The Perth team competition, which is a non-ATP event, has become Federer’s traditional season opener and he once again headed to Western Australia to prepare for his Australian Open defence.

And with his fellow so-called “Big Four” opponents all struggling for fitness, Federer showed he is 36 years young with a performance that lacked much of the ring-rust these early-season matches are often used to shake off.

The Swiss took little more than an hour to dispatch the world No 4 in front of more than 10,000 adoring fans in the Perth Arena, sealing his first win of the 2018 season before the calendar year of 2017 had even ended with a booming forehand return winner to secure his third break of the match and the win.

And Federer reflected afterwards on how different his own tactics are now at the age of 36 than they might have been even a year or two ago.

“I feel like the game has evolved again in the last 10 years or so," Federer said.

"I've made some adjustments to my game.

"I’m trying to hit through the backhand a bit more, maybe I’ve got a bit more pop on the serve and naturally the whole rally changes a bit because you have different options.

"I think I’m playing very well otherwise I wouldn’t be having the results that I’m having.

"I’m happy I’m still playing at this level.

"I was always hoping to play for a long time and I’m doing that."