Roger Federer marked his illustrious career with special exhibition matches at the opening ceremony of the Australian Open.
The celebrations took place at a packed Rod Laver Arena, where the band Crowded House performed a hit-filled set for 15,000 fans.
Federer, who returned to Australia for the first time since 2021 teamed up with Andre Agassi and later Ash Barty to face Pat Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt.
Tennis legends were in attendance, with Novak Djokovic watching from the stands and 87-year-old Rod Laver sitting courtside.
A six-time Australian Open winner and 20-time Grand Slam champion started the exhibition match succesfully, winning the first point despite a mistake on his forehand and later finished the match in an impressive and dramatic way with a leaping overhead shot.
"It really truly means so much to me when people like Rocket (Laver) show up. It's super important to be grateful" to earlier generations of stars," Federer said as per CBS News.
The Australian Open is a three-week tennis event, and over 217,000 fans have watched exhibition and qualifying matches so far.
Elsewhere, Novak Djokovic will start his next Australian Open match against Spain’s Pedro Martinez on Monday night at Rod Laver Arena.
