Rod Laver, centre, waves ahead of a doubles match between Roger Federer of Switzerland and Andre Agassi of the United States, left, and Lleyton Hewitt, right, and Pat Rafter of Australia during the Opening Ceremony for the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. Dita Alangkara / AP

The Australian Open's first formal opening ceremony became the Roger Federer show on the eve of the season-opening major.

The band Crowded House played a hit-filled setlist to a capacity crowd in the 15,000-seat Rod Laver Arena. Laver himself, 87, sat courtside. Record-setting champion Novak Djokovic watched from the stands.

Federer, a six-time Australian Open winner and 20-time Grand Slam champion, partnered with past champions Andre Agassi and then Ash Barty in an exhibition doubles match against Pat Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt as the main feature of the program.

It went to script, with Federer winning the first point despite framing a forehand and then emphatically finishing off the victory with a leaping overhead winner.

Federer was back in Australia for the first time since 2021, making the trip now because he retired from competitive tennis before he could do a farewell season tour. He said, "It's super important to be grateful" to earlier generations of stars.

"It really truly means so much to me when people like Rocket (Laver) show up," Federer said.

This year, the Australian Open is a three-week festival of tennis. Over 217,000 fans have attended exhibitions and qualifying events in the past six days. The main draw singles competition will begin on Sunday. Djokovic will play his opening match on Monday. Seven-time Grand Slam singles champion Venus Williams is set to play, becoming the oldest woman ever to compete in the Australian Open's main draw.

Australian Open organizers turned the 2026 event into a three-week festival of tennis, with 217,999 fans attending across six days to watch exhibitions, qualifying and the 1 Point Slam before the main draw started.

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