Federer in no rush to tie Sampras

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More Australian Open:Men's seedsWomen's seedsMurray's star on rise By John Pye THE ASSOCIATED PRESS MELBOURNE, Australia -- Roger Federer doesn't think he needs to be in a hurry to break Pete Sampras' Grand Slam record. Federer is bidding to equal Sampras' 14 major titles by capturing the Australian Open. The growing perception is that the 27-year-old Swiss will find it harder than in recent years to win a major, with Andy Murray joining Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic -- all 22 or under -- among the leading contenders to beat him. "I want to do well, not only this year but many more years," Federer said Sunday, a day before opening play against Andreas Seppi of Italy. "I don't feel like this is my last chance to either win ... or pick up a few Slams more easily. "They never come around easily. Let's not forget who I had to beat on the way." Nadal is 22 and already has five majors -- four straight at Roland Garros and the last at Wimbledon. He also snapped Federer's record 237-week reign atop the rankings last season. No. 3 Djokovic and No. 4 Murray will both be 22 in May. Federer was closing in on his 22nd birthday when he won Wimbledon in 2003, the first of his 13 major titles. Federer doesn't think age will start counting against him. He won three of the four majors in three of the last five seasons, twice finishing one match short of a season Grand Slam by losing the French Open final to Nadal. But he had to wait until the U.S. Open to secure his first major of last season. He's feeling more confident this year. "They will be tough to win," he said. "But I know I've got the game to do it." Peter Polansky of Thornhill, Ont., and Frank Dancevic of Niagara Falls, Ont., are also entered in the men's singles draw. Toronto's Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia are the top seeds in the men's doubles draw. A bout of mononucleosis hampered Federer's preparations for the last Australian Open and he lost in the semifinals to Djokovic. Federer lost momentum, and lost the French Open and Wimbledon finals to Nadal, who also won the Olympic singles gold medal. Under pressure in the last Grand Slam event of the year, Federer beat Murray in straight sets in the final to win his fifth straight U.S. Open. He then struggled at the season-ending Masters Cup and Djokovic took that title. "I know a lot of people are saying this seems like a tough generation right now with Murray, Djokovic, Rafa and everything," Federer said. "I don't think it's that much stronger than when I came about." Before Federer's domination, Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick, Lleyton Hewitt, Marat Safin and Juan Carlos Ferrero were all winning Grand Slams. "It just always seems like two years on and nobody talks about what happened two years ago," Federer said. "It's not just now that we have really four great players again. "I think they were there before, but there were just different names." Among those who think Sampras' record could fall is Hewitt, who won the 2001 U.S. Open and 2002 Wimbledon and was ranked No. 1 before watching Federer take over and dominate. "You didn't really put anyone in the same category as Sampras," Hewitt said. "That seemed like an awfully long way away before anyone got close to Pete's record. "He's had an unbelievable run. He won the last Slam, the U.S. Open, so he's going to be one of the favourites coming in here. If he does it, good on him." Hewitt, Australia's only real hope for a second-week run, has a tough start against 11th-seeded Fernando Gonzalez, the 2007 runner-up, on Tuesday. Nadal and Murray also have a day off Monday. Like Federer, Djokovic has a Monday start. He'll be the third match on Rod Laver Arena against Italian Andrea Stoppini. Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic of Serbia will highlight the women's action Monday. Top-ranked Jankovic starts against Yvonne Meusburger, determined to overcome a virus that prevented her from playing in Hong Kong last week and to silence the doubters who think she doesn't deserve the top ranking because she's never won a major. Ivanovic lost the final here last year to Maria Sharapova and then went on to win the French Open, her first Grand Slam title. Aleksandra Wozniak of Blainville, Que., and Stephanie Dubois of Laval, Que., are also entered in the women's singles draw. Ivanovic's form at the majors has been on the wane since Roland Garros, with a third-round exit at Wimbledon followed by a second-round defeat at the U.S. Open. The 21-year-old Ivanovic, who is working without a coach, starts against Julia Goerges of Germany in the opening match on the second covered stadium. Former fourth-ranked Kimiko Date Krumm will return to the main draw of a major after a 13-year hiatus. The 38-year-old Japanese player came through qualifying on the weekend and faces Estonia's Kaia Kanepi, seeded 25th, on Court 6. Seventh-seeded Andy Roddick will open the tournament on centre court at Melbourne Park, playing Bjorn Rehnquist of Sweden. The 2003 U.S. Open champion has been a semifinalist here three times and would have to beat Djokovic in the quarter-finals to make it that far again. He's the highest seeded of the American men. No. 9 James Blake doesn't open until Tuesday, when No. 2 Serena Williams and No. 7 Venus Williams also get under way on the women's side.

