Roger Federer believes the super-fast court at Pat Rafter Arena will sharpen his game ahead of this month’s Australian Open.
The 17-time grand slam champion made a confident start to his first Brisbane International with a 6-4 6-2 win over Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen on Wednesday night.
As the 32-year-old begins his quest to put an underwhelming 2013 behind him, he’s far from unhappy to be practising and playing on the zippy hard courts at the Queensland Tennis Centre.
“I prefer to go from fast to slower because then you usually return better,” Federer said.
“All then you’ve got to adjust really is your patience level and just a little bit of your shot selection from time to time because you’re going to get more balls coming back.
“But at the same time, you can also defend better because you’re used to such quick courts here.
“I like it a bit faster, to be honest. It’s just nice when the slider drags a bit or the slice stays a bit lower and guys don’t just eat it up, even though it’s a decent slice.”
Federer’s main concern going into Wednesday’s match against good friend Nieminen was delivering on the expectation that has surrounded his first Brisbane appearance.
The Swiss great said he was hoping to maximise his court time ahead of the Open.
“I just want to move on in the draw, because I would rather present myself four times out there than just one time and then it was a good show,” he said.
“It’s very special for me playing in front of a crowd that’s maybe never seen me before.
“I’m sure some have, but the majority hasn’t except on TV.”
Federer’s next match will be against Australian No.3 Marinko Matosevic after the Victorian defeated American Sam Querrey earlier in the day.
The former world No.1 was relieved to discover Matosevic was not from Brisbane.
“You never know quite what to expect, if they’re going to come out and be excited,” he said.
“It’s nice seeing that happening, and it’s definitely going to lift my game if it continues this way.”