Roger Federer cuddled a koala in the most clicked of all Australian photo ops before getting back to the practice courts at Brisbane as he prepares to resume testing of a larger racquet after playing his entire career with a small 90-inch model. Funny not to see a daddy at the zoo with his children. Guess it was just a quick drive by.
The Swiss is preparing for the Australian which starts on January 13 in a different way as he shakes up his schedule by starting at the Queensland event for the first time. He had a weekend hit with his hitting buddy Lleyton Hewitt which drew a crowd to the practice court.
The 32-year-old believes that he has put behind his back injury pain from last season, his worst campaign in a decade which produced only one ATP title last summer on grass at Halle. In addition, the 17-time grand slam winner will be working with Swedish legend Stefan Edberg during the Melbourne grand slam and hopes to be ready to get back to winning with a larger, 98-inch racket, the current standard for most players.(we don’t think he is using that large a head)
He had previously tried out the larger racquet last July but could do little due to his back pains.
Now, it’s different: “I’m going to play in Australia with a similar model as in my first attempt,” he told his hometown Basler Zeitung newspaper. “Actually, I wanted to switch back after the US Open again, but then I had so much to do with myself and my game, that I kept it on hold.
“Now, I had more time to make more small changes and together with my supplier company Wilson worked on the fine details of the racket.
“I have the feeling that this is the right time for a change in the racket. I’ve played through two and a half weeks with the new model and am confident. The racket is very good in the hand. But the truth will come out on the court. We’ll see how it affects me in the tournaments in Australia.”
Topics: 10sballs, Atp, Brisbane, Lleyton Hewitt, Roger Federer, Sports, Stefan Edberg, Tennis, Tennis News