AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 15, 2026

Roger Federer

Press Conference

An interview with:

ROGER FEDERER

THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon. Welcome, Roger. It is fantastic to have you back here at Melbourne Park. It's a case of hello-goodbye in a way. Coming back here, we didn't get that chance to say goodbye to you.

Coming back in today, seeing the venue, talk us through what was going through your mind.

ROGER FEDERER: A little nervous, to be honest. Haven't done this whole press conference thing anymore. Then especially being around qualifying week, first round is always the peak of everybody's here.

You run into everybody at once. I was a little bit not worried, but you just don't have enough time. You kind of are always jumping around between one and the other, then at the same time seeing the new venue.

I've definitely not been into this room. This is nice to see. It's just good to see the upgrades I think for everyone here. AO has always been strong investing back into facilities, making the players happy, also the fans.

I haven't been outside. I hear there's a lot of new things going on on the outside, which is great. Just love being back here.

It's true, I never actually did a hello-farewell -goodbye. All of a sudden it was all over. I have great memories of just being here. It's been an incredible tournament for me and one of my favorite places to play tennis.

THE MODERATOR: One of the things you're known for is coming up the phrase 'Happy Slam'. Tell us why it was so happy. Other than winning it so many times, what was the point of difference at that point in your career to what was happening in the rest of the tennis landscape?

ROGER FEDERER: The question is?

Q. The 'Happy Slam', coming up with that phrase.

ROGER FEDERER: I don't know. For me it just felt like a very normal thing to say because a lot of players, they're happy to escape the European winter. Finally you're happy to maybe see the other players again, because the year is long. It's like, Okay, I'll see you down the road next week or in a few days, whereas in Australia, you can catch up on how was Christmas, New Year's, what have you been up to.

It just feels very happy. The weather is good over here. People are incredibly excited and pumped up about the Australian Open. We the players can feel that. I just think the vibe is incredibly happy.

Nobody is kind of exhausted and tired. Maybe because of the travels, but that's for two, three days, then it goes away. I just call it the Happy Slam. It stuck. I'm happy that's still the case. I think all the players are super happy to be here.

THE MODERATOR: Let's talk about the six titles. That's a lot to have a favorite memory, but do you have one of coming back and winning?

ROGER FEDERER: I guess it has to be '17 just because of the way it ended in the finals against Rafa. Yeah, it was surreal. I came here with no expectations. I just talked about it in one of the interviews I did before. I was maybe going to be happy with the quarters.

I think Seve, my coach secretly, Ivan, believing I could do it. I was like more, Yeah, no, not at 17 in the world, not having played six months, all that.

I played really well at the Hopman Cup. Came here feeling good. Still I knew I had a tough draw, had to go through some big guys to get anywhere close to winning.

I think just the way the finals played out kind of makes it maybe one of the best special ones I've ever had in my career.

THE MODERATOR: Do you remember that point, 4-3, deuce?

ROGER FEDERER: Of course. I've seen it many, many times. All my friends send it to me. It's on the algorithm of people I know. It comes on coming through.

It's a nice point, maybe one of the most important ones I've had in play career. Yeah, what a match, what a celebration, what a moment.

THE MODERATOR: It's a nice segue for me. Innovation is something that the Australian Open has been known for.

ROGER FEDERER: Yes.

THE MODERATOR: Did you keep your eyes across what happened last night in the One-Point Slam?

ROGER FEDERER: I didn't see it live unfortunately because I was at dinner and everything. I watched actually highlights.

I came back and some people asked me, Did you see it?

I was like, No, I haven't seen it yet.

I went on YouTube, started checking everything out. Took about half an hour to look at all the highlights, who double-faulted...

Anyway, it was hilarious. I played the one-point tournaments myself at charity events and also exhibitions or weddings of friends and stuff like that we've done it.

I've lost some obviously. I like how everybody gets incredibly tight. It was good to see everybody feeling that way as well yesterday.

THE MODERATOR: You've come out for the opening ceremony, a new event that hasn't been done at any Grand Slam before. That's going on Saturday night. It must be nice to come back and relax but be able to really say goodbye. That's what that event is in a way for you about, that moment that you didn't get here, but also to open the tournament. Tell us about how you feel.

ROGER FEDERER: I mean, I feel good to rip the Band-Aid off, show up on a big court like here at Rod Laver Arena, get out there. It's too easy and too convenient just to stay home and say, I don't need to do it.

I'm nervous, I'm excited, I'm happy I'm here. I'm happy there's a moment for the crowd, for me personally, but also being on the court with Lleyton that I shared so much with, Pat that I always loved playing against, even though I never beat him. I always loved Pat. He was one of my favorite players. Then Andre, I was fortunate enough to play against him maybe 10 times or so. Just being together with those guys is going to make me feel better, as well.

