Zee Media Bureau/Chaitan Papnai

Sydney: Roger Federer - arguably the greatest player of all time, is all set to play the first Grand Slam of the year – Australian Open. If we go by his form, he is certainly not among the top two contenders to win the title. In fact, age is another factor that is taking its toll on this former world number one tennis star.

In last couple of years, his form dipped miserably and to add to the woes his rivals – Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and for that matter Andy Murray came out even stronger. One can easily get to know about the poor form of the Swiss maestro with the fact that he is currently sitting at number six position in the ATP rankings, even below David Ferrer and Juan Martin Del Potro.

The 32-year-old, first tried experimenting with his racquet last year to change his fortunes, but when it didn`t work, he added his childhood hero Stefan Edberg to his coaching team.

This year, when the record seventeen-time Grand Slam winner Federer reached the finals of Brisbane International, many thought that he we will beat the other finalist Lleyton Hewitt to announce that he is back to winning ways. But in the finals, the Swiss maestro lost to Hewitt 6-1, 4-6, 6-3.

Even after losing in the finals Federer stated that: “I feel pretty good, especially having played all the matches. I`m pretty pleased just that my body is holding up good in the first week, because you don`t quite know what to expect. I`m very hungry and eager to attack the Australian Open next week.”

Though almost every thing is going against the Swiss at the moment, he is still hopeful about his game. Maybe, the experience of his coach Edberg will give him the much-needed confidence to regain his form in the first Slam of the year.