MELBOURNE : Roger Federer enjoys being the overwhelming favourite to win the Australian Open, saying he has the mental toughness to carry him through over the next fortnight.

The Swiss maestro is a clear favourite to capture his seventh Grand Slam crown in the year's first major getting underway here on Monday.

Federer is comfortable being the one to beat and bookmakers have him one of the shortest-priced favourites in years to win the Australian Open, following the injury withdrawals of World No. two Rafael Nadal, defending champion Marat Safin and eight-time Grand Slam champion Andre Agassi.

``I enjoy being the big favourite, not just the favourite but the big one,'' Federer said on Sunday.

``I always said, I prefer the situation to be the favourite than the contender, because I always feel the contender needs to do their work and all this, where the favourite can see what the other guys do.''

The supremely-confident Swiss said he has developed a mental toughness, which will make him impervious to the pressures from his rivals.

``I obviously have to make sure that I win my matches, but mentally I'm that tough that I don't have a problem with that,'' he said.

Undoubted stature

Federer's confidence is borne by his undoubted stature in men's tennis, although he observes that he is only ``halfway to the very best.''

Federer, with six major titles, is eight short of the record held by American great Pete Sampras, but such is his dominance of men's tennis that he is averaging two Grand Slams a year in his three years at the top.

``For this to always keep up, I've got to play extremely well,'' Federer said this week.

``Just `well' is not good enough for the record books, you've got to play incredibly well.

``I've broken records, I've equalled records, I've done great stuff in the past, but basically I'm still only halfway to the very best.

``Obviously, I've got years left in my career, and the last couple of years have been as good as anybody in the record books, but keeping it up is hard.''

Federer is preparing for his 27th Grand Slam campaign and will begin his tournament against Uzbekistan wild card Denis Istomin.

The Swiss perfectionist confessed to knowing nothing about Istomin following Friday's draw, but he's had some reports on him since then.

``He's got a double-handed backhand. Yeah, I know more than a couple days ago,'' Federer said.

``I have still two more days left. I'll find out if he plays from the baseline, too, maybe aggressive.

Dangerous opponents

``He played well in the futures and stuff. He obviously started to play on the big stages as his ranking was going up.

``Definitely, nobody to underestimate because we all know guys ranked outside of the top 150, 200, they are dangerous opponents.

``I beat (Carlos) Moya when I was 300 and he was number four in the world. Everything is possible.''

But Federer knows the odds are on his side over the next fortnight in one of the most physically demanding Grand Slam tournaments.

``Many of them are dangerous on the day, but over five sets, seven matches, it's just hard to keep it up,'' he said.

``Sometimes the fitness really comes into play, night session, day session, it's really hard to adapt. You got to be mentally very tough.''

Meanwhile, India's Sania Mirza will take on the reigning junior World champion Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in her first round.

The unseeded Azarenka — World No. 156 — is a familiar face for the Melbourne crowd after she won the Australian Open girls' championship last year winning both the singles and the doubles events.

If Sania gets past Azarenka, she will face the winner of 60th-ranked Michaella Krajicek (Netherlands) and 78th-ranked Kristina Brandi (Puerto Rico) match. — Agencies

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