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Per Australia’s Daily Herald, Roger Federer is considering a “radical change” in his usual Australian Open preparations:

Chasing a 16th grand slam title, the world No.1 is contemplating whether to again contest the AAMI Classic at Kooyong from January 13 to 16 or concentrate solely on practice sessions at Melbourne Park in the week leading up to the January 18-31 Australian Open.

Federer has traditionally used the Kooyong round-robin to hone his flawless game ahead of the first grand slam of the new season.

But his agent Tony Godsick insists Federer will not make a decision on Kooyong until after he contests the Capitala World Championships in Doha from December 31 to January 2.

If Federer opts to bypass Kooyong, which has another crack field headed by US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro, he will depart from a proven grand slam pathway.

Federer has won 37 of his past 40 matches at Melbourne Park, claiming three titles, appearing in this year’s final and losing twice in the semi-finals. The only time he has bypassed Kooyong during the past six years was in 2008 because of mononucleosis.

Will he or won’t he? And does it really matter?