Roger Federer says his breakthrough Wimbledon triumph last year has made him hungry for more Grand Slam titles and he wants to realise that at the Australian Open.
The Swiss world number two had few concerns in reaching the third round in a straight sets victory over United States qualifier Jeff Morrison on Thursday.
The Wimbledon and Masters champion with four service breaks won 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 in 94 minutes on centre court and will now play young Australian wild card Todd Reid on Saturday.
”I expect more of myself now,” Federer said. ”I know I can win this tournament, but before I would have been happy with the quarters or the semis.
”Now it’s an okay result, but it’s not satisfying.
”I’m more hungry for more [Grand Slams]. I know now what it takes to win a Slam, how to prepare, how to do it all the way because two weeks tend to get very long in a Grand Slam.”
Federer’s best Australian Open finish is the round of 16 twice.
Last year he fell to German Tommy Haas 8-6 in the fifth set after holding match point.
Federer said he has been concentrating on his serve in practice sessions since playing in the lead-up Kooyong tournament last week.
”This court is playing faster than Kooyong, which is better for my game and serving better helps for the rest of my game,” he said.
”I’m more aggressive on the return, which I wasn’t at Kooyong, so that’s two big improvements I’ve made.”
Federer watched most of 19-year-old Reid’s epic five-setter against Armenian Sargis Sargsian and expected him to recover physically for their match on Saturday.
”He’s got nothing to lose … it doesn’t really matter what happened two days ago.
”He’s got one day of recovery tomorrow, even though he finished quite early today, which is good for him. He’ll come out fresh against me.
”I’m looking forward to a different game than he played today. They were rallying a lot. That’s not going to happen against me too much.”
The last man to win Wimbledon and the Australian Open in the subsequent year was Pete Sampras 10 years ago. — Sapa-AFP