Australian Open 2012 live stream

Federer kicks off his quest for his seventeenth Grand Slam title at the 2011 Aussie Open. Federer has four Australian Open crowns to his name and twelve months ago he silenced the critics who had been writing him off as finished over the off season, triumphing in memorable fashion with a straight sets win over Andy Murray in the final.

Federer has looked relaxed, confident and in brilliant form since linking up with Paul Annacone back in the autumn. He picked up the Doha title last week without even dropping a set and he will be pretty hard to stop over the next fortnight. His draw looks pretty favourable (though Sydney champion Gilles Simon could be a handful in round two) and with his favourite whipping boy Andy Roddick projected to meet him in the quarters, he can be very pleased with how it's worked out.

Lacko has plenty of talent and the young Slovak is a fine shot-maker. However he is still very raw and his shot selection and mental toughness in the big matches have held him back. He showcased his potential with his performance against Rafael Nadal in Qatar at the start of the year, actually bagelling the world number one before falling in three sets. 

However over best of five sets, Federer should have few problems and it will be a big surprise if he is pushed to four. The first week is all about getting through and expending as little energy as possible for the big name players so Federer will be keen to get it done and dusted as quickly as possible particularly as this match is in the heat of the daytime session.