Roger Federer attracts most attention at Australian Opens first formal opening ceremony
Federer, who has claimed the Australian Open men's single title six times in his esteemed career, partnered past champions Andre Agassi and then Ash Barty in an exhibition doubles match.
New Delhi: Ahead of the beginning of first Grand Slam of the season Australia Open, it was legendary Roger Federer who grabbed all the limelight on the eve of the season-opening major. At the Australian Open's first formal opening ceremony, Federer was invited to grace the occasion and as expected, the veteran tennis player stole the show.
In between a capacity crowd of almost 15000 seat stadium, there was a packed house, the band, playing a set of four hits and Federer, who was there to play an exhibition match, became the talk of the evening. Even Rod Laver, the great Australian player of Grand Slam fame, was in the house, sitting in the Rod Laver Arena which is the centre court at the Melbourne Park named in his honour but even he did get so much attention as received by the 20-time Grand Slam winner and one of the greatest players of all time in the modern era.
Federer, who has claimed the Australian Open men's single title six times in his esteemed career, partnered past champions Andre Agassi and then Ash Barty in an exhibition doubles match against Pat Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt as the main feature of the program.
Federer wins first point during exhibition match
During the game, it seemed that the Swiss ace never lost touch of the game as he won the first point despite framing a forehand and then emphatically finishing off the victory with a leaping overhead winner. It was not only Federer who grabbed the attention at the centre court but another member of the Big Three Novak Djokovic of Serbia was also present.
Djokovic, who has won as many as 10 Australian Open titles among his total record of 24 major championships was present and even shook hands with Federer as both the legends met after a long time. The Australian Open main draw singles competitions start Sunday. Djokovic plays his opening match on Monday.
Australian Open organizers turned the 2026 edition into a three-week festival of tennis, with 217,999 fans attending across six days to watch exhibitions, qualifying and the 1 Point Slam before the main draw started.