Moments before Andy Murray learned of his grisly draw at the Australian Open, Roger Federer was waxing lyrical about what keeps him so fresh at 37.
The defending champion still looks ridiculously sprightly, his motivation undimmed by any amount of wealth, titles (99 and counting), fame and adulation.
‘My goal was always to play as long as possible, that’s why I’m able to show so much enthusiasm,’ he reflected. ‘When I see others who have played for a long time — Ken Rosewall, Jimmy Connors, Andre Agassi — it has looked pretty cool, playing through the generations.
Roger Federer enters the Australian Open hoping to retain his 2018 title
‘That I am still inside the top 10 is a little bit surprising to me, but not that I am still playing.’
Federer also insisted that he has not needed Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Murray to have pushed him, longevity is just something that has come naturally.
Maintaining a successful career into the deep end of the thirties appears, sadly, to be something that Murray is not destined to enjoy.
There was a further reminder of this when, several hours before the draw which pitted him against in-form No 22 seed Roberto Bautista Agut, Murray played the best part of two sets under serious match conditions against Djokovic on the Margaret Court Arena at Melbourne Park.
The 37-year-old still looks ridiculously sprightly as he bids for 100th career title
With several thousand spectators allowed in — and replete with an umpire, line judges and a scoreboard — they played out their allotted practice time after an elongated warm-up, with the score ending up at 6-1, 4-1 to the Serb.
Safe to say it was not among their greatest battles, which have included four Australian finals in the neighbouring Rod Laver Arena. Although both were keen to replicate match conditions, there was the sense that world No 1 Djokovic never needed to reach for his highest gear.
The enthusiastic crowd saw the increasingly familiar mix of the
