I’m too old to be considered a favourite: Federer

HAPPY AT THE TOP: With Serena Williams off the tour following the birth of her daughter in September, the No. 1 ranking changed seven times a year ago, with five women assuming top spot – three for the first time. I’m so happy to come back to Melbourne, see all my friends that live here in Melbourne.

“Playing more of a reactive game is maybe more physical in the sense that you play longer rallies – you spend more time on the court”.

“We talk about Murray and Djokovic being grinders, but I think they actually play quite aggressive”.

Djokovic is seeded 14 this fortnight as his ranking took a hit during his absence.

Yet the reigning Australian Open finds himself in that position a year after stunning the world with his own spectacular comeback from injury.

The probability of Federer winning his 20th grand slam increased when he won the Hopman Cup, his first title of the year.

They’re in the same half of the draw – along with No 4 Alexander Zverev, No 5 Dominc Thiem, No 7 David Goffin and No 9 Stan Wawrinka, the 2014 Australian Open victor who is also returning from injury. “I start from zero again”, he said. “Ultimately, I thought it was a pretty good performance”. “So that’s the good news”.

The Serbian could win the match if his arm injury, which has kept him off the court since Wimbledon, doesn’t give him problems.

He was due to play in an exhibition in Abu Dhabi between Christmas and new year, and feature in the Brisbane International in the first week of the year, but withdrew as he felt he was “still not ready”.

His progress has marked him out as the most likely of the current crop of youngsters to translate his talent into major titles and while he made the fourth round at Wimbledon previous year, he is yet to push on further.

And he reappears at Melbourne Park in a totally different context to 2017.

Yet to notch a grand slam win, Halep is hoping that 2018 can be her year.

“I’ve always enjoyed it, you know”.

Simona Halep, the top-seeded woman, will start her quest for a first Grand Slam title when she plays teenage wildcard entry Destanee Aiava. She could face two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in the third round and Karolina Pliskova in the quarters.

World number one Rafa Nadal is through to the second round of the Australian Open with a comfortable victory over Víctor Estrella Burgos of Dominican Republic on Monday. Play on that court begins with a matchup between women’s No. 7 seed Jelena Ostapenko and Francesca Schiavone.

“But sometimes you have to take a minute and talk to the team about it, like how we’re going to approach these next three months, next year, next day”. I had a lot of practice sets. (And has had trouble with his shoulder, too.) And then there’s Juan Martin del Potro, who finished previous year strong, but always seems to run out of steam in the late rounds.

With a 10% increase in the total prize pool on last year’s tournament, players will get a piece of $55 million when they kick off tomorrow. “Is the first time I am here without playing official match”, he said.

Djokovic was not sure he would be competing at the Australian Open but his doctors assured him he wouldn’t be causing any extra damage to his elbow by playing.

The Mail say the Swiss does not support his rivals belief, which includes setting up a union to fight for the player’s cause.