Six-time Australian Open champion Roger Federer will return to the land down under in January, taking part in a new exhibition in Melbourne.
The “Battle of the World No.1s” will be a part of the tournament’s inaugural opening ceremony, the day before main draw play kicks off. Former top-ranked icons Andre Agassi, Patrick Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt are pencilled in to join the 2026 International Tennis Hall of Fame inductee inside Rod Laver Arena for a highly anticipated night of tennis.
“I’ve been thinking it’s really cold here in Switzerland. I need to make a trip again and head back,“ Federer revealed on Instagram before rotating his video to complete the sentence with, “Down Under.”
“It feels like a lifetime ago that I coined the phrase the ‘Happy Slam’ for the Australian Open, and it still makes me smile when I think about all the moments I’ve had here” Federer said in a statement posted on the Australian Open’s website.
“I’ve experienced so many emotions on Rod Laver Arena … the joy of lifting ‘Norman’ six times, the honour of playing in front of Rod Laver himself, the challenge of competing against my biggest rivals, and always the overwhelming love and support of the Australian fans.”
Federer, now 44, famously captured his 19th and 20th major titles at the tournament in 2017 and 2018, at 35 and 36 years of age.
