Andy Murray is ready to face a rejuvenated Roger Federer at his attacking best in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open on Wednesday.
The Wimbledon champion takes on 17-time Grand Slam winner Federer in the night session on Rod Laver Arena at 08:30 GMT.
It is a repeat of last year’s semi-final, when Murray won in five sets to claim his first Grand Slam victory over the Swiss.
“I’ve played him around 20 times,” said the Scot, who leads their head-to-head 11-9. “You know how you need to play against him, and you know tactically the things that work and the things that don’t work.”
What Murray can certainly expect is an opponent keen to get to the net at every opportunity, something Federer, 32, has done 112 times in four matches, compared to 54 from Murray.
Federer, seeded sixth, is in the early stages of working with six-time Grand Slam champion Stefan Edberg, one of the game’s great volleyers.
“It’s just a different perspective,” said the Swiss, who swept past Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the previous round.
“He did things his way back in the day – I’m sure things were different back then – but still you can take so many things from his experience.
“I want to maybe try out a few things that worked for him, try out a few things that he thinks would work out for me this time around.
“Sure, we’ll discuss it, assess it, but he’s here now more for support, making me feel comfortable, giving me right advice, pre-match, post-match, discussing it with Severin [Luthi] my coach.”
Perhaps of equal significance are the four-time Australian Open champion’s now healthy back, which hampered him in a disappointing 2013, and a new racquet with a 98-square-inch head – as opposed to the 90-inch frame he used beforehand.
“I do believe I have easier power with the racquet on the serve,” said Federer.
“It might help me on the return, as well. I hope it is the case. It’s a great start to the season with the racquet and with my body. Everything is going really well. I’m very happy.”
Murray, playing his second tournament since recovering from back surgery, takes confidence from his last meeting with Federer at the same venue 12 months ago.
“Obviously last year is pretty relevant because it’s on the same court and it will be under the same conditions,” he said. “But in an individual sport, any day is a new day. Anything can happen.
“You play 10% below your best and you can be off the court quickly. So whether my tactics are great or not, I need to play a great match to win.”
Murray, 26, seemingly set the current trend for players to work with great names of the past when he hired Ivan Lendl two years ago, and the early influence of Edberg on Federer has not passed him by.
“I don’t know the stats of his matches so far in terms of how much he’s coming forward,” said the fourth seed.
“You would assume that’s something that Edberg would be able to help with. He was pretty good at that, so you’d expect him to help Roger with that.”
Despite remaining cautious about his chances of winning a third major title at the weekend, Murray added: “I can’t honestly say my expectations are as high as if I’d been playing for the last four months.
“It’s been a good effort so far to get to the quarter-finals of a Slam this soon after surgery, so I’m happy with that. But I’m not far away from winning the event.
“Anyone that’s in the quarters is close.”
