Lleyton Hewitt's famously competitive juices are flowing again as he attempts to go one step further at this year's Australian Open.

After an epic run, Hewitt lost the 2005 final to Marat Safin before contesting just nine more tournaments for the season as his priorities shifted from tennis to his new life as a husband and father.

But any doubts about the former world No.1's motivation for the season-opening grand slam were put to rest when Hewitt took his now customary swipe at Open officials for not aiding his cause and also revealed his desire to bring down Roger Federer.

Hewitt last year branded the Rebound Ace courts at Melbourne Park as slower than the clay at Roland Garros and he expressed his frustrations again about Tennis Australia not helping their own by preparing a faster surface to suit his game.

"It's disappointing when I feel like I've done a lot of right stuff, for tennis in Australia," he said.

"But there's no point whingeing about it. I've got to go out there and compete. This is my national title. I get goose bumps just walking out there on centre court. Doesn't matter what the surface is."

Hewitt, the tournament's third seed who opens his campaign on Tuesday against world No.57 Robin Vik of the Czech Republic, said he had improved significantly after battling a gastro virus last week in Sydney.

"I feel a lot better than I did last week," he said. "I feel pretty good on the court at the moment. I've been happy with the way I'm hitting the ball last couple of days.

"It's something that once the bell rings, I'll be ready to go on Tuesday."

The South Australian insisted he wasn't fazed when he landed in the same half of the draw as Federer, despite dropping his last nine matches against the brilliant Swiss. Rather, he is relishing the prospect of ousting the world No.1 in the semi-finals.

"I'm pretty used to it now. I've been on that half quite a bit," Hewitt said.

"It's like last year - I wasn't on the same side as Federer but I didn't have to worry about Federer as it turned out. I had seven very worthy opponents to try to win the tournament against.

"Roger's human. He's like anyone else and if I do get a crack at him, probably on the Friday night in the semi-finals in a week and a half's time, I'll be jumping out of my skin to play him in Australia again.

"You don't expect easy matches come semi-final time anyway, so it would probably be more satisfying to beat Roger."

Like Hewitt, Federer begins his quest for a seventh grand slam title on Tuesday, against Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin, leaving centre stage to American second seed Andy Roddick and fourth-seeded Argentine David Nalbandian.

Federer, the reigning US Open and Wimbledon champion, nominated Hewitt, Roddick and Nalbandian as his three biggest threats and doubted whether any other players in the 128-man draw had the ability to go the distance in Melbourne.

"They're all tough enough to play against. Many of them are dangerous on the day. But over five sets, seven matches, it's just hard to keep it up," he said.

"Sometimes the fitness really comes into play - night session, day session. It's really hard to adapt. You've got to be mentally very tough."

Nalbandian, who rallied from two sets down to nail Federer in the Masters Cup final in Shanghai two months ago, said he had recovered after withdrawing from last week's Kooyong Classic with a fever.

Nalbandian is the only player in the draw boasting a winning record over Federer, having trumped his fellow 23-year-old in six of their 10 clashes in the senior ranks.

"I hope to meet him because it is going to be in the final, so that's going to be great," the South American said.

"I always enjoy playing against him. I'm happy to be in the history books as beating him."

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