Federer talks Alcaraz-Sinner one of the most important points in my career’ on AO return

Swiss legend spoke to media Thursday at Melbourne Park

January 15, 2026

Even in a career as packed with highlights as Roger Federer’s, some moments still stand out.

The Swiss icon was a six-time champion at the Australian Open, where on Thursday he spoke to media ahead of his appearance at the opening ceremony of the 2026 edition of the hard-court major. Yet for a number of reasons, Federer identifies his fifth title in Melbourne as the one that stands out the most.

“I guess it has to be 2017 just because of the way it ended in the finals against Rafa.” recalled Federer, who was aged 35 and had not played a tour-level match for six months when he arrived at that year’s Australian Open. “It was surreal. I came here with no expectations... I was maybe going to be happy with the quarters. I think Seve [Luthi], my coach secretly, Ivan [Ljubicic], believing I could do it. I was like more, ‘Yeah, no, not at 17 in the world, not having played in 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.”

Federer overcame his great rival Rafael Nadal in a five-set championship-match thriller to cap his 2017 run at Melbourne Park. The match included a 26-shot rally, with Nadal serving at 3-4, deuce in the fifth set, which Federer claimed with a stunning forehand down the line. It was a shot that has lived long in the memory of tennis fans.

“I've seen it many, many times,” said Federer, who also won the Melbourne crown in 2004, 2006-07, 2010 and 2018. “All my friends send it to me. It's on the algorithm of people I know. It [keeps] on coming through. It's a nice point, maybe one of the most important ones I've had in my playing career. What a match, what a celebration, what a moment.”

A new Lexus ATP Head2Head rivalry that has etched itself into the tennis landscape in a similar manner to Federer vs. Nadal is the one between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. The pair has 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 triumphing.

“The rivalry with Alcaraz and Sinner is a great one,” said Federer. “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.

“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.”