick, Hewitt, Safin, Ferrero, Nalbandian, all these other guys.
“It just always seems like two years on and nobody talks about what happened two years ago.
“I thought we’ve had very high-quality tennis since a long time now. It’s not just now that we have really four great players again.
“I think they were there before, but there were just different names.”
Federer arrived in Melbourne without the top ranking for the first time since 2004 and said that in itself eased the pressure.
Above all, though, he said being completely over the glandular fever that struck him down in the weeks before last year’s Open was a huge advantage – and a major concern for his rivals.
As it was, Federer – who at the time thought he was suffering from food poisoning – still managed to make the semi-finals in 2008 before falling to Nadal in the French Open and Wimbledon finals and denying Murray in the US Open decider.
“It’s only later that I found out (how serious my illness was) and I was a bit more concerned,” Federer said.
“I felt that I did lose a lot of energy being sick severely three times, just feeling that step slow.
“Just trying to play at the highest level and you’re one step slow, it’s just not going to work out.
“It will work out a few times, 70 or 80 per cent of the time, but not 100 or 90 like it was the last few years. That’s why I just had to fight and I had to rally.
“It was tough in the beginning, but I still played okay tennis. When the clay and grass came around, I actually played great tennis. I just couldn’t pick up the French or Wimbledon.
“That was tough, but still put me on the right path for the US Open.
“I’m happy how far I’ve come really because I had to work extremely hard to get back in shape.
“I had to put much more of an effort into last year than I’ve ever had to put in any of the years before.”
Among the other big names in action on Monday, Djokovic opens his title defence against Italy’s Andrea Stoppini and seventh-seeded Roddick meets Swede Bjorn Rehnquist.
Profiles for leading men’s Australian Open contenders:
RAFAEL NADAL (ESP)
Age: 22
Ranking: 1
Plays: left-handed (two-handed backhand)
Career prize money: $US20,814,797
Career titles: 31
Grand slam titles: 5
Australian Open win-loss record: 14-4
Best Australian Open performance: semi-finals 2008
The Spaniard is the Open’s top seed for the first time and desperate to improve on his mediocre record in Melbourne. Has never made a grand slam final on a hard court but did win Olympic gold on the surface in Beijing last year.
ROGER FEDERER (SUI)
Age: 27
Ranking: 2
Plays: right-handed
Career prize money: $US44,644,857
Career titles: 57
Grand slam titles: 13
Australian Open win-loss record: 41-6
Best Australian Open performance: champion 2004, 2006, 2007
Early favourite after enjoying another hugely consistent 2008 in which he reached three of the four grand slam finals and collected a fifth successive US Open title. Seemingly back to full health and oozing confidence.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC (SRB)
Age: 21
Ranking: 3
Plays: right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Career prize money: $US10,511,877
Career titles: 11
Grand slam titles: 1
Australian Open win-loss record: 10-3
Best Australian Open performance: champion 2008
Crowned his watershed 2008 campaign with victory at the season-ending Masters Cup. Struggling with new racquet and for early-season form but eager to prove last year’s triumph was no fluke.
ANDY MURRAY (SCO)
Age: 21
Ranking: 4
Plays: right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Career prize money: $US5,684,904
Career titles: 9
Grand slam titles: 0
Australian Open win-loss record: 3-3
Best Australian Open performances: fourth round 2007
Burst into the top 10 for the first time last year after accruing five titles, reaching his maiden slam decider at Flushing Meadows and upstaging Federer at the Masters Cup. Surely a major winner in the making.
JO-WILFRIED TSONGA (FRA)
Age: 23
Ranking: 6
Plays: right-handed
Career prize money: $US2,165,786
Career titles: 2
Grand slam titles: 0
Australian Open win-loss record: 6-2
Best Australian Open performance: runner-up 2008
The revelation of the 2008 Open has drifted in the market since withdrawing from the Sydney event last week with a back complaint. But his home-city triumph at the Paris Masters in November proved he belonged in the top six and, injury-free, has the talent to go one better this time
LLEYTON HEWITT (AUS)
Age: 27
Ranking: 74
Plays: right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Career prize money: $US17,629,088
Career titles: 26
Grand slam titles: 2
Australian Open win-loss record: 24-12
Best Australian Open performance: runner-up 2005
An unseeded roughie this year following his least productive season of his career. A hip injury limited the former world No.1 to just 31 matches in 2008, but he still performed creditably at the slams and remains capable of surprising against the odds.
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