It has been five months now, but somehow it still does not seem right: "World No.2 Roger Federer". "Roger Federer, the second seed". Nope, it just doesn't sound right.
It clearly does not sit well with Mr F, either, as he seems unusually grumpy this week. When someone dared to home in on a throw-away line the Swiss used to compare himself to Marat Safin – Federer pointed out that they were both former world No.1s – the room temperature dropped dramatically.
"Still seems a bit strange when you said "former champion like me"," the intrepid journalist offered.
"Former No.1, I said," Federer replied coldly.
Ignoring the warning signs and risking life, limb and notebook, our inquisitor went on. "Former No.1," he said, correcting his earlier error. "Does that seem a little bit strange?"
Federer, still smarting from the perceived slight, would not let it go. "For both of us," he explained carefully as an alpine chill descended on the room. "I didn't say former champion. I said former Grand Slam champion and former No.1."
"I misspoke," our journalist friend said, apologetically.
"Exactly," said Federer, putting everyone in their place.
So, best not to mention rankings to Mr Federer, then. Or Grand Slam titles. Or favourites for the title here. Finance, politics and religion would seem to be much safer options should the Swiss drop by for a chat over a cup of tea.
Federer's mood did seem a little strange given the ease with which he had just disposed of Evgeny Korolev. It took just 87 minutes for the Swiss to advance to the third round, and he barely broke into a glow, much less a sweat, as he brushed the Russian aside 6-2 6-3 6-1. Federer, though, has bigger fish to fry than Korolev, and he is desperate to regain his position at the top of the rankings ladder.
"I was a very proud man for a long time and still today about the record," Federer said with a slightly wistful air as he looked back on his 237 weeks as the world No.1. "Today Rafa deserves it because he's hung in there for a long time. He could have lost his No. 2 position for a long time against Djokovic, so he deserves it. It's fine."
Just as Rafael Nadal has changed his look now that is the king of the hill – he has gone for the more grown-up look with proper shorts and shirts with sleeves – so Federer abandoned his ponytail when he took over the top spot. Trimming his locks with every major title won, the Swiss was in serious danger of going bald as he mopped up the silverware around the globe.
This year he has come to Melbourne with a very serious short-back-and-sides (he still wears the sponsored headband, but that is probably more to do with nice marketing men at Nike than it is to do with tonsorial necessity). Federer obviously means business here.
After the disappointment of last year when a bout of glandular fever wrecked his winter training and left him running out of puff in the semifinals against Djokovic, Federer wants to set the record straight. Djokovic and Nadal ran away with all that he held dear last year until he was able to restore a little order by winning the US Open. This year, he wants to set the pace at the start of the season and let the youngsters eat his dust for a while.
"I love playing here," he said. "I'm always very successful. I've reached semifinals or better the last few times, so it has always been very good for me here and I'm still coming off winning the US Open last year, so I hope I can carry that form over to the next Grand Slam.
"I feel like I'm fit enough, motivated enough, experienced enough that I can win many more slams. The question is how many this year."
Marat Safin will be the next to experience the full force of Federer's ire when the two meet on Friday. Federer knows the Russian of old, but that will count for nothing as the Swiss plots his route to the final – and to start his quest to claim the top spot in the rankings that he clearly holds so dear.
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