Melbourne: Swiss tennis great Roger Federer returned to Melbourne Park ahead of the Australian Open and lavished praise on Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, hailing their rivalry as one of the most exciting storylines in modern tennis.
Federer, who announced his retirement in 2022, makes his appearance at the Melbourne Park ahead of the opening ceremony of the 2026 edition of the hard-court major, six years since the Swiss star played his final tournament.
The six-time Australian Open champion will be participating in the Grand Slam’s inaugural ceremony in a special ‘Battle of the World No. 1s’ game on January 17. He will play alongside fellow Olympic champion Andre Agassi, Australian duo Patrick Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt.
Federer arrived in Melbourne on Thursday morning and received a warm welcome from fans. The tennis icon later spoke about the Alcaraz and Sinner rivalry that has etched itself into the tennis landscape in a similar manner to Federer vs. Rafael Nadal.
The pair have won the past eight major singles titles between them and contested the final three Grand Slam title clashes of 2025, including a remarkable five-set battle at Roland Garros during which Alcaraz saved three championship points in the third set before going on to lift the title.
“The rivalry with Alcaraz and Sinner is a great one. They play incredible tennis. I think that French Open final was unreal. I think the game, not that it needed it, but it was great that we had it. I feel like for a second, for a moment, the world stood still in the sporting world and watched towards Paris what was going on in that epic fifth set because it could have ended much, much sooner, obviously, for Jannik,” Federer was quoted by ATP Tour.
“Then all of a sudden it ended up in this most crazy fashion. Maybe one of the greatest games we’ve ever had in our sport. It’s good we still live off that momentum. Then they backed it up by playing against each other in all those other finals. Everybody is trying to keep up, and they’re trying to pull away. What we’ve seen in terms of their progression in the last years, it’s been wonderful. I practised with those guys a little bit. They’re incredible ball strikers. There’s obviously more to come,” he added.
Sinner arrives at the Australian Open this year as the two-time defending champion. Meanwhile, world No. 1 Alcaraz has the chance to become the youngest man to complete the Career Grand Slam (winning all four major titles) if he can lift his maiden trophy at Melbourne Park.
(IANS)
