A bout of mononucleosis hampered his preparations for the last Australian Open and he lost in the semifinals to Djokovic. Federer lost momentum, and lost the French Open and Wimbledon finals to Nadal, who also won the Olympic singles gold medal.

Under pressure in the last grand slam event of the year, Federer beat Murray in straight sets in the final to win his fifth straight US Open.

He then struggled at the season-ending Masters Cup and Djokovic took that title - the only one of the last 15 majors not won by either Federer or Nadal.

"I know a lot of people are saying this seems like a tough generation right now with Murray, Djokovic, Rafa and everything," Federer said. "I don't think it's that much stronger than when I came about."

Before Federer's domination, Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick, Lleyton Hewitt, Marat Safin and Juan Carlos Ferrero were all winning grand slams.

"It just always seems like two years on and nobody talks about what happened two years ago," Federer said. "It's not just now that we have really four great players again. I think they were there before, but there were just different names."

Like Federer, Djokovic has a Monday start. He'll be third match on Rod Laver Arena against Italian Andrea Stoppini today.

Seventh-seeded Andy Roddick will open the tournament, playing Bjorn Rehnquist of Sweden. The 2003 US Open champion has been a semifinalist here three times and would have to beat Djokovic in the quarterfinals this time to make it that far.

(Agencies via Shanghai Daily January 19, 2009)