Roger Federer insists he is a better player now than when he won the first of his four Australian Opens a decade ago, and thus remains capable of adding to his 17 major singles haul at Melbourne Park next month, according to reports.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, in a Friday teleconference with the Australian media to promote his January 8 charity event on Rod Laver Arena, A Night with Roger Federer and Friends, the Swiss champion also discussed his struggles from mid-season, when he made a shock second-round exit at Wimbledon, until reaching the final of his home-town event in Basel in October.
He said that he has always believed that he has improved over the last 10 years and not gone backwards, adding that that is why he always believes that he can win as long as his body is holding up.
Federer added that mentally he is really hungry to travel the world and play matches, and he is healthy along with training extremely hard.
He further said that some success for him came at the end of last year, which was really good for his confidence going into the Australian Open.