Jankovic, Serena battle for No. 1

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Jelena Jankovic and Serena Williams think they're entitled to be considered the No. 1 female tennis player. They'll have the chance to prove it at the Australian Open.

Jankovic has bragging rights now, spending the last two months atop the rankings despite a series of minor injuries and health issues last year. But the 23-year-old Serbian has her doubters because she has yet to win a Grand Slam tournament -- something that second-ranked American Serena Williams has done nine times -- and is short on match practice after becoming ill in Hong Kong.

"It will be an extra challenge for me," Jankovic said Saturday, two days before the season-opening major gets under way.

Still, she wasn't short on confidence, saying she feels she deserves the top ranking. She also undertook what she called her toughest-ever training regime in November and December, clearly adding some muscle, to help her stay on top.

"If I win a Grand Slam, it will be great result, great achievement," Jankovic said. "But I'm already No. 1, and I believe all of these girls here want to be where I am now.

"So I'm just enjoying it and really having fun. I play tennis because I like to play, not because I have to prove anything to everybody."

Williams, as usual, is also brimming with confidence.

"I would feel weird sitting here saying I'm not the best," said a relaxed and fit-looking Williams, who won the last Grand Slam, the U.S. Open, in September while briefly regaining the top ranking. "Even if I'm ranked 100 in the world, I would sit here and say I'm the best player.

"Nothing against Jankovic. She went out in the fall and worked hard and got the No. 1 ranking. I feel like I'm the best just because I'm not going to sit here and say anyone is better than me. I shouldn't be in tennis if I felt that way."

There are two Canadians in the women's draw.

Montreal's Aleksandra Wozniak, currently ranked a career-best No. 33 on the WTA Tour, is the No. 30 seed and takes on German Sabine Lisicki in her opening match. Stephanie Dubois, also of Montreal, qualified for singles play and will face 26th-seeded Ai Sugiyama of Japan.

Both Williams and Jankovic would have to overcome some serious challenges to get to the Jan. 31 final. Even with the absence of defending champion Maria Sharapova of Russia -- still getting back to fitness after a shoulder injury sidelined her for most of the second half of 2008 -- the women's field shapes up as one of the strongest in years.

Russian Dinara Safina, emerging from the shadow of older brother Marat Safin, earned the third seeding by winning four tournaments last year and reaching the French Open final and the U.S. Open semis.

No. 4 Elena Dementieva, the gold medallist at the Beijing Olympics, is on a 10-match winning streak after winning two warmup tournaments, dropping only one set.

.No. 5 Ana Ivanovic is only 21 but already has had a stint as No. 1, won at Roland Garros and reached the final here last year.

Like Jankovic, Safina and Dementieva are pursuing their first Grand Slam titles.

Serena's sister, Venus Williams, who has won seven Grand Slam singles titles -- including her fifth Wimbledon title last year -- reckons she can get back to No. 1, too.

"Right now I'm not No. 1, so the number and everything isn't matching up. But I hope to get there," the sixth-seeded Williams said. "It's difficult to go out on the court and look across the net and think that someone might be better than you. So I try not to bring those kind of mentalities on the court."

