Ageless Federer sounds confident warning on eve of Open defence

Ageless Roger Federer said Sunday he was in a confident mood and warned his rivals he was "playing good tennis" as he aims for a third successive Australian Open title.

The Swiss master enjoyed a successful Hopman Cup warm-up in Perth and knows that at even the grand old age of 37 he has a great chance of a record seventh Melbourne crown and 21st major victory.

"I'm playing good tennis. I'm confident that I think it needs a good performance by my opponent probably to beat me," said the third seed, who opens his defence against Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin in Monday's night match on Rod Laver Arena.

A buoyant Federer revealed he had enjoyed a successful break coming into the 2019 season.

"Throughout my career, I've been very lucky that in the off-seasons I never had any setbacks," he told reporters at Melbourne Park.

"What I can say is the off-season was great for me. I think maybe it showed a little bit at the Hopman Cup already. Again, look, I'm playing tomorrow. We'll see how it's ...