The 2026 edition of the Australian Open commenced with an opening ceremony featuring some major tennis stars from the past gracing Rod Laver Arena once again.
A marquee doubles match featuring Australians Lleyton Hewitt and Pat Rafter versus Roger Federer and Andre Agassi/Ash Barty followed the opening act of iconic band Crowded House.
Entertainment
The match was geared more towards entertainment rather than a competitive event.
Each of the players were mic’d up and there were many very funny comments exchanged between the players during the match.
Post match, Jim Courier interviewed all the players, and he was able to extract many nuggets of gold.
Roger Federer admitted that he was over the moon to be back in Melbourne once again after a break of many years.
“It was beautiful. It was fantastic and, couldn’t be any happier.
“And just being back, here in Melbourne and, you know, with my friends and rivals and, just legends, sharing the court is always a thrill.
“I’m a big, historian of the game. I’ve always looked back. And who has paved the way for us.
“So, this is a beautiful moment and celebration for tennis. And obviously looking forward to the Australian Open.
“This is what we’re here for. And I’m very excited myself as a fan that it starts tomorrow.
“And my opponent from six years ago (Novak Djokovic) even came to check me out.”
Fan question
Courier then asked Federer a question from a fan.
“It comes from our friend Patrick from Broken Head in New South Wales.
“So, Patrick these are not my words. These are his. He seems to be a big fan of yours.
“He said ‘you could have been the king of Australia. Why didn’t your family come and live in Australia? Instead of picking Switzerland?’”
Federer described how his dad almost accepted a job offer in Australia when Federer was a teenager.
“He had a job offer when I was about 13 years old, here to come in to Australia. And he, they were debating heavily at home.
“I remember. And then after several weeks or months, maybe they told us, we’re staying in Switzerland, we have our friends here, and, you know, everything’s okay over here.
“And I’m like, really? And I started crying. No joke. I could have been like, maybe an Aussie, you know, but, so close, so close.”
‘Tough to beat’
Hewitt was asked about his contests with Roger Federer when Federer first broke onto the tennis scene.
“Roger was so tough to beat out here. Especially in night conditions.
“You know, it suited his game perfectly. But the biggest thing for me was, you know, after he won that first Wimbledon and really opened it up for him, and I think he learned how his game style was going to be as well.”
Hewitt was honest about how dominant Federer was over him.
“He gave me some pretty bad beatings there for quite a while.
“I was able to have the numbers the first 6 or 7 times we played, and then I lost count. I don’t know what it was in the end, but Roger, you probably do know, but it was a lot.
“And yeah, he had a completely different game style to pretty much everyone on tour at that time as well.
“And the way that he was able to change pace, use the short, sliced backhand, his accuracy on serve, especially on big points, was second to none.”
Different skills
Courier had an interesting question for Ash Barty.
“It was great to see you mixing it up out here with these legends of the game who have lots of different skills in different areas.
“If you could take one shot from any one of these guys and have added it to your game back in the day, what would have been.”
Barty then wanted to take a shot from each of the other four players present.
“Pat, I’ll have to take your volleys. Naturally.
“I’ll take Andre’s forehand return. Maybe backhand return too.
“Lleyton I wouldn’t mind your speed around the court.
“And then Roger I’ll take everything else.”
Pat Rafter had a record of three wins and no losses against Federer during his career.
Early memories
Rafter was very open – and humorous – about his early memories of matched versus the Swiss legend.
“I think it was the first tennis racquet you ever picked up.
“He hadn’t picked up a racquet before, and they gave him a wild card to the French Open.
“This little kid who is 17 and Lleyton comes up to me. Guys, this guy’s actually pretty good. Be careful, I said. I’ll be right. No worries.
“And yeah, I lose the first set. And I went, I can’t swear. I’m sorry, but I was pretty upset.
“And I said a few things under my breath, and then I got into his face a little bit, and he just went to water.
“It was so fun because. It was the only weakness the guy had. I mean, he was soft, you know, back then.
“And it was like he’d have a little sook in the corner, and I thought, you know, beauty. And I got into his face and won that.
“And then he just showed far too much respect for everyone. He was just a great guy on the tour. And we loved hanging around him.
“He’d hang out with the Aussies a bit and we would show him some Aussie drinking games.
“I don’t think he came back after that and then. And then. Yeah. And then played him a couple more times, but he still showed too much respect.
“And then you could see him starting to come out.
“And then I left the game.”
Dave Marshall is reporting exclusively from the 2026 Australian Open in Melbourne for The South African.
