By Sandra Harwitt

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates _ If Roger Federer is a man to be believed — and every indication is that he is one to tell the truth — than he wasn’t crushed at his third round Australian Open defeat to Andreas Seppi.

On Sunday at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, Federer revealed his reaction to going out early in Melbourne.

“It actually gave me more time off and I’ve got to be thankful to Seppi,” Federer said. “That night I celebrated with champagne with my team, thanking Seppi as I had got nine days extra off. That’s how I see it. You get some addional time for practice as well so that I can be hopeful of coming back stronger.

“That’s the goal I have after a loss like that. You don’t start questioning anything. You just find out ways how to bounce back as quick as possible. I have actually been playing quite well if you look at the results for the past six months or so.”

Federer, who spent his time off with the family at his Dubai digs, plays his first match since the Australian Open against Mikhail Youzhny of Russia at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship on Monday night.

It’s worth noting that Fed is the defending champion here and is in the hunt for a seventh career Dubai title this week. The oldest player in the draw this week, the 33-year-old Federer has prior success in winning seven titles at the same even – he’s already performed that feat at Wimbledon and Halle, Germany.