The big unknown is who is in the best form after tennis's brief off-season, and who took things too easy. That sets the stage for upsets and the emergence of new stars like 18-year-old Dane Caroline Wozniacki, who held three match points against Serena Williams in Sydney last week before losing.

"The competition is very strong, and the girls are getting stronger and stronger and everybody is working hard," Jankovic said. "I think it's great for the game, and I think it's also great for the spectators.

"It's great entertainment because you never know who is going to win."

Serena Williams agreed that the women's game has become much more competitive than the days when only three or four players were legitimate contenders. She feels she is playing better than when she was dominating the sport but has to struggle more to win.

Both Williams sisters had some bad news for any players hoping the Americans might be considering retirement.

The 27-year-old Serena said she hopes to be competing at a high level for "a really long time."

"I feel like I just want to continue to get better, so haven't reached my best yet," she said.

Venus, older by a year, said she feels she's "living the dream" and doesn't want it to end.

"When the dream's over, I'm going to think about when I was living the dream," she said. "The dream's still large. It's just big, huge. Like there's stuff being added to the dream. So, yeah, no end in sight."

As for who is the best player, Jankovic said the answer will come soon enough. Any of the top four women could have the No. 1 ranking when the Australian Open finishes.

"The best one will be holding the trophy at the end of the two weeks," she said.

No. 1 Nadal set for Aussie Open

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More Australian Open:Men's seedsWomen's seedsMurray's star on rise THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Roger Federer was toiling away across town at Kooyong, trying to win an exhibition tournament just two days from the start of the Australian Open, where he can tie Pete Sampras' record of 14 Grand Slams.

Novak Djokovic, the defending champion at Melbourne Park, was on a plane from Sydney, where he lost to Finland's Jarkko Nieminen in a tournament semifinal the night before, blowing a chance to overtake Federer for the No. 2 ranking.

The guy they are both chasing, top-ranked Rafael Nadal, was taking it relatively easy Saturday, having a morning practice session with the other member of the Big Four of men's tennis, resurgent Andy Murray of Britain.

Rafa wondered if perhaps he wasn't taking it too easy.

"I think I am OK," Nadal said, not sounding so sure. "But I was for two months outside of competition, so maybe I need a little bit more matches to get the rhythm."

Nadal was asked, for what he said was the 100th time in the past three months, whether being No. 1 has made any difference to him.

He ended Federer's 237-week reign at the top in early September after beating the Swiss star last year at the French Open and Wimbledon and later taking home the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics.

"One number doesn't change anything," Nadal said. "I was very happy to be No. 2. I am very happy, for sure, to be No. 1. Every year the season starts from zero for everybody."

Not so much for Murray, at least in the expectations department. The Scotsman lost to Federer in the U.S. Open final, beat Nadal and Federer in an exhibition tournament two weeks ago in Abu Dhabi and defeated Andy Roddick and Federer in Doha, Qatar, last week.

The British public is excited, no doubt spurred on by London bookmakers who are offering better than even odds that Murray will win at least one Grand Slam title this year, and 5-to-1 that he'll be No. 1 by the end of 2009.

The odds of him winning all four Grand Slam tournaments this year have been cut from 500-to-1 down to 66-to-1, but Murray appears unfazed by the extra attention, saying he expected it.

"For me it's obviously a good thing," Murray said. "I think when you do become a contender for a Slam, obviously the seeding and stuff helps with your draws and whatnot.

"It gives you -- it gives me anyway -- that little bit of extra confidence. Obviously, the U.S. Open was a great run for me. I learned a lot ... hopefully I can keep it going here."

Murray opens against Andrei Pavel of Romania in the same half of the draw as Nadal, who plays Christophe Rochus of Belgium in the first round. Djokovic is set to play a qualifier, while Federer's start of a very tough draw has him playing Andreas Seppi of Italy.

