MELBOURNE: Veterans Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova head into the opening Grand Slam of 2015 next week as the form players, but there is a heady mix of youth and experience snapping at their heels.

Evergreen Swiss great Federer, 33, brought up a jaw-dropping 1,000th victory on Sunday by beating Canadian Milos Raonic to win the Brisbane International, laying down the Australian Open gauntlet to arch-rivals Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.

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