There were no such waterworks on Tuesday, just a few tense moments for the Swiss star seeking his 16th Grand Slam title in a 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (2), 6-0 first-round win over Igor Andreev of Russia.
Federer lost the first set after leading by a break, then saved three set points in the 12th game of third set before winning the tiebreaker and totally dominating the fourth set.
Story continues below ↓advertisement | your ad hereIt was a far cry from last year, when, with Rod Laver himself about to present the trophy, Federer shed tears after having missed his first chance to equal Pete Sampras' 14 Grand Slam titles - a feat he later achieved and then surpassed with wins at the French Open and Wimbledon.
"It's killing me .... maybe I'll try later," Federer said last January when he was not able to speak initially at the trophy presentations.
On Tuesday, Federer was all smiles at the courtside television interview with two-time Australian Open champion and now commentator Jim Courier, who reminded Federer that he had not lost a set in the first round of a major in more than six years - not since the 2003 French Open, the event before he won Wimbledon for his first Grand Slam title.
"I did know it was going to be tough, we played five sets in New York two years back and I really had to adjust my game to beat him," Federer said of Andreev. "I think I definitely got lucky to get out of that one. It was a fortunate third set today. I prefer easier matches, but this worked as well."
Third-seeded Novak Djokovic beat Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 in a night match. Djokovic won his first and only Grand Slam at the 2008 Australian Open, losing only one set during the two-week tournament and beat Roger Federer in the semifinals.
Hometown favorite Lleyton Hewitt, still trying to win his first Australian Open after losing in the 2005 final to Marat Safin, opened with a 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 win over qualifier Ricardo Hocevar of Brazil.
Back on the men's side, sixth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko, No. 9 Fernando Verdasco - who lost an epic five-set semifinal to Nadal here last year - No. 10 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, No. 12 Gael Monfils of France, No. 19 Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland and No. 21 Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic all advanced.
Americans James Blake and John Isner reached the second round, but No. 25 Sam Querrey lost to German veteran Rainer Schuettler. Blake had a 7-5, 7-5, 6-2 win over Frenchman Arnaud Clement, while Isner held off Andreas Seppi of Italy 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 5-7, 6-4.
Fabrice Santoro extended his Grand Slam career into a fourth decade, but he lasted only one match - a 7-5, 7-5, 6-3 loss to 14th-seeded Marin Cilic of Croatia.
The 37-year-old Frenchman, who started his Grand Slam career at the 1989 French Open, retired last season but returned to Melbourne Park for a record 70th major.
The rain that allowed only 26 of the scheduled 64 matches to be completed on the opening day gave way to sunny conditions Tuesday, allowing officials to clear up most of the backlog.
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