Unfortunately for Tennis Australia and his legion of adoring fans, Roger Federer will not be at Melbourne Park for this year’s Australian Open.
The recently retired tennis superstar, regarded by many as the greatest player of all time, is preferring to spend the early stages of his retirement at home.
During September’s Laver Cup, which doubled as his farewell event, Tennis Australia officials gauged his interest about returning to Australia in January in some capacity. “The welcome mat will always be rolled out for Roger,” a Tennis Australia official told the Herald and The Age.
Federer’s presence would have been a huge coup for Australian Open organisers, however, the Swiss star made it clear that he wasn’t going to be investing time into travelling to tournaments.
That hasn’t stopped Tennis Australia from hatching a plan to lure him down under in 2024. It will mark 20 years since Federer won the first of his six grand slam crowns on Rod Laver Arena, defeating Russia’s Marat Safin in straight sets.
Tennis Australia have grand plans to celebrate the 20-year anniversary of Federer’s memorable breakthrough triumph on Aussie soil.
Roger Federer won’t be on the plane to Australia this year.Credit:Getty
At least Ash Barty will be heading back to the scene of her Australian Open triumph last year. She has a range of appearances at Melbourne Park throughout the tournament.
As reported last week, Nine, the owners of this masthead, made enquiries with Barty’s manager to gauge whether the three-time grand slam champion would be interested in commentary work.
Unfortunately for viewers watching the grand slam from home, Barty isn’t quite ready for a life in the commentary box – at least for now.
Wildcard call
Tennis Australia officials have a tough decision to make in the coming days regarding the last male and female wildcard for the Australian Open.
Do they go with the ageing but always popular John Millman, whose ranking has dropped to No.147 and no longer has direct entry into the 128-person field?
Millman during last year’s Australian Open.Credit:Getty Images
Or do they hand it to someone younger and on the rise, like 26-year-old Aleksandar Vukic? We can guarantee you it won’t be Bernard Tomic. There’s no love lost there. He’ll have to go through qualifiers to get there.
There’s also one wildcard remaining in the women’s draw. Alexei Popyrin, Jason Kubler, Rinky Hijikata, Storm Hunter, Talia Gibson and Olivia Gadecki have already been awarded main-draw wildcards.
Tournament draw’s World Cup prediction
They weren’t to know it at the time, but the tiny balls drawn out of a pot for the United Cup groups proved to be a little prophetic when it came to the FIFA World Cup.
Amid much fanfare, the United Cup draw was held in Sydney back in early November. While most salivated over Australia’s pool which was to pit Rafael Nadal against Nick Kyrgios before the Australian withdrew from the event with an ankle injury, Group F being played in Perth had some eerie premonitions.
It contains soccer World Cup winners Argentina, runners-up France and beaten semi-finalists Croatia.
It’s doubtful Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe would have been watching the start of the $22 million event, but there was a little solace when France thumped Argentina 5-0 in their first United Cup tie without dropping a set in any of the five matches.
Coach Nadal
Despite Spain going down in their opening tie against Great Britain, there were plenty of onlookers impressed by how committed and dedicated Nadal was to supporting his teammates.
The most successful male player of all time was quite animated watching on from the Spain dugout, and his advice wasn’t lost on Paula Badosa.
“Well, he’s very into the matches. I really appreciate that,” Badosa said.
“He’s very supportive. He was really going, telling me ‘stay very aggressive’, especially with my forehand and with the serve.
“That was a little bit I was trying. As well I was a little bit tired, so I had to go more for the shots. He was just very supportive and saying that to me.”
Watch the United Cup live and free on the 9Network – Channel 9 and 9Gem. Every match will be available live on 9Now.
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