Federer then has possible matches against former No. 1 Carlos Moya in the second round, 2005 Australian Open champion Marat Safin in the third and Stanislas Wawrinka in the fourth. He could play Djokovic in the semifinals, where the Serb ended Federer's Melbourne Park run last year.

Peter Polansky of Thornhill, Ont., and Frank Dancevic of Niagara Falls, Ont., are also entered in the men's singles draw. Toronto's Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia are the top seeds in the men's doubles draw..

By the time Nadal and Murray were back at their hotels Saturday and Djokovic's plane had touched down, Federer was hoisting a trophy and giving a victory speech at Kooyong after beating Swiss countryman Wawrinka 6-1, 6-3 in only 57 minutes.

Later, he said he was as confident for this Grand Slam as he was for any other, despite losing his No. 1 ranking to Nadal and winning only one major last year. After all, he's won at least one Grand Slam in each of the last six years, pulling him ever closer to Sampras' 14.

"I don't remember entering any Slam thinking, 'Oh God, it's not going to work out for me."' Federer said.

"I always feel at the end of the day, I'm going to play well in the Slam and it's going to take an incredible performance from somebody else to beat me. It's exactly the same again this year."

Two Cdns qualify for Aussie Open

THE CANADIAN PRESS

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Canadians Peter Polansky and Stephanie Dubois both qualified Saturday for their respective singles draws at the Australian Open.

Polansky, of Thornhill, Ont., beat France's Olivier Patience, the 20th seed, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 in men's singles qualifying round action. The 11th-seeded Dubois, of Montreal, dispatched Poland's Urszula Radwanska, the 13th seed, 6-4, 6-4 in a women's qualifying round contest.

As a result of their wins, the qualifying-round victors advanced to the main draw.

A total of four Canadians will participate in singles when the Australian Open begins play Monday (Sunday night in North America).

Polansky will take on 18th-seeded Russian Igor Andreev in first-round play while Frank Dancevic of Niagara Falls, Ont., faces ninth-seeded American James Blake.

In women's action, Dubois will open against 26th-seeded Ai Sugiyama of Japan. Montreal's Aleksandra Wozniak, the 30th seed, will take on German Sabine Lisicki in her opening-round match.

Nestor, Zimonjic lose Sydney final

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SYDNEY, Australia -- Toronto's Daniel Nestor and Serbian partner Nenad Zimonjic will head into the Australian Open on a losing note. Nestor and Zimonjic dropped a 6-1, 7-6 (3) decision to Americans Bob and Mike Bryan in the doubles final at the Sydney International tennis tournament, a tuneup event for the Australian Open, which begins Monday. The Bryan twins reversed the result of the 2008 Tennis Masters Cup doubles final, where Nestor and Zimonjic won in straight sets. David Nalbandian overcame an inconsistent serve and a string of unforced errors to defeat Jarkko Nieminen 6-3, 6-7 (9), 6-2 to capture the singles final. Nalbandian dominated early before Nieminen, who stopped defending Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic in the semifinals, staged a second-set resurgence. Nieminen appeared to be bothered by a leg cramp late in the match when Nalbandian broke the Finnish player in his last two service games. Nalbandian had 56 unforced errors while Nieminen had 49. Each player had four double faults. The 10th-seeded Nalbandian moves on to the Australian Open, where he will face Marc Gicquel of France on Monday.

Federer cruises in Kooyong final

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Roger Federer crushed Olympic gold medal-winning doubles partner Stanislas Wawrinka on Saturday to win the Australian Open tuneup event at Kooyong.

Federer broke Wawrinka's serve three times in the first seven games of the all-Swiss final, setting the tone for a 6-1, 6-3 win.

Federer collected his second title at the eight-man exhibition tournament.

He won the Kooyong title in 2005, the year he lost in the Australian Open semifinals to eventual champion Marat Safin.

Federer is one win away from equaling Pete Sampras' record 14 Grand Slam singles titles. With the Australian Open starting Monday, he didn't want to waste a minute of preparation time for the season's first major.

