Australian Open 2014 draw

Roger endured a tough year in 2013, winning just one title in Halle, with his most notable defeat coming just a week later at Wimbledon, where he fell to Sergey Stakhovsky in Round 2.

It's a new year, a fresh tennis season, and the draw for the Australian Open was conducted this morning.

Here is the top half of the draw, where Roger is located:

I'm not even going to bother analysing anything beyond the 1st round, though a re-match against Stakhovsky would be welcome in the 3rd round should results pan out accordingly.

Federer's first match is against Australia's unheralded James Duckworth, but the pick of the round will obviously be Nadal vs Tomic in a night session on the Rod Laver arena.

Federer beats Tomic; records 250th major win

Roger Federer beat Australia's Bernard Tomic in straight sets in Melbourne, 6/4 7/6 6/1. In the process, he became the first man ever to win 250 matches at major tournaments.

Federer's class shone through, despite a valiant effort from young Tomic in the 2nd set, where Federer rallied from 4-1 down in the tiebreaker, to take it 7-5.

The tiebreaker really knocked the stuffing out of Tomic and Federer breezed through the third set to wrap up his 3rd consecutive straight sets win at Melbourne this year.

Up next in round 4 is the dangerous Milos Raonic. Federer's last couple of meetings with the Canadian have been extremely close affairs, with the Swiss coming out on top. We may see a couple of tiebreakers in this one, but I feel confident that Federer will make it to the quarters.

I was particularly impressed with Federer's backhand against Tomic. It looked solid all the way through, and I barely remember a single error from the backhand wing.

It's a joy watching Roger play, but especially when he has that winning look in his eye . . .

GO ROGER!!!