Moving in the right direction: Federer

MELBOURNE, Jan 20, 2014, Reuters:,

Jan 20 2014, 23:23 ist
updated: Jan 20 2014, 23:24 ist

Swiss ace Roger Federer said that he was confident of taking on the bigger challenges that lay ahead of him after putting on an imperious show to overcome Jo Wilfried-Tsonga on Monday.

Federer put away Tsonga 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 to book a blockbuster quarterfinal with Wimbledon champion Andy Murray in the Australian Open.

The former world number one, coming off a wretched 2013, channelled the halcyon days of his new coach Stefan Edberg, swooping at the net to fell the stunned Frenchman at an electric Rod Laver Arena.

Having suffered early exits at Wimbledon and the US Open, Federer muscled into his 41st Grand Slam quarterfinal, equalling the record of American Jimmy Connors in the professional era.

Under the watchful eye of Edberg -- one of the game's finest serve-volleyers -- the Swiss master fittingly sealed the match with an imperious cross-court volley and declared the crisis of confidence that blighted last season banished.

"For me personally, I've overcome it, I don't have doubts any more," the 32-year-old told reporters.

"I know I'm going definitely in the right direction. I've had a great off-season. I had a strong end to the year. I couldn't have worked harder in the off-season. This was a big test for me.”

Wednesday's clash against fourth seed Murray will be a re-match of last year's semifinal in which the Briton won a thriller in five sets.

With eight-time Grand Slam champion Ivan Lendl in Murray's corner, both players will rack the brains of their 1980s legends turned super-coaches in a bid to find an edge."He did things his way back in the day," Federer said of six-time grand slam champion Edberg.

"I'm sure things were different back then. But still you can take so many things from his experience. I want to say maybe try out a few things that worked for him, try out a few things that he thinks would work out for me this time around. I feel like I can think ahead. I can think tactics. I can think many things out there ... I've overcome a lot in the last few months."