Federer and his Davis Cup teammate frequently hit together and the No. 2-ranked Federer considers himself a mentor and "like a brother" to Wawrinka.

At Kooyong, he taught 23-year-old Wawrinka that he doesn't believe in friendly matches, even at exhibition tournaments.

"It's nice to play him. We played next to each other. Now he's on the other side," he said. "I wanted to see how much he's improved."

The second-ranked Federer was entered but withdrew from the Kooyong tournament last year while struggling with mononucleosis.

He went into the Australian Open without proper preparation and was beaten in the semifinals by eventual champion Novak Djokovic, ending his streak of 19 straight match wins at Melbourne Park. He is 31-2 since the 2004 Australian Open, which was the second of his 13 major titles.

Federer has a tough draw at the season's first Grand Slam event, opening against Andreas Seppi of Italy, then possible matches against former No. 1 Carlos Moya in the second round, Safin in the third and Wawrinka in the fourth. Another semifinal against Djokovic looms.

.Rafael Nadal, who ended Federer's 237-week streak at No. 1 last season after beating him in the French Open and Wimbledon finals and winning the Olympic singles title at Beijing, is on the other side of the draw, along with Britain's Andy Murray.

In the third-place match at Kooyong, Spaniard Fernando Verdasco had a 6-4, 6-3 win over second-seeded Fernando Gonzalez of Chile.

Gonzalez has one of the toughest opening-round matches at the Australian Open, which starts Monday, facing local favourite and former top-ranked Lleyton Hewitt.

Wawrinka vs. Federer at Kooyong

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Stanislas Wawrinka held off Fernando Gonzalez 7-6 (3), 6-7 (1), 6-4 on Friday and will face Davis Cup teammate Roger Federer in the final of the Australian Open tuneup tournament at Kooyong.

The all-Swiss Kooyong final could be a warmup for the fourth round of the Australian Open. At the draw earlier Friday for the season's first major, Wawrinka was slotted into the same quarter as his mentor and sometimes hitting partner Federer.

Federer has a difficult run at the Australian Open, with potential matches against former No. 1 Carlos Moya in the second round, 2005 Australian champion Marat Safin in the third, Wawrinka in the fourth and defending champion Novak Djokovic in the semis.

At Kooyong, the former home of the Australian Open, Wawrinka wasted a chance to serve for the match in the second set, leading 30-15 at 5-4 before Gonzalez broke back, forcing and dominating a tiebreaker.

He had two break points in the second game of the third set but Gonzalez saved both.

Wawrinka finally got match point on Gonzalez's serve in the 10th game of the deciding set, clinching the win when the Olympic singles silver medallist from Chile sent a forehand long.

Wawrinka, 23, broke into the top 10 for the first time last year, reaching two finals and partnering with Federer to win the Beijing Olympics doubles gold medal. He ended the season at No. 13 in the rankings.

"He's one of my best friends on the tour," Wawrinka said Friday. "It was very nice to stay 10 days with him to play the doubles (at the Olympics).

.Gonzalez lost the 2007 Australian Open final to Federer but hasn't advanced beyond the quarter-finals of a major since. His next match will be against former No. 1-ranked Lleyton Hewitt in the first round of the Australian Open, which starts Monday.

"It's going to be one of the toughest first-rounders of all the tournament, but I am ready for that," he said. "I know that Lleyton is coming back and he is going to have the crowd with him.

"He is a really good player, great competitor, but I believe in my chances."

Croatians lost in both match in the relegation bracket.

Marcos Baghdatis beat Marin Cilic 6-3, 6-2 and Moya beat Ivan Ljubicic 7-5, 3-6, 7-5.

Federer won the Kooyong tournament in 2005.

He earned a spot in Saturday's final with a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5) win over No. 16-ranked Fernando Verdasco of Spain on Thursday.

Federer is bidding to equal Pete Sampras' record of 14 Grand Slam singles titles.