Traditionally, the first Grand Slam of the season has always been Nadal’s weakest.

The world No 2 has only won one of his 20 major tournaments in Melbourne – that coming in 2009.

Federer is still recovering from knee surgery so he will be absent from the event.

That gives Nadal and Novak Djokovic a great opportunity in the battle to go down as the greatest of all time.

But Nadal claims he is not spending any of his energy thinking about trying to surpass Federer.

“I did much more than what I ever dreamed in my tennis career,” Nadal said.

“It would be amazing for me to win one more. But I know that will not be the key for my happiness in the future. It’s not extra pressure and it’s not an obsession.

“I keep going, doing it my way. If it happens, fantastic, but if not, I’m more than happy about everything that happened to me.”

Federer set records many thought would never be broken but Nadal believes that has inspired him to become a greater player.

“To have somebody in front of you that’s doing a lot of things better than you, it gives you a clear way about what you need to improve to achieve your goals,” he added.

“I think we always had a good relationship, a lot of respect. We did beautiful things together and important things for our sport. We push each other to be better.”

Nadal and Federer have shared a brilliant relationship in recent years but the same cannot be said of Nadal and Djokovic.

The pair have often clashed and the latest came last week when Nadal criticised the Serbian because he sent a letter to Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley asking for improved quarantine conditions for players stuck in isolation.