Just ran into it Rocket again. It's nice to see legends like him being here, knowing that that's also going to be the week, not just the match on its own, plus what is going to happen before or after, everything that goes into it.

That's why I said, Kiddies, you have to come along. My parents are also here. We made it a big nostalgia trip. I'm happy we did that trip.

THE MODERATOR: Do you really appreciate what you have achieved in your career now that it's no longer on the court?

ROGER FEDERER: Not a whole lot, to be honest. I don't carry that with me through my life. But of course it gets triggered by a lot of questions like what you're asking me right now or when I do interviews. I don't do many interviews anymore. I don't get triggered very often anymore about what has happened and what is going on.

It's nice to go back into the memory bank and realize how much there has been. My memories are very - how do you say - very content.

Again, also I say if I would have won half of what I've done, I'd be equally proud sitting here because I achieved way more than I ever thought I would. The run, the time that I've had, it what stands out to me. It's been so much fun.

It's been great. Loved it with family, without family. Mirka throughout, my parents throughout. It's been terrific. Yeah, it's been a dream truly.

THE MODERATOR: You sit back at home. I know you keep your eye on the results and everything.

ROGER FEDERER: Try to. It's a lot of matches.

THE MODERATOR: Let's talk about the rivalries you had to what we're watching today with Sinner-Alcaraz, what you might think is going to play out here at this Australian Open.

ROGER FEDERER: That's I think why we're here. We're here to see what happens. What we know about sports, anything can happen.

Yeah, there's favorites obviously, but still now that the draw is out, I think every player shifts their view to that one player and nothing else almost. You enter the zone of the next three, four, five days, however long you have before that first round. Starts mattering clearly.

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. 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 practiced with those guys a little bit. They're incredible ball strikers. There's obviously more to come. I just hope they stay injury-free obviously.

THE MODERATOR: Yourself, in trying to complete all four majors, had Roland Garros as the difficult one. The longer you have to wait to do that, more pressure builds. How do you see Carlos here trying to do that at the AO?

ROGER FEDERER: You shouldn't be asking those questions. You know how it is. He knows about it. It's like Rory going for the Masters. Those things are tough.

At the end of the day, like I say, the momentum shifts after first round. Then it's point-for-point mentality. But it's true, in order to complete the career Grand Slam already now would be crazy. So let's see if he is able to do 'crazy' this week. I hope he does because for the game, again, that would be an unbelievable, special moment.

He has another hundred and whatever players that say, We don't agree with those plans. They might try to stop him.

THE MODERATOR: We'll open it up to some questions from the floor.

Q. Now that you are on the other side of the fence, what do you notice about the Australian Open that you couldn't see before?

ROGER FEDERER: I've just arrived, so...

Look, I think I was aware of how much - how do you say - work goes in it on the outside. Through the perspective of the Laver Cup, that we won together with Tony, I'm very involved. When you come to sort of more of the tournament organizer side, you realize the details that the AO has to go through to accommodate all the media, all the players, all the sponsors, the fans, tournament schedule.

I was just in the tournament office. Do you have any requests for your match? Draw comes out and players and agents, everybody, storms the office, Can my player play then, this and that. We've all had it before.

You need thick skin to go through three weeks of an Australian Open. Then you hope for the weather to be good. You hope the ballkids and the lines-people - I know there's not lines-people anymore - but they all have a good time. Yeah, there's a lot that goes into it.

I think also on the innovative side, I like what the AO has always tried to do. I feel like the AO has always tried to stay close to the players. That still is the case I feel like.

Obviously I've been gone a little bit away from the game three, five years now, ever since I've been here. It's hard for me to say more exactly about that.

Q. As somebody who has been part of a couple of incredible rivalries yourself, now witnessing a new one with Carlos and Jannik, your vantage points at Laver Cup, watching generally, do you find sometimes that you end up assessing their games from your vantage point as what it would have been like to play against them? What do you see when you're looking at them?

ROGER FEDERER: At Wimbledon when Grigor was playing against Jannik, I was sitting there, and that made it easy to think how it could have been because Grigor plays very similar to how I played. That I think was one of the first times I thought how would it have been to play Jannik in a match situation.

When I saw Jannik play against Novak in Shanghai, I didn't feel that way. I was just watching great tennis. They both play very different to how I play.

When I see Carlos, I feel like there's more similarities in terms of what we would do in terms of when we would hit a dropshot, when we would come to the net, how passive, offensive we decide to play. I think we like to play on our own terms. I think I put myself more into Carlos' mindset and skin when I watch him.

With Sinner, at one time I thought like, okay, now I understand how I would play against Jannik.

