Roger Federer
Switzerland's Roger Federer and Serbia's Novak Djokovic (R) shake hands as Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki and Belarus' Victoria Azarenka (2nd R) embrace during Kids Tennis Day at Melbourne Park, Australia, January 16, 2016. The Australian Open tennis tournament starts January 18. Australia's Lleyton Hewitt watches from the left. Reuters/Issei Kato

Roger Federer plans to rest up before he opens his 2016 Australian campaign against Georgia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili at Melbourne Park.

Federer caught a flu-like virus before this year’s Brisbane International, where the Swiss Maestro managed to reach the final round only to be defeated by Canada’s Milos Raonic in straight sets. But the Swiss Maestro revealed he has been able to practice normally now that he feels better, just in time before his first round match against Basilashvili.

“The good thing is the off-season was great,” Federer said, reports The Nation. “I have a base there, so I think within three, four days I should be back at 100 percent if things progress normally.”

His match against Basilashvili, who is ranked 117 in the Emirates ATP World rankings, is expected to be an easy round for the Swiss, who is looking to add another Grand Slam title in his record. But the 17-time Grand Slam winner will have a more difficult adversary if he gets past the earlier rounds, with a potential clash with world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the semifinal round.

As part of overcoming Djokovic, who is steamrolling from an impressive stint last season, Federer replaced Stefan Edberg with new coach Ivan Ljubicic. Last season, Federer lost all of his last three final appearances to Djokovic, including Wimbledon, the US Open, and the ATP World Tour Finals. Federer believes Ljubicic could help in his motivation to keep up with “Djoker.”

“Last year I did quite well against Novak,” Federer told Australian Open’s official website. “I always believe there's new things you can learn, but there's always sometimes a way of staying motivated, staying hungry. Someone like Ivan can also help do that.”

Live streaming info and score updates

Watch the Australian Open 2016 live via ATP’s official website or TennisTV. Live scores for matches will be available on game days via Australian Open’s official website.

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