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SPORTS> Tennis
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Federer faces unusual Australian Open situation
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-01-15 11:48 MELBOURNE - Roger Federer will find himself in an unusual position when the Australian Open begins on Monday. For the first time in five years, he is neither world number one nor the defender of the title.
When the right hander walks through the gates of Melbourne Park, it will have been 154 days since he last occupied the top spot in the rankings. He will also contest the season's opening major without having the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup in his possession for the first time since 2006. It is a strange position for the 27-year-old Swiss to find himself in after his seemingly effortless game helped him to spend a record 237 weeks as the world's number one. "I have had this feeling a few times before. It's not the first time," Federer told reporters when asked his feelings about not entering the tournament as champion. "It's a new year and you never know what is going to happen. "I am coming off winning the U.S. Open last year and I hope I can carry the form I had over there on to the hard courts here in Australia." Federer began 2008 being quizzed as to whether he would not only break Pete Sampras's record of 14 grand slam titles, but actually achieve a calendar-year Grand Slam. A bout of glandular fever and loss to Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals in Melbourne answered one question. When a rampant Rafael Nadal crushed Federer in the French Open final and then ended his run of five successive Wimbledon titles, Sampras's tally also went out of his reach -- at least for the year. The Swiss did manage to win his 13th major when he beat Andy Murray at the U.S. Open but said that Nadal's success in 2008 had an unexpected benefit. "I felt quite a bit of pressure when I reached six or seven grand slams and everyone was expecting me to keep it up and win every tournament I entered," he said. "That's gone away a little bit, which is a bit of a relief and quite nice." Federer admitted his Australian Open preparations and subsequent performances in later tournaments had been affected by the glandular fever last year, but said he was entering the main draw on Monday with a different mindset. "Last year I was just trying to play. This time around ...it's a different approach. It's a better feeling," said Federer, who skipped the warm-up tournaments in the run-up to the 2008 Open. "(I have) more confidence and am mentally tougher. "Last year I was scared of a first-round exit, not being able to last five sets or when it came to the crunch not having played enough matches. "This year will be a different situation. I feel way better."
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