February Open date off the menu for realist Federer (News Feature)

By Bill Scott Jan 18, 2009, 8:19 GMT

Melbourne - Realistic Roger Federer is well aware that a jam-packed annual tennis calendar will almost certainly not allow the Australian Open to move from its traditional January date.

Despite voicing the opinion this week that the Open would be more pleasing to players were it slid a few weeks into February - more time for preparation - the Swiss knows that a such a move is just a dream.

'A lot has been said - the Australian Open has to be moved two weeks later - but that's not what was meant in any way,' he explained on Sunday.

'We were asked if we should change the Australian Open schedule, we always talk about calendar changes. It was taken out of context,' he said.

'What we said was in a perfect world it would be nicer to have a longer Australian swing, move around a little bit. But we don't live in a perfect world.'

Federer, as president of the ATP player council, is well aware of the inner workings of the game. The calendars of the ATP and WTA remain a delicate balancing act between the sanctioning bodies, the Grand Slams and the International Tennis Federation.

And timing of most events have been set in stone for years - if not decades.

Lleyton Hewitt came to the defence of the current date, pointing out that January is Aussie high summer, with kids out of school and plenty of free time in television programming line-ups.

'For an Australian, it (January) fits in so well with the school holidays and getting kids out there. For tennis in this country, that really helps.

'The young kids can come out and watch a lot of it, even on the back courts, get a good atmosphere out here.

'Sportswise there's not a lot on at this time of the year either, so it stands out, which is probably a good thing for our Grand Slam. It's a tough call obviously early in the year.

'A lot of overseas players have prepared well enough to win it in the past.

'But obviously there's a lot more to it than just worrying about the players for a couple weeks. The tournament has to worry about ticket sales, kids being around the place (ballkids), a whole lot of other things.'

Officials at the Open have put their foot down, saying the January date is fixed.

They are also reported to be ready to announces next weekend an investment by the Victorian state government for a multi-million-dollar upgrade of 20-year-old Melbourne Park to ward off any attempts by Asian countries or even hot rival Sydney to try and steal the event from its longtime home.

'It's really become a very, very prestigious Grand Slam to play and one of our favorites,' said Federer. 'It's basically the players' slam.'