I can learn a lot from Roger Federer, says Belinda Bencic

opened her Hopman Cup campaign in style defeating Great Britains Katie Boulter in straight sets, 6-2 7-6. Before that, had opened the tie with a 6-1 6-1 win over Cameron Norrie.

Bencic, who is playing the team competition event for the third year in a row, said: Its always great to be back in Perth and yeah of course, playing today I was little bit nervous as always. But Im so happy to be back and yeah it just feels very nice. Bencic dealt with a wrist injury in 2017 and also underwent surgery, but she is now satisfied with her physical condition: Im just really happy Im back being healthy.

I mean, its tough you know, to be back at this level, but Im taking it one step at a time and just improving my ranking. Bencic finally concluded whats the best piece of advice Federer has given her: Theres not one piece, there are many pieces.

For sure always these two weeks are great, you know, learning from the champion. I can take everything on the court and off the court and just learn a lot. Federer played in Brisbane in 2014 and 2015. Kei Nishikori is one of the main stars in the Queensland region, and ahead of the tournament in a press conference the Japanese said: I wanna win the tournament, this is my first tournament of new season, I wanna play as many good matches as possible here to gain confidence to prepare for Australian Open.

Ive had good practice for the last couple of days. Id like to get stronger to have more steady results (through the year) and also raise my ATP Rankings. I hope I can have good results at Grand Slams or Masters 1000 year. ALSO READ: Rafael Nadal: Worse players than David Ferrer won a Grand Slam title