Ahead of next week's Australian Open, Roger Federer has proclaimed last year's final set against arch-rival and number one seed Rafael Nadal as the best tennis he has ever played.

Federer claimed his first grand slam in five years in Melbourne after prevailing 6-3 in the fifth set.

"It was an amazing final, an amazing moment for me in my life and it's great to be back here," he said, per Sky Sports.

"I had all these great five-setters and at the end the epic match against Rafa. The fifth set was maybe the best set I ever played.

"It was a huge surprise. It was the highlight of last year, beating Wimbledon and all the other tournaments I played.“

However, the Swiss star, 36, was cautious about predicting a repeat victory.

“Possibly, but this time we’re a long way away in the draw,” he added.

“So he’s (number) one, I’m (number) two so that means we have six matches to play (to meet in the final).

“So I don’t think both of us are thinking that far ahead but if it were to happen, of course, it could be happening again.

“Who knows?”

Nadal leads in their head-to-heads by 23 to 15, and in Grand Slams by nine to three. However, this is Melbourne and not Paris, where the Spaniard has reigned supreme, with honours shared over two Aussie finals.

Federer's four victories last year over his old foe also means he has won five matches in a row against Nadal for the first time in his career.

And whilst Nadal appears to be over the injury woes which forced him out of December's ATP finals, emerging from two exhibition matches pain-free, question marks remain over his match sharpness.

One man who might have been expected to have a major say in proceedings is Novak Djokovic, who holds the Open era record with six wins at Melbourne.

However, he comes into the tournament short of match practice, having barely competed since an elbow injury forced his retirement at Wimbledon in July. This and a tough draw has merited him a 14th seeding only.

“Roger, obviously, with the year he had is the favourite,” Djokovic said.

“Nadal, he’s No 1 in the world and made the finals last year - I don’t think I would be ahead of him as a favourite.

“Obviously I’ve had great results here in the past but I’ll take it more modestly and see how it goes.”

Since 2010, only Wawrinka and Cilic outside the quarter of Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray have emerged victorious in 28 finals.

But with Murray out until the summer, perhaps this will be the year of the newcomer. Grigor Dimitrov, a semi-finalist last year, and Alexander Zverev, yet to reach a Slam quarter-final, will be looking to enhance their records in the Majors having moved into the world’s top four rankings.