The Australian Open staged its first Opening Ceremony on Saturday, a new formal start that leads into the commencement of the main draws. The evening’s show centered on Roger Federer, who returned to Rod Laver Arena for the first time in six years in a special exhibition billed as the “Battle of the World No.1s”.

Federer, a six-time Australian Open champion, paired in doubles with Andre Agassi. They started the exhibition against Pat Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt. A surprise substitution later in the night saw Ashleigh Barty step in to replace Agassi, creating a memorable, crowd-pleasing change to the line-up.

Among those watching courtside were Federer’s parents and Novak Djokovic. Photographs from the night captured the mixture of celebration and reverence, from fireworks above the court to close moments on the court. “Welcome back, Roger!” summed up the mood in the arena, reflected in the applause and the intimate snapshots taken as the event unfolded.

The exhibition also revisited the rivalry between Federer and Agassi: “Agassi won the pair’s first three meetings, before Federer ran away with the final eight.” That line underlined the sense of history threaded through the evening.

Next to Tim Henman, Federer’s parents Robert and Lynette were pictured documenting the scene. The ceremony blended star power with nostalgia and provided a showcase night ahead of competitive play.

Off court, the event carried a note about the future of the game’s icons. Federer will be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame this year; Barty is a projected lock for 2027. The opening-night format offered fans a chance to see former champions in a relaxed, celebratory setting while setting the stage for the tournament’s main-draw action.

Novak Djokovic arrives in Melbourne intent on meeting Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner at a major he has won 10 times. At 38 and a former No. 1, he was the third most consistent Grand Slam performer in 2025, reaching four semifinals, three of those defeats coming to Sinner and Alcaraz, and finishing the year ranked No. 4.

“We don’t need to praise them too much,” Djokovic teased to end his Media Day press conference. “They have been praised enough. We know how good they are, and they absolutely deserve to be where they are. They are the dominant forces of the men’s tennis at the moment.

“I’m still trying to be in the mix…obviously I’m grateful to have the better ranking so that I could have eventually better draws in, you know, the first several rounds. That doesn’t affect the way I approach [a] Slam. You know, I know that my priority is really taking care of my body and trying to of course treat every match like it’s finals, but at the same time, build momentum and also not spend unnecessary energy, you know, and hopefully I can go far again and get a chance to play them.”

Djokovic, who has hinted at a shift in focus toward best-of-three events and skipped the year-end ATP Finals in Turin, has been off the tour since securing his 101st ATP title in Athens last fall. He withdrew from a warm-up tournament in Adelaide last week as part of a longer recovery and rebuilding plan.

“I took some time off, and obviously took more time to rebuild my body, because I understand that in the last couple of years, that’s what changed the most for me is it takes more time to rebuild, and it also takes more time to reset or recover,” explained Djokovic, who withdrew from a warm-up tournament in Adelaide last week.

“Obviously every day there is something here and there for me and I guess for each one of us, but generally I feel good and look forward to competing.”

His victory over Alcaraz here last year in the quarterfinals remains a highlight, though it depleted his reserves and led to an injury that ended his run in the semifinals. Still, he believes others can challenge the current top two. “I understand that, you know, Sinner and Alcaraz are playing on a different level right now from everybody else,” he said. “That’s a fact, but that doesn’t mean that nobody else has a chance. So, I like my chances always, in any tournament, particularly here.”

He downplayed milestone pressure — “24 is not a bad number.” — and said motivation comes from more than records. “I’m still living my dream, to be honest,” said Djokovic, who will face Spaniard Pedro Martinez in his first round on Monday. “Yeah, I mean, achievements are there, one of the highest motivations that you can have, of course. That’s a kind of a guiding star, but it’s not the only motivation.

“It’s passion and love for the game. It’s the interaction with people. It’s the energy that you feel when you walk out on the court. That adrenaline rush, it’s almost like a drug, to be honest.”

Eliot Spizzirri arrives at the Australian Open after a season that altered the trajectory of his career. The 24-year-old American, making his first Grand Slam main-draw appearance without qualifying or a wild card, opens against Joao Fonseca.

Spizzirri’s week at the ASB Classic in Auckland offered encouraging signs. “My parents went on their honeymoon here,” the American told TENNIS.com earlier this week at the ASB Classic, “but they got divorced, so it’s not necessarily…I don’t know if it’s the best place, but I was excited to see it because they said good things.” In his first four matches at the tournament—two in qualifying, two in the main draw—he did not drop a set, including a win over No. 8 seed Nuno Borges, who had ended Spizzirri’s breakthrough 2025 campaign in November.

Spizzirri began 2026 inside the Top 100 for the first time, which allowed direct entry into Melbourne and let him plan an offseason differently. “It was my first time having a chunk where I could focus on training for a Grand Slam,” Spizzirri says. “I wasn’t really training for three out of five sets [before].”

His ascent followed a relentless 2025: 87 matches across main tour and Challenger events, plus 19 doubles appearances, and frequent travel to events including Nonthaburi, Jingshan and Brest. After a Wimbledon qualifying loss in June he returned to grass in Newport, Rhode Island, where he has played the last three years. “Along with the US Open, this is definitely my favorite tournament of the year,” he said. The Hall of Fame Open is two-and-a-half hours from home, and the Connecticut native praised the club’s treatment of him.

When he was ranked 128th, Spizzirri briefly missed direct entry into the US Open, then gained a wild card after Matteo Berrettini withdrew. He defeated Stefan Dostanic for 50 ranking points, $154,000 and his first Grand Slam main-draw win.

His pathway included college tennis at the University of Texas and top collegiate honors: No. 1 in singles and No. 2 in doubles in 2023, a 65-11 singles record and back-to-back ITA National Player of the Year awards. “My decision to go to Texas was purely because I thought that would give me the best chance to be a professional,” he says, and at the same time, “it was the best experience I’ve ever had.”

Looking ahead to Melbourne, Spizzirri hopes to enjoy the experience without the strain of qualifying. “I haven’t fished yet,” Spizzirri, a passionate angler, said after his win over Borges. “But I’m hoping to at some point.”