Roger Federer will return to the hard court of the Australian Open to face Austria's Jurgen Melzer in the opening round of the first Grand Slam event of the year.
Federer opens his Australian Open 2017 bid at the Rod Laver Arena on Monday against Austrian qualifier Melzer as the Swiss Maestro makes his comeback to the big stages if the Tour following a long lay-off from the tennis scene to recover from a knee injury.
With Federer entering the Australian Open at No. 16 in the ATP world rankings, the Basel native understands he is one of the underdogs at the event, the first time since Roland Garros in 2001. But Federer admitted he is happy with his underdog status as long as he can compete at a high level.
"Yeah, why not for a change? I mean, I prefer to be the favourite. Underdog is OK," Federer said.
"As long as I'm healthy and I feel like I can go four, five sets, I can go many matches in a row, then I think it's going to be fun."
However, against Melzer, who defeated Rajeev Ram 6-2 3-6 6-3 to qualify for the tournament, Federer could be the overall favorite to advance into the next round.
Federer has already met Melzer four times and leads the 35-year-old Austrian by 3-1 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head matchup. It has been five years since both players compete against each other, which would make their first round battle an interesting match. But for the 17-time Grand Slam winner, there is a little amount of uncertainty playing the first round.
"A bit of an unknown here in the first round because that's the part of the draw I care most about because of having not been playing," Federer said, reports Tennis.
The winner between Federer and Melzer could face either Bjorn Fratangelo or Noah Rubin in the second round of the event.
Live streaming and score updates
Watch Australian Open 2017 Roger Federer vs Jurgen Melzer live via AusOpen.com or Watch ESPN. Live scores will be available during game days at the Australian Open's official website.