Brisbane: Roger Federer arrived in Australia on Saturday for the Brisbane International with a refreshed outlook for 2014, injury-free and with a new coach on his team.
"It's the first time in a year that I could practice three, four weeks in a row without any setbacks ... I was able to do more than I thought which is very encouraging," Federer said. "I didn't play any exhibitions which allowed me to train extremely hard and for a longer period of time."
Federer, who will use the Brisbane event as his only warm-up tournament ahead of the Australian Open which begins January 13 in Melbourne, announced on Facebook that he'd hired former Swedish star Stefan Edberg on his coaching team for at least 10 weeks.
Federer, the winner of a record 17 Grand Slams, finished the 2013 season ranked No. 6. It was the first year since 2002 he failed to reach a major tournament final.
Edberg, a four-time Grand Slam champion, including the Australian Open in 1985 and 1987, joins Federer's support team under head coach Severin Luthi.
"Every time I had training (in the past) I had setbacks, little aches and pains, especially in the back from time to time... which cost me confidence," Federer told Australian Associated Press at Brisbane airport. "These last few months have been important for me, feeling that movement is not an issue any more."
The Brisbane tournament is also a WTA event which includes Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova as its top draw cards. Next week, the ATP and WTA will again combine at the Sydney International.
The Hopman Cup, also part of the Australian Open Series, begins later Saturday with Sam Stosur of Australia facing Canada's Eugenie Bouchard.
Bernard Tomic will represent Australia in the men's singles match against Milos Raonic, with mixed doubles to follow. In the other Group A encounter. Poland will play Italy to open the exhibition tournament at Perth Arena.
The United States, represented by Sloane Stephens and John Isner, plays its first match on Monday against Spain in Group B. France and Czech Republic are the other Group B teams, with the winners of each group playing in the Jan. 4 final.
The Auckland WTA tournament, which includes Venus Williams, lost another player when Britain's Laura Robson pulled out with a left wrist injury. Russian's Elena Vesnina, who would have been the ASB Classic's fourth seed, withdrew last week.
Tournament director Karl Budge said Robson had told him she is "about 95 percent" fit and is not in danger of missing the Australian Open.
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