Federer comfortable with gradual changes

Roger Federer's new alliance with Stefan Edberg appears to be a sign he will adopt a more aggressive game in 2014, but the Swiss believes it will be tough to make changes in time for this month's Australian Open.

Federer's decision to bring Swede Edberg in to work alongside head coach Severin Luethi, along with a switch to a bigger racket, illustrates an unwillingness to accept how the world's top pair of Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic have been pounding him into submission from the baseline.

The former world No 1 has praised Edberg, renowned as one of the best volleyers in history, for helping him create angles to get to the net. But the fast pace of the courts at Melbourne Park might make him less inclined to use that ploy.