Swiss champion Roger Federer touched down in Brisbane early on Saturday morning and immediately faced the press.
“I feel very energised to be here even though it’s seven in the morning,” quipped the 17-time Grand Slam champion.
Top of the agenda was the recent announcement made by Federer that he will be joining forces with fellow former No.1 Stefan Edberg who will join his coaching team that also includes Severin Luthi.
“Severin, who has been part of my team for the last seven years, will do most of the weeks and Stefan has agreed to work with us for at least 10 weeks starting at the Australian Open in Melbourne.
“There was only a few I thought of … he was a childhood hero of mine,” said Federer when asked why he chose to bring Edberg into his team.
“I’m sure he can bring a new angle to my game, which is good.”
Federer will make his Brisbane debut this week where he will be hoping to start his 17th season on Tour with his 78th career title.
“I was able to do more than I thought which is very encouraging,” he said.
“I didn’t play any exhibitions which allowed me to train extremely hard and for a longer period of time.
“It’s the first time in a year that I could practice three, four weeks in a row without any setbacks which has been the problem the last one and a half years.
“Every time I had training (in the past) I had setbacks, little aches and pains, especially in the back from time to time… which cost me confidence.
“These last few months have been important for me, feeling that movement is not an issue any more and I can go full out especially mentally more than anything,” said Federer who is shooting for his fifth Australian Open title later this month.
“It’s pretty simple here and in Melbourne, you want to do very well and get into the groove again.”
Early success for the Swiss ace will be high on his agenda following a difficult 2013 season that yielded just one title, in Halle.
“It was a more difficult and challenging year for me … hopefully I can have a better season.
“Deep down I’m still doing it because I love the game … I’m very fortunate.”
“Tennis is very important but it’s not everything,” added Federer whose wife Mirka will give birth to their third child in 2014.
So with an expanding family, is retirement on the cards?
[If retirement] was the case I wouldn’t tell you anyway,” smiled Federer.
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