Ageless Fed sounds warning

Ageless Roger Federer said Sunday he was in a confident mood and warned his rivals he was "playing good tennis" as he aims for a third successive Australian Open title.

The Swiss master enjoyed a successful Hopman Cup warm-up in Perth and knows that at even the grand old age of 37 he has a great chance of a record seventh Melbourne crown and 21st major victory.

"I'm playing good tennis. I'm confident that I think it needs a good performance by my opponent probably to beat me," said the third seed, who opens his defence against Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin in Monday's night match on Rod Laver Arena.

A buoyant Federer revealed he had enjoyed a successful break coming into the 2019 season.

"Throughout my career, I've been very lucky that in the off-seasons I never had any setbacks," he told reporters at Melbourne Park.

"What I can say is the offseason was great for me. I think maybe it showed a little bit at the Hopman Cup already. Again, look, I'm playing tomorrow. We'll see how it's going to be here in Melbourne." Federer's firstround opponent Istomin caused a massive upset in Melbourne two years ago when he knocked out defending champion Novak Djokovic in the second round, outlasting the Serb over five sets. "I think the focus really is on those early rounds, especially tomorrow," said Federer, whose victory against Marin Cilic in last year's final was his 20th Grand Slam title.

"I know what Denis did to Novak. I watched basically the entire game a couple years ago when he beat Novak here.

Slim margins

"I've had some tough ones against him in the past. He can play well in fast courts, and that's what it's going to be a little bit here as well," added the world number three, who has won all six previous encounters against Istomin. "I hope I can put myself in contention as the tournament goes deeper, but we'll see." Federer has skipped the European clay court season in recent years as he tries to manage his workload to extend a remarkable career, which shows no signs of slowing.