Roger Federer relishing role of Australian Open underdog ahead of return from six-month injury lay-off

Roger Federer is happy to play the role of underdog for once as the Swiss master gets set for a dramatic return at the Australian Open.

Federer has not played a competitive match in more than six months after taking the second half of last year off to recover from niggling injuries to his left knee and back.

After dropping down the rankings, Federer arrives in Melbourne as a lowly 17th seed, due to meet Tomas Berdych in the third round, Kei Nishikori in the last 16 and Sir Andy Murray in the quarter-finals.

Federer could never claim to fly under the radar.

At the Hopman Cup, an exhibition event in Perth earlier this month, he filled out an entire 6,000-capacity stadium just for a practice session. And when he posted 37 minutes of himself training live online in Dubai, more than 877,000 tuned in to watch.

His return is certainly considered the high-point of the Australian Open first round - demonstrated by its top billing as Monday's second night match on Rod Laver Arena - but expectations of his ability to challenge are low.

"An underdog? Why not for a change?" said Federer, who faces Austrian qualifier Jurgen Melzer on Monday. "I mean, I prefer to be the favourite. Underdog is OK. It's fine.

"As long as I'm healthy and I feel like I can go four, five sets, and I can go many matches in a row, then I think it's going to be fun.

"If I feel like I'm in pain in the matches, then obviously it's no fun. But no, it's a great draw because I'm in the draw."

Federer decided on an extended period of rest and recuperation after Wimbledon last summer, when he was beaten by Milos Raonic in the semi-finals. He had already sat out the French Open in May.

"You do miss the matches at some points," Federer said. "You miss the feeling of winning, walking into a stadium, seeing the guys. It's like an extended family, to some extent anyway."

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Federer may not need long to regain his form but recovering fitness, particularly the sort needed to last over five sets, could prove more of a stumbling block.

"I guess it's slightly the unknown," Federer said. "You could then argue that it's the same for everybody.

"We don't play four-setters, five-setters every single week. You only play them in Davis Cup now and in Grand Slam play.

"I went through a year where I didn't play any five-setters, an entire year. You could think that's a good thing for longevity, but it's not a good thing because you don't know how it feels to play a five-setter anymore.

"I trained as hard as I possibly could so I will be ready for it. I did numerous sessions where I trained over two and a half, three hours. I feel I'm ready."

One thing for sure is that Federer cannot meet defending champion Novak Djokovic until the final, with the Serbian due to face Raonic in the last four.

Djokovic boasts two more Australian Open titles than Federer's four and another triumph would see him break Roy Emerson's all-time record of six.

"Of course, it's an incentive, it's motivation," Djokovic said.

"Honestly one of the reasons I'm here is to try to win every match that I play, and eventually the title."

Djokovic faces the toughest opening round of all the contenders, however, in Fernando Verdasco, the big-hitting Spaniard and conqueror of Rafael Nadal at this stage here last year.

"On any given day, if things go right, he can beat anybody on any surface," Djokovic said.

"Nadal last year in five sets, he won first round. He has won against most of the top players. He's not overwhelmed by the occasion of playing on centre court. He has had that experience many times.

"A lot depends, of course, on how I feel, how he feels. It's the first match of the Grand Slam. We both need to start with the right intensity but I'm expecting a tough one, there's no doubt about it."

PA