Confident Federer opens with victory in Kooyong

World number one Roger Federer oozed confidence as he warmed up for the defence of his Australian Open crown with a 5-7 6-1 6-4 victory over French Open champion Gaston Gaudio in the Kooyong Classic yesterday.

The Swiss clinched his 22nd consecutive win to join Andre Agassi, Tim Henman and Andy Roddick as victors on day one of the eight-man event.

Having flown in from Qatar after winning his first title of the season last Saturday, Federer was a little slow getting into his stride but once he did, Gaudio had no answer.

"I could definitely have served better but all in all I'm happy with the match," Federer said.

"For me it's important not to really play well from the start. I hope I really play well in the last match of the tournament.

"I'm trying out some things by taking some chances so maybe these are things that make matches closer but it's still important that I end up winning the matches."

Agassi, who will be bidding for a fifth Australian Open crown when the hardcourt grand slam gets underway on Monday, looked lean and confident in his first match for over two months as he beat Olympic champion Nicolas Massu 6-1 7-6.

"I felt pretty good," Agassi said.

"I liked the way the match played out... and maybe excluding a few second serve returns, I felt like I was doing most things pretty darn well for the first match."

Henman was barely tested in his 6-1 7-5 victory over Argentine David Nalbandian.

Roddick, whose 2004 campaign ended in disappointment when the United States were beaten by Spain in the Davis Cup final, completed a 6-1 6-4 win over Qatar Open runner-up Ivan Ljubicic.

¤ Twice former champion Jennifer Capriati has withdrawn from next week's Australian Open because of an injury to her right shoulder, organisers said yesterday. The American, winner at Melbourne Park in 2001 and 2002, had previously pulled out of this week's Sydney International, having earlier been forced to miss an exhibition match with Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova on December 17. The news is a major blow to Australian Open organisers, who were already without injured Belgians Justine Henin-Hardenne and Kim Clijsters, last year's champion and runner-up.