Roger Federer’s new part-time coach, Tony Roche, was a great tennis player in his day, though hardly dominant. In a superb career that stretched from the mid 1960s to 1980, the 59-year-old Australian icon won 15 titles, including one in Grand Slam singles and eight in doubles. In three other Grand Slam singles finals, Roche had his clock cleaned twice by Rod Laver and fell with relative ease to Ken Rosewall.

The slam Roche did win, in 1966, was the French Open, the only jewel that the 23-year-old Federer has yet to claim for himself. Roche has agreed to work with Federer for about three months this year, with two goals in mind: an improbable victory in France and the impossible sweep of four Grand Slams in a calendar year. If successful, the Swiss superstar would be the first man in 36 years to accomplish what Rod Laver did in 1962 and 1969.

Federer’s quest began this morning at the Australian Open in Melbourne, where he scored a 6-1, 6-1, 6-2 first-round victory over Fabrice Santoro. He’s the prohibitive favorite and defending champion, and he proved to be in top shape this month by winning his first tournament of the season in Qatar.

Federer took three out of four Grand Slams last year and won 11 titles altogether. He’s undefeated in his last 14 tournament finals, a tour record. His match record for 2004, during which he had no coach, was 74-6. With Roche at his side, Federer said he feels more confident than ever, a frightening thought for the rest of the field.

Roche is unrivaled as a coach. He helped former world no. 1 Ivan Lendl win eight Grand Slam titles. He took Pat Rafter to the top of the rankings, too, winning two U.S. Open singles titles along the way. He is revered in Australia for his commitment to the country’s Davis Cup team and the development of its young stars, including Lleyton Hewitt and Mark Philippoussis.

In Federer, Roche has his greatest talent yet, a player with speed, power, grace, touch, and most every shot in the book. Roche recently suggested that he would devise a fairly simple clay-court strategy for Federer: Rally patiently and then move into the net for a winning volley. Considering Tim Henman’s success at the net in Paris last year, Federer will have a chance, even among a growing field of fleet-footed clay-court specialists.

In the meantime, Federer faces a fairly easy path to the semifinals in Australia. He’ll likely meet Thailand’s Paradorn Scrichaphan in the third round and either Joachim Johansson, the young Swede who bounced Andy Roddick from last year’s U.S. Open, or Andre Agassi in the quarterfinals.

Always fit, Agassi has been the king of this tournament, winning four times on a slow hard court that suits his strokes and in a climate that shows no mercy to players who arrive in less than perfect condition. But a recent hip injury, which Agassi has described as a tendon problem, has limited the 34-year-old’s movement, and caused him to drop out of a warm-up tournament last week. Agassi has said he will give the Australian a go, but he does not sound confident that his health will hold up.

Marat Safin, last year’s finalist, could meet Federer in a semifinal this year. Safin finished 2004 strong under the tutelage of Peter Lundgren, Federer’s former mentor, but one never knows what to expect from him. If he is to have a chance against Federer, he’ll have to win his early matches with less effort than he did last year, when he was spent before the finals even began.

In the other half of the draw, Andy Roddick will try to put a disappointing year behind him. Yes, Roddick is still ranked no. 2 in the world, but he failed to win a Grand Slam last year and last week lost to Federer for the fifth straight time in an exhibition match in Australia (he turned his ankle for good measure).

After the U.S. lost its Davis Cup final against Spain, Roddick fired coach Brad Gilbert, who helped him win his only Grand Slam at the 2003 U.S. Open. He is now working with Dean Goldfine, Todd Martin’s long-time coach.

Goldfine has said that he wants Roddick to take charge of points more frequently. It seems like an odd criticism for a player with such power, but it makes perfect sense considering how far behind the baseline Roddick often finds himself, both in rallies and on service returns. He needs to cut off his opponents’ angles and give them less time to recover from his own hard struck balls. This is especially important against Federer, who works his way around the court with unparalleled smoothness.

Roddick’s likely semifinal opponent, Lleyton Hewitt, is the favorite to meet Federer in the final, as he was at the U.S. Open. Hewitt won last week’s Sydney International tournament for the fourth time in his career and arrives in Melbourne at the top of his game. To beat Federer, he said, he has to keep from falling behind early.

“He’s been able to get off to flying starts against pretty much everyone,” Hewitt said.

The home fans would certainly like to see an Australian men’s champion, something that hasn’t happened in 29 years.

As for Roche, he will probably be pleased with the outcome either way if Hewitt and Federer do meet in the finals.