Melbourne - Roger Federer stepped up his preparation for the Australian Open as he claimed his eighth career victory over Carlos Moya 6-2, 6-3 on Wednesday's opening day at the AAMI Classic.
Joining Federer as a winner at the promotion-relegation event was Olympic doubles partner Stan Wawrinka, with the number 16 hammering off-form Marcos Baghdatis 6-2, 6-2.
Fernando Verdasco of Spain beat Croatian Marin Cilic 6-2, 7-5 while Chile's Fernando Gonzalez showed the bebefits of two and a half months off in a defeat of Croatian Ivan Ljubicic 6-4, 6-3.