Federer

MELBOURNE, Australia — Roger Federer stayed up all night, drinking champagne with friends and returned to his hotel room as the sun rose to cap the celebration of his Australian Open victory by holding one of his baby girls in his arms.

Looking remarkably refreshed Monday after a couple of hours sleep, Federer said that winning his 16th Grand Slam title was different from the past 15. He's now married with 6-month-old twins and everything — including his tennis — feels more meaningful.

"I'm excited about life, and there is not only tennis," Federer said the day after defeating Andy Murray 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (11) to win his fifth Australian Open.

"Having kids and being a father now and being married enhances everything," he said, tanned and relaxed in jeans and a gray T-shirt. "I'm such a happy person today to see how well everything is working out for me. It just makes me extremely happy, extremely relaxed and it allows me to play good tennis, and I couldn't ask for more."

By Federer's own accounting he played some of the best tennis of his career in the past two weeks, particularly in the final against Murray, who dashed Britain's hopes of winning the first men's Grand Slam title since 1936.

And that was just the beginning of his night. Federer is a gifted and willing orator off the court and held more than two hours of news conferences in English, French and Swiss German, which lasted until 1:30 a.m. He then headed back to his hotel and was joined by an entourage of 30 or 40 people.

"We stayed at the hotel — had a nice DJ, bar, restaurant, it was a good atmosphere. It was nice," said the 28-year-old Swiss star, who is known for his discipline. "We went to have some drinks, have some dinner, celebrate the victory but more or less hang out."

Federer's drink of choice?

"Champagne, obviously."

He doesn't remember what time he went to bed.

"When's sunrise here? Six or 7 o'clock?"

One of the twins, Myla, was awake when he got back.

"That was nice," he said, smiling. "I quickly was able to see her, even though she's got obviously no clue what's happened."

Even after years as a champion, Federer says he remains energetic about tennis.