Federer says he can improve

World number one Roger Federer [Images] dismissed unseeded German Florian Mayer 6-1, 6-4, 6-0 in the second round of the Australian Open on Thursday and warned he is still fine-tuning his game despite an imperious display.

Widely tipped to win his second title in Melbourne this year, the Swiss top seed underlined his dominance by slamming an ace down the centre of the court to crush Mayer in just 72 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.

Federer is yet to drop a set in the tournament and produced another performance of power and precision, his backhand especially a constant threat to the outclassed Mayer.

But the Wimbledon and US Open champion said he still needs to work on some areas of his game if he is to improve on his semi-final appearance in Melbourne last year.

"I think I can definitely improve little things. I can maybe still improve my returning game, my serving, my volleying," Federer told reporters.

Even though he said he needs to work on his service return, the Swiss broke Mayer's serve six times in what amounted to little more than a workout.

Yet to drop a set in the tournament, Federer said he is happy to save energy in the early rounds of the tournament as Melbourne bakes in scorching summer temperatures.

"It might come down to this one match where you're going to be tangled up in the fifth set and you need some reserves," said Federer, who lost a draining five-set battle against eventual champion Marat Safin [Images] in the semi-finals last year.

"I definitely feel like, if I keep playing the way I am, not losing too much energy out on the court ... maybe it's going to pay back eventually."

"I prefer obviously always to win in straight sets. When I feel like I can, I'll try as hard as I can," he said.

Federer will play 30th seed Max Mirnyi of Belarus in the third round or Italy's [Images] Davide Sanguinetti.

Third seed Lleyton Hewitt [Images] of Australia, who was beaten by Safin in last year's final, is in the bottom half of Federer's side of the draw along with sixth seed Guillermo Coria of Argentina.

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