MELBOURNE, Australia — On his much belated farewell tour to the tournament he first described as the ''Happy Slam," Roger Federer has held court on contemporary tennis.
The 20-time major winner was as diplomatic as ever, of course. He said he wouldn't be the one to remind Carlos Alcaraz about how hard it is to complete a career Grand Slam when you've already got three of the four major titles.
He also wouldn't enter discussion on speculation that Serena Williams might be considering a comeback — a rumor the 23-time major winner has denied.
Federer won five U.S. Open titles, five at Wimbledon and three in Australia before he finally completed his career Grand Slam in 2009 with a victory at Roland Garros, where Rafael Nadal was dominant on the clay.
Top-ranked Alcaraz won the back-to-back Wimbledon titles in 2023 and ‘24, and two French titles in a row in 2024 and last year, and won the U.S. Open in 2022 and last year. He's never gone past the quarterfinals in Australia, where archrival Jannik Sinner has won the past two titles.
''He knows about it. It's like Rory (McIlroy) going for the Masters, you know, those things are tough,'' Federer said Thursday, shortly after the draw was held for the first major of the year. ''His momentum (now) shifts toward the first round and then it's point for point mentality. That's what it is.
''But it's true, at his young age, to be able to complete the career Grand Slam already now, I mean, would be crazy. ... I hope he does because for the game, that would be an unbelievable special moment."
Of course, there's 127 other men in the draw with other ideas, Federer noted, including his own long-time rival and 10-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic.
