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 champion was as diplomatic as ever, of course. He said he wouldn’t be the one to remind Carlos Alcaraz, the young Spaniard who’s currently No. 1 in the ATP Tour rankings, 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 in women’s singles 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 the French Open, where Rafael Nadal was dominant on the clay of Roland Garros for the duration of their rivalry.
Alcaraz was a back-to-back Wimbledon champion in 2023-24, took two French titles in a row in 2024-25, and won the U.S. Open last year after first winning it in 2022 for his major breakthrough. Now 22, he has never gone past the quarterfinals in Australia, where archrival Jannik Sinner, a 24-year-old Italian, has won the past two men’s singles titles at Melbourne Park.