Rivals in strife as fit Fed tunes up
THE Australian Open is shaping as a battle between the walking wounded, and that spells very good news for world No.2 Roger Federer.
Rafael Nadal (knee), Andy Murray (hip), Novak Djokovic (elbow), Milos Raonic (wrist), Kei Nishikori (wrist), and Stan Wawrinka (knee) are all under injury clouds approaching the first major of the year.
It remains to be seen which of the injured stars will even make it to the Australian Open.
Federer has avoided the carnage, with the 36-year-old opening his Hopman Cup campaign with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Japan’s Yuichi Sugita on Saturday night.
Though rusty at times, Federer was happy with his first hitout of the season, and said his body was feeling great.
With a host of his main rivals battling injuries, Federer’s chances of defending his Australian Open crown are increasing by the day.
However, Federer isn’t getting carried away just yet.
“Look, they pulled out [of warm-up tournaments] maybe because they’re not quite ready yet, or maybe because they need a couple more weeks,” Federer said. “We’ll only really know in a week or 10 days’ time who is really actually going to pull out.
“I hope they all get back. But something tells me that two guys out of the five, six probably won’t make it.”
Federer said even if a bunch of top contenders were forced to pull out, it would still be a difficult task to win the Australian Open.
“Maybe it’s going to open the door for me, and others, too,” Federer said. “But that’s just all talk right now.
“At my age I’ve got to be really focused about my own game, my own body, my own problems that I will have.” INJURY-PLAGUED rising star Thanasi Kokkinakis has made a successful return to the court to help power Australia to victory over Canada in their Hopman Cup tie in Perth.
Daria Gavrilova gave Australia the perfect start yesterday with a 6-1, 6-4 demolition of former world No.5 Eugenie Bouchard in 78 minutes before Kokkinakis secured the tie win with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory over world No.108 Vasek Pospisil.