Roger Federer and Marat Safin, the last two Australian Open champions, will fine-tune their preparations for the opening grand slam of 2007 at the Kooyong Classic in Melbourne, Tennis Australia said on Tuesday.
World number one Federer and Russian Safin, who beat the Swiss at the semi-final stage en route to winning the 2005 Australian Open, head the line-up for the select eight-man field at the January 10-13 event.
Joining them will be defending champion Andy Roddick of the US, Argentina's David Nalbandian, Czech Radek Stepanek, Germany's Tommy Haas, Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic and British teenager Andy Murray.
A knee injury prevented Safin from defending his Australian Open crown in 2006 and the Russian, a former world number one who slipped to 104th in August, will be playing Down Under for the first time since defeating Lleyton Hewitt in the 2005 final.