Australian Open

Roger Federer has turned his thoughts to getting his 2009 season off to a flying start after beating James Blake in an exhibition match in Macau.

Satisfying endings, like beauty, are in the eyes of the beholder, even though tennis produces them on a week-to-week basis rather than a season-to-season one. Ours is the convenience store of sports; it's open all the time, even though the ATP and WTA championships are notional year-end playoffs.

The world's top players have backed Roger Federer to recover from the latest in a string of defeat's that has many claiming his career is in terminal decline.

With the ATP taking on a new look in 2009, many questions have come up.

From marketing changes, to revamped naming conventions of elite events, to stiffer penalties rendered, the tour is hoping for a more fan-friendly, healthier and streamlined structure. Here are 10 salient questions that will provide some clarity for the upcoming season.

1. How does the new tournament structure work?

By design, very simply:

Grand Slams (4): Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, U.S. Open

Novak Djokovic became the first Serbian to capture a Grand Slam singles title at the Australian Open in January, when he beat Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(2). He had clinched his second Tennis Masters Cup appearance in July.

At 20 years, 250 days, he was the fourth-youngest Australian Open winner in the Open Era and also the first first-time Grand Slam champion since Rafael Nadal won Roland Garros in June 2005.

In August, he secured Serbia a bronze medal in the singles competition at the Olympic Games in Beijing (d. Blake).

Novak Djokovic believes the main obstacle standing between him and the No. 1 ranking is physical strength.

While Rafael Nadal has been grinding down opponents on every surface this year with superior stamina, the third-ranked Djokovic said his own body has some catching up to do.

Organisers of the Australian Open have said they expect the tournament to remain in Melbourne despite an offer to move the Grand Slam event to Sydney when the current contract expires in 2016.
 
The Australian Open has become the centre of a tug of war between the country's two most populated states after New South Wales announced plans to poach the event from Victoria.
 

Australia is facing a tug of war over the site of the Australian Open after politicians in Sydney announced plans to build a multi-million dollar facility to attract the tournament.
 
The Australian Open, which is the year's first Grand Slam, is traditionally held in January each year in the Victorian state capital of Melbourne, which has the rights to host it until 2016.
 

 Juan Martin Del Potro withdrew from the Austrian Open on Thursday, suffering from an injury to his right toe.

The 20-year old from Argentina, who is seeded three, was due to play Germany's Philipp Kohlschrieber.

The injury has dealt a blow to his hopes of qualifying for the Masters Cup to be held next month in Shanghai, and comes during his first week ranked in the world's top 10.

The singles winners at next year's Australian Open will each take home 1.62 million dollars (1.11 million US), according to organisers, as they announced a 22 million dollar prize pool.
 
Tennis Australia said on Wednesday that the singles prizes had increased by more than 18 percent, from the 1.37 million dollars won in January by Novak Djokovic and Maria Sharapova.
 
Overall prize money had risen from 20.6 million dollars, they said.