At 33 years and eight months, the super-fit American expressed confidence that meticulous preparation would give him the edge over swashbuckling rivals like Andy Roddick, Roger Federer and Lleyton Hewitt at the season-opening grand slam.

"It's hard to sort of change something that isn't broken," Agassi, champion on his last three visits to Melbourne, said on Sunday.

"It's been an intense programme that has lived up to everything I expected it to be and every bit as good, if not better, than years before."

Agassi, whose punishing winter training regime is the stuff of legends, conceded that having two children now complicated his build-up "10-fold" but insisted he was as hungry as ever to add to his haul of eight grand slam titles.

"As you get older, you have to make adjustments...and listen to your body a little clearer," said the fourth seed, who plays Australian wildcard Todd Larkham in Monday's first round.

"But this is one of the big ones. This is one of the ones that you keep with you for the rest of your life."

Agassi became last year the first non-Australian man to win four Australian Open singles titles and his appetite for record-breaking has not diminished, despite losing to David Nalbandian in Kooyong International final on Saturday.

"I enjoy the hot conditions, the breezy conditions here," said Agassi, who dropped just one set during the whole tournament last year.

"It sort of all works together where I try to make somebody play a great match to beat me. That ultimately is the most you can hope for."