Other than that, I'm very happy. I love watching tennis just as a fan. That's always been the case, even when I was still on tour, unless it was my next-round opponent. I would kind of try to suss out some strengths and weaknesses.

If I would go out and watch Rafa play against a second-round opponent, I would just enjoy the match. I think it's important to also just be the fan and not always just the competitor. Today I'm relaxed. I'm really, really removed of everything.

But sometimes it's happened like that.

Q. What is special about Joao Fonseca? Do you think he could be potentially that third guy between the rivalry between Carlos and Jannik?

ROGER FEDERER: You don't want to be the third guy. You want to be the guy (smiling). For anybody... I would think hopefully that's what he's thinking. Of course, you don't want to get carried away and think too far ahead. Like in our time when people say, I'm going to try to win the Australian Open.

There are all the other legends in the room. Sometimes I think the media didn't allow them to speak up. I think anybody from the draw could come here and say, I want to win the Australian Open. It should be totally the same for Joao. I hope he has that mindset.

I think what separates him from a lot of the other guys in the draw are his power, forehand, backhand, serve, what he's able to bring point for point. He's exciting. He has a good aura. I feel like he's a very likable character as well. I like watching him play. I briefly met him at the Laver Cup. I saw him also courtside and also from the back. It was impressive to see.

I just think he's more a little bit like me in the sense he needs a little bit more time to work on his game. Similar to Jannik, as well, to know when to dial back and when to unload his shots. Once he figures that out, obviously the sky's the limit. But obviously I think he's truly one of the guys that can compete for the biggest wins.

Q. Would you coach?

ROGER FEDERER: Would I coach? Never say never. Edberg said the same. I'm very busy. Yeah, I got four children. No chance for the moment (smiling).

Q. Has being away from the game been tougher than you thought it could be or easier?

ROGER FEDERER: Much easier. I mean, I think it's also just the way my end unfolded with injuries, playing less and less and less. I got a sense of how it maybe is going to be, how is it going to be at home, how is it going to be without any matches, any practice sessions, is that going to feed the next tournament, so forth.

I think I was kind of super ready for retirement. So when it happened, it was more just a relief for me to not having to wonder when I'm going to retire, how am I going to retire, how is it going to feel.

Actually, I don't have to play along with the media, not tell lies, How do you feel?

I feel great.

Oh my God, I feel terrible.

My parents calling me and saying, When are you going to announce it? Your godfather is asking me how you feel. I know how you feel. Can I tell him. It might like. I'm like, Geez.

These things, you're just happy when it's all sorted out. Life has been great, to be honest. I've been getting used to retirement. In the first six months, nine months, because we still had a lot of plans that were still there because I didn't know I was going to retire in that particular moment at the Laver Cup sort of three months earlier.

I think especially two years now I feel like I'm very much in control of my schedule. Having a great time with the children, with Mirka. We're loving it. It's been great fun.

Q. The end of last year we saw that Serena Williams has added herself to the drug testing register. She's inviting those 6 a.m. doping calls again.

ROGER FEDERER: Those are fun, I can tell you. You can make still it at 5 p.m. They can still come up at 6 a.m.

Q. What are your thoughts about her coming back again, singles or doubles, in her mid 40s?

ROGER FEDERER: I heard she entered the doping program. Then I heard she's not coming back.

Q. We wonder why she would put her name down for those calls if she wasn't thinking about it.

ROGER FEDERER: Miss those things, you know. So much fun to always think about (smiling). That's one of the big things I was happy to retire at the end, not to have that in my mind.

For the game, it would be incredible. Serena is such a legend to come back. Also the stories as a mom, with Belinda. It resonates with everyone in the room.

If she decides not to do it, I would maybe give herself an option. It's great to have options in life, in my opinion. Let's see what she does and wait for an announcement or not. Then we'll see.

THE MODERATOR: All right. Take you back to the circle as we close with the final question. Are you spending much time on court these days? What form should we expect when we see you out there on Saturday night?

ROGER FEDERER: I think I'm playing more Pat Rafter from what I just heard this week (laughter).

Look, my kids play better and better and more and more. I go on the court a lot with them. From time to time yeah, I book a court and I go play some.

It's hard. It's hard to make it a priority in the schedule when you have four children and so many other things going on. I'm happy I'm super still active, busy, doing loads of sports. Tennis is part of that.

I feel like I hold the racquet a lot. Do I train a lot myself? No, not at all. I still feel like I play quite a lot of tennis. That's why I haven't played singles yet, because I haven't done enough of it. So doubles, Pat probably feels the same way.

THE MODERATOR: I'm sure you're going to find the center of the racquet. It's fantastic to have you back here in Melbourne. We appreciate the time today. We look forward to seeing you back on Rod Laver Arena.

ROGER FEDERER: Thank you, guys. Nice to see you all.