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After a season in which historians scrambled to keep pace with his never-ending list of achievements, Roger Federer will be eyeing up Grand Slam No 10 at the Australian Open next week.
The Federer express will roll into Melbourne Park on Monday looking to start off the New
Year in exactly the same manner as he finished off the last one - as a winner.
"I think it's going to be really tough for people to beat me here. I'm going to make it as hard as possible," the world No 1 declared ominously.
"With my experience and the way I finished the season, I don't see really why I should be vulnerable."
Federer has made a habit of re-writing the history books almost every time he steps on court and unfortunately for his rivals, it looks like little has changed.
He is already guaranteed to break Jimmy Connors' record of 160 consecutive weeks as world No 1 next month but before he celebrates that benchmark, he would like to have a third Australian Open trophy on his mantelpiece.
"I'm looking forward to this," said the 25-year-old, who was beaten by just two men in 2006.
"This is the only [competitive] tournament I'm playing within two months, so I hope it's going to be a good one for me."
Should Federer succeed he will join American Bill Tilden on 10 slams and trail Pete Sampras' all-time record by just four. He will also improve his win-loss record to 10-1 in major finals, with his solitary defeat coming to Rafael Nadal at last year's French Open.
Such is his stature in the sport, talk of him completing the Grand Slam was again in circulation even before a ball was hit in the 2007 season.
"If I win here, it gets very interesting," Federer said.
"I'll know in a few weeks' time if that's a goal that I can give myself or not.
"I can't win all the time, so I just hope that I can keep it up for another couple of years."
With his confidence running high, Federer took a rather unconventional route in the run-up to his title assault this year.
After criss-crossing the world several times over in 2006, playing 97 matches and winning 12 titles, one would have expected Federer to put his feet up and rest.
Instead, he travelled to southern India, swapped his tennis racket for a wooden bat and dabbled in a game of cricket with child survivors of the 2004 Asian tsunami.
With his work as a Unicef goodwill ambassador done, he flew to Australia early in the New Year, bypassing the Qatar Open.
Among those hoping to trip up Federer will be old foes Nadal, Andy Roddick and 2005 champion Marat Safin.
The moody Russian played the match of his life to derail Federer in the semis two years ago and he could prove to be the Swiss tactician's main challenger, especially since the Nadal bandwagon appears to have ground to a halt over the past six months.
Even though there will be 127 pumped-up men willing themselves on to stop Federer, the signs are that he will once again be holding aloft the Norman Brookes Trophy on January 28.
- REUTERS