Federer's Australian Open Prep... or Lack Thereof
A few years ago, Roger Federer used to play the warm-up tournament in Doha at the very beginning of the year as part of his preparation for the Australian Open. Then last year, Federer switched gears and decided he wanted one more week of vacation and training so he skipped Doha and played in the exhibition in Kooyong. This year Federer enters the Australian Open without any tournament play since November, 2007,
because he had to skip the Kooyong exhibition due to a stomach illness. Clearly, Federer would have preferred some match play despite whatever he has said about feeling fully prepared after some practice sets last week. In the end it’s probably more a slight mental worry, (if Federer worries at all) rather than technical prep which will affect his confidence at the 2008 Australian Open. Fortunately for him, Federer doesn’t seem to have a difficult first round match and should be able to work himself into some form. Nonetheless, time will tell how much this impacts Federer’s chances at the Australian title.
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