Federer Won’t Be Going It Alone in Slam Quest

His solo act fell one troublesome clay court short of perfection at the Grand Slam events in 2004. So imagine what Roger Federer can do with one of the finest minds in the game at his disposal.

The newest member of Federer’s entourage is legendary Australian coach Tony Roche, who once guided Ivan Lendl and Pat Rafter. Roche will work with the No. 1 player in the world at selected events, starting with Federer’s title defense at the Australian Open, which starts here Monday.

Last year, going it alone, Federer won three of the four Grand Slam events, failing only at the French Open, where he lost to three-time champion Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil in the third round. He hasn’t lost a final since 2003 and has won 21 consecutive matches.

“He’s like Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan right now a little bit,” said Brad Gilbert, the former coach of Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick.

”.... [People] always complain -- where’s the next champion? And when you do get somebody that wins everything, they think it’s boring. Or he doesn’t have an adversary because he doesn’t have a rival yet.”

Federer, who is from Switzerland, will play the crafty Fabrice Santoro of France in the first round and is in the same quarter of the draw as 29th-seeded Taylor Dent and No. 8 Agassi. Dent, though, withdrew from a tuneup event in Sydney because of flu and Agassi pulled out of an exhibition in Melbourne because of injury.

Later, he tested himself against Tim Henman in an exhibition match in Melbourne, and said he suffered a small tear to a tendon in his upper leg.

Agassi expects to play qualifier Dieter Kindlmann of Germany in the first round Monday. Dent will face qualifier Florent Serra of France. No. 2-seeded Roddick, playing in his first Slam since dismissing Gilbert and hiring coach Dean Goldfine, is in the other half of the draw, along with No. 3 Lleyton Hewitt of Australia, No. 6 Guillermo Coria of Argentina and No. 7 Henman of Great Britain.

Injuries have hit hard in both the men’s and women’s draws. Mark Philippoussis of Australia is hurt, as are defending women’s champion Justine Henin-Hardenne, 2004 finalist Kim Clijsters and 2001 and 2002 champion Jennifer Capriati.

The biggest concern on the women’s side is the health of former champion and top-seeded Lindsay Davenport. Her preparations took a big hit when she came down with bronchitis last week, forcing her to withdraw from a warmup event in Sydney. Davenport said today that she has been able to practice and is planning to play in the Open.

She wasn’t helped by the draw, either. Davenport is scheduled to play veteran Conchita Martinez of Spain in the first round. Martinez is 6-0 against Davenport in Grand Slam events, including 3-0 at the Australian Open.

In the same half of the draw is No. 8 Venus Williams, who also drew a potentially difficult opponent in the first round, Eleni Daniilidou of Greece.*

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Taking It to the Streaks

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If Roger Federer wins the seven matches required to win the Australian Open, beginning Monday, he will move into third place for consecutive matches won on the ATP Tour since 1990. Last week, Federer won his 23rd career ATP title, reached his 31st final and won his eighth title in his last 10 tournaments:

*--* 35 Thomas Muster 1995 29 Pete Sampras 1994 26 Andre Agassi 1995 25 Jim Courier 1992 24 Pete Sampras 1999 23 Roger Federer 2004

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*--* 21 x-Roger Federer 2004-05 21 Pete Sampras 1996 21 Stefan Edberg 1990-91 21 Ivan Lendl 1990 20 Pete Sampras 1996-97

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Facts

When: Monday-Jan. 30 (starts today PST).

Where: Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia.

Centenary tournament: This year marks the 100th year since its inception (93 have been played because of war year interruptions).

Men’s final: In a Grand Slam first, the men’s singles final Jan. 30 will be played as an evening match for Australian prime time TV.

Surface: Hardcourt (Rebound Ace).

Today on TV: 4 p.m., ESPN2.

Remaining women’s seeds: 11. Nadia Petrova, Russia 12. Patty Schnyder, Switzerland 13. Karolina Sprem, Croatia 14. Francesca Schiavone, Italy 15. Silvia Farina Elia, Italy 16. Ai Sugiyama, Japan 17. Fabiola Zuluaga, Colombia 18. Elena Likhovtseva, Russia 19. Nathalie Dechy, France 20. Tatiana Golovin, France 21. Amy Frazier, U.S. 22. Magdalena Maleeva, Bulgaria 23. Jelena Jankovic, Serbia-Montenegro 24. Mary Pierce, France 25. Lisa Raymond, U.S. 26. Daniela Hantuchova, Slovakia 27. Anna Smashnova, Israel 28. Shinobu Asagoe, Japan 29. Gisela Dulko, Argentina 30. Flavia Pennetta, Italy 31. Jelena Kostanic, Croatia 32. Iveta Benesova, Czech Republic.

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Top 10 Men

1. ROGER FEDERER

Country: Switzerland

Age: 23

2004 Record: 74-6

2004 Hard-Court Record: 46-4

2004 Singles Titles: 11

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2. ANDY RODDICK

Country: United States

Age: 22

2004 Record: 74-18

2004 Hard-Court Record: 57-11

2004 Singles Titles: 4

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3. LLEYTON HEWITT

Country: Australia

Age: 23

2004 Record: 68-16

2004 Hard-Court Record: 45-9

2004 Singles Titles: 4

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4. MARAT SAFIN

Country: Russia

Age: 24

2004 Record: 52-23

2004 Hard-Court Record: 27-12

2004 Singles Titles: 3

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5. CARLOS MOYA

Country: Spain

Age: 28

2004 Record: 59-19

2004 Hard-Court Record: 23-10

2004 Singles Titles: 3

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6. GUILLERMO CORIA

Country: Argentina

Age: 23

2004 Record: 39-14

2004 Hard-Court Record: 12-9

2004 Singles Titles: 2

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7. TIM HENMAN

Country: Britain

Age: 30

2004 Match Record: 44-22

2004 Hard-Court Record: 25-13

2004 Singles Titles: 0

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8. ANDRE AGASSI

Country: United States

Age: 34

2004 Record: 37-13

2004 Hard-Court Record: 37-10

2004 Singles Titles: 1

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9. DAVID NALBANDIAN

Country: Argentina

Age: 23

2004 Record: 34-14

2004 Hard-Court Record: 15-5

2004 Singles Titles: 0

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10. GASTON GAUDIO

Country: Argentina

Age: 26

2004 Record: 37-24

2004 Hard-Court Record: 5-10

2004 Singles Titles: 1

Remaining men’s seeds: 11. Joachim Johansson, Sweden 12. Guillermo Canas, Argentina 13. Tommy Robredo, Spain 14. Sebastien Grosjean, France 15. Mikhail Youzhny, Russia 16. Tommy Haas, Germany 17. Andrei Pavel, Romania 18. Nicolas Massu, Chile 19. Vince Spadea, U.S. 20. Dominik Hrbaty, Slovakia 21. Nicolas Kiefer, Germany 22. Ivan Ljubicic, Croatia 23. Fernando Gonzalez, Chile 24. Feliciano Lopez, Spain 25. Juan Ignacio Chela, Argentina 26. Nikolay Davydenko, Russia 27. Paradorn Srichaphan, Thailand 28. Mario Ancic, Croatia 29. Taylor Dent, U.S. 30. Thomas Johansson, Sweden 31. Juan Carlos Ferrero, Spain 32. Jurgen Melzer, Austria.