Federer turns to Annacone

Roger Federer hopes to recover his form by employing Paul Annacone as coach.

The former world number one, who has slipped to down to three in the rankings following poor performances (by his standards) at the French and Wimbledon, said on his website:

"I've been looking to add someone to my team and I've decided to spend some days with Paul Annacone. As Paul winds down his responsibilities working for the Lawn Tennis Association, we will explore our relationship through this test period. Paul will work alongside my existing team and I am excited to learn from his experiences."

Federer, the owner of a record 16 Grand Slam titles, has only won one title this year at the Australian Open, and has not had a full time coach since he parted company with Peter Lundgren in 2003. Since then he has received part-time coaching from Tony Roche and Jose Higueras, and last year, undertook a trial period with Darren Cahill which didn't prove successful.

In the interim the Swiss Davis Cup captain Severin Luthi has attempted to fill the void with Pierre Paganini, his fitness coach.

Now it is up to the 47-year-old Annacone, the former coach of Pete Sampras and more recently Tim Henman, to see whether the two can gell and revive the once dominant career of Federer.