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"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt; Roger Federer is set for his first appearance at the Brisbane International. (Greg Wood/AFP/Getty Images)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Roger Federer has confirmed that he will begin his 2014 season by making his first appearance at the Brisbane International.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The 17-time Grand Slam champion has not played an ATP-level tournament in Australia before the Australian Open since 2003, when he lost his opening match in Sydney. Since then, Federer has focused his preparation for the first major of the year in the Middle East or the\u00A0Kooyong\u00A0Classic exhibition in Melbourne.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Here's video from the tournament's announcement of Federer's commitment.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=by67ePkVrEA#at=28&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CFor some time we\u2019ve been in contact with Brisbane [International],\" Federer said in a news release. \"I saw how the tournament got stronger and stronger \u2026 and the connection with Pat Rafter, him having the arena named after him I think is great.\u00A0I\u2019ve always hoped that I could come there [to Brisbane] \u2026 so I am happy we are all able to make it work \u2026 I\u2019m not just coming there [to Australia] for the Australian Open, especially when I commit so early in advance; it\u2019s also to win in Brisbane.\"\nThe Brisbane International will run from Dec. 29, 2013, to Jan. 5, 2014. Andy Murray is the two-time defending champion. Murray announced after Wimbledon that he would start his Australian Open preparations at the Mubadala World Tennis Championships, an exhibition in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Novak Djokovic will also play the IMG-owned event, which is scheduled for Dec. 26-28. Federer played the event for three consecutive years before missing it last year after splitting with IMG.&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/tennis/beyond-baseline/2013/07/24/roger-federer-brisbane-international-2014-schedule>