Kooyong

[Borry]

Commonwealth Bank International starts today and Agassi just beat Massu in his first match 6-1 7-6.

Each player plays three matches each then the best four playoff in the semis

 

[superstar]

The security at this tournament used to be the biggest joke.

We used to sneak in across the train tracks every year. Not sure whether they've sorted that out yet. I doubt it.

 

[Borry]

Agassi first, then Federer followed by Hewitt at the Sydney International. Great line up of tennis on TV.

Federer 24 in a row against top 10 players, downed Gaudio 5-7 6-1 6-4 what a wonderful run.

 

[Ricketts]

Did anyone see me catch Gaudio's high-ball into the crowd and then give it back to Roger??

 

[Borry]

Agassi plays Roddick today, should be a very interesting match-up.Just why are there so many empty seats in the stands yesterday.

 

[Russian]

Agassi out with a hip injury trailing 6-5 in the first.

 

[Benno_900]

Massu retires from the match with Nalbandian with an injury.

 

[Benno_900]

When is the Roddick v Federer final?

 

[Benno_900]

Federer wins again
17:52 AEDT Sat Jan 15 2005

On paper it was a tennis match that didn't necessarily mean a lot to either player.

But for world No.1 Roger Federer, winning is always better than losing, especially on the eve of the first grand slam championship of the year.

At Kooyong on Saturday, Federer beat Andy Roddick 6-4 7-5, making the most of a rare opportunity to experiment on his closest rival in the world rankings.

Federer clearly had the advantage over Roddick, his smoother stroke-making and court coverage easily countering the American's power game.

"Even if I had lost it would have been a good preparation," Roddick said.

"But I won and it was good to be able to try some things when there was no title to play for."

As the top two players in the world, Federer and Roddick rarely meet except in the final days of a tournament when fooling around can be costly.

Federer, the defending Australian Open champion and the holder of three grand slam titles, said he could hardly imagine a better lead in to the championship than the one he had in this event.

Particularly with his new coach Tony Roche making an unscheduled appearance at courtside.

"I surprised myself by winning this tournament because exhibitions sometimes I am not the best at doing," he said.

"But I really had the feeling I played two good matches ... I feel my game is ready to go."

At last year's Australian Open Federer cruised to victory, despite being without a coach.

But this year he goes into the championship under the guidance of the former Australian Davis Cup player who he employed late last year.

"Last year I arrived here with no coach and people were wondering how this will be," Federer said.

"I feel much, much better coming into this year's Open, even though the pressure is there to defend the title."

 

[Katthawk]

Just got back from it... terrific little tournament. Agassi the legend was not bad. But i am not sure how he is going to keep up form. Hope so for the Aus Open.