Federer serves warning to rivals

ROGER Federer says he is regaining the rhythm and consistency of his silky serve following his recovery from a back injury as he steps up the defence of his Australian Open title.

The Swiss maestro moved into the last 16 with a commanding straight sets win over Frenchman Richard Gasquet on Saturday with his serving game a feature.

Federer was struck down with back trouble last year when he lost to Alexander Zverev in the final of the Montreal Masters and subsequently withdrew from the Cincinnati Masters.

But on the evidence of his form in the year’s opening Grand Slam in Melbourne, he looks back to his serving best The 36-year-old said the renewed freedom in his back was contributing to the improvement in his serving.

“Just the back being fine again,” he said. “The problem is, when you have back issues, when you’re scared or you don’t have the confidence in your body.

“It robs you by of say 20 or 30 per cent of your capabilities maybe on that particular shot only, but it’s enough to make you almost half the player that you normally are.

“Sometimes it takes time. When it hurts, it hurts. It’s just not point-for-point mentality because it’s difficult. Finally when you’re free again, you find better zones, more consistency.”

He enters the second week of the Australian Open with a last 16 encounter against erstwhile training partner, Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics today. AFP