MELBOURNE, Australia — Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray agree with Roger Federer that playing the Australian Open in February would make more sense.

"It is a very good option, I would love to have the first Grand Slam of the season a little bit later," Nadal said today, two days out from the start of the Australian Open.

"I can't talk for the rest of the players, but I think the feeling for everybody is the same: you start the season and after one week you are playing one of the most important tournaments of the season."

Federer said earlier this week that the Australian Open should be pushed back to reschedule the warmup tournaments to possibly include back-to-back events in the Middle East before an extended Australian swing.

Murray agreed, but said the period ahead of Wimbledon also needs adjusting.

"There's a few things with the calendar that I think all the players would like to see happen," Murray said. "I think having the Aussie Open a couple of weeks later ... would make sense.

"For me, likewise with the grass-court season. There's not too much time in between the French Open and Wimbledon either."

Organizers of the Australian Open, the first of the year's four majors, don't want to move the tournament back because the existing slot coincides with the national summer holidays.

___

CUTTING COSTS:@ Serena Williams loves to shop, often wears swank jewelry when she plays and has her own clothing line, often donning her own designs.

But even though she has more than $22 million in career earnings — and much more in endorsements — she's spending less now, due to worries about the global economic crisis.

"I really cut back," the second-seeded Williams, seeking her 10th Grand Slam singles title, said Saturday. "It's low tide for me. I'm not out there buying crazy things. My bag I'm carrying now is from American Apparel. It's only like $12.

"You know, you can't keep your money in the banks either, but I'm just trying to earn the little interest that I can."

Still, don't expect Serena to drop all the bling when she takes to the court at the Australian Open.

"It's never going to be too much toned down, but I'm not going out there just throwing my dollar bills everywhere," she said.

And for the fashion mavens out there, there are plenty of chances ahead for Serena to show off new designs.

Asked to describe her look for 2009, she replied: "I would describe it as daring patterns and chic."

___

SURFER WOMAN:@ Coming from landlocked Serbia, it's no surprise that Ana Ivanovic likes to surf while in Australia, taking advantage of some of the island continent's vast coastline.

She arrived Down Under in late December, and based herself on the subtropical Sunshine Coast north of Brisbane in Queensland state. While there, she often fitted some surfing in and around her training sessions.

Now that Ivanovic, who lost last year's Australian Open final to Maria Sharapova, is in Melbourne, the closest surf beach is about 90 minutes away.

"I would love to, maybe after the tournament," Ivanovic said Saturday.

One thing holding her back is concern over three shark attacks on Australia's east coast in the past 10 days.

"All these shark attacks got me a little bit scared," she said.