Pics: Roger Federer preps

MELBOURNE, Australia – We’re not sure Roger Federer has been talked about enough in the leadup to this Australian Open.

He’s been exalted, and praised, and beatified to the point where you just want him to start playing tennis so we can all talk about forehands and backhands again.

As expected, Federer got a pre-Australian Open haircut after looking pretty shaggy at the Hopman Cup.

(Talking Fed Hair is a little different, right?)

So the coiffure is on point. The game looks just fine, too.

Here’s Federer practicing with young American Ernesto Escobedo Monday afternoon, in preparation for a first-round match against Aljaz Bedene of … Slovenia.

Until a couple of months ago, Bedene was from Great Britain. But he’s gone back to his original country in the hope of playing Davis Cup and the Olympics.

The Federer match is at 7 p.m. on Rod Laver Arena (3 a.m. EST Tuesday back in North America, midnight on the West Coast).