Roger Federer returns to court and beats world No 13

Even as he approaches his 45th birthday, Roger Federer has still got it. Playing a tie-break against 27-year-old Casper Ruud on Friday, Federer struck an ace and a clean backhand winner as he defeated the world No 13 by seven points to two.

A near-capacity crowd had gathered on Rod Laver Arena – the stadium where Federer won six Australian Open titles – to watch him tune up for Saturday night’s opening ceremony.

The fans were overjoyed to see that lissome service action back on a big court for the first time since 2022’s Laver Cup: the emotional event where Federer – a winner of 20 grand slam singles titles – retired with one final doubles appearance alongside his greatest rival Rafael Nadal.

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You may remember Ella Ling’s wonderful photograph of the two men holding hands, their eyes full of tears, as Ellie Goulding sang “Still Falling For You”.

On Saturday, Federer will return to play doubles with three other old-stagers: Andre Agassi, Pat Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt. These former rivals will need to be on their mettle, because Federer’s shots still have real bite.

There was little sign of Ruud soft-pedalling in the tie-break. He struggled to return Federer’s serve and was clearly taken aback by the smoothness of his groundstrokes. It is hard to see Nadal, whose game was based around grunting physical effort, being able to play like this at 44. But then Federer was always a model of economy: slicing, volleying and cutting points short with daring sallies to the net.

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Also looking on was another of Federer’s great rivals: Novak Djokovic, who was spotted in the entry tunnel at the side of the court. Still a contender for major titles at the age of 38, Djokovic is tennis’s acknowledged master when it comes to resisting the march of time.

Yet even he must have been impressed by the way Federer hit that backhand winner off one of Ruud’s bigger serves: an elegant flick of the wrist which sent the ball whistling up the line.

The arrival of Federer on the court, wearing his trademark bandanna, had provoked an electric frisson throughout the crowd. He is part of a select band of athletes who have transcended their sport, ranking alongside the likes of Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan and Lionel Messi.

He also provokes strong emotions. On Thursday, Federer had given a cheery and good-natured press conference at Melbourne Park, where he offered his views on the two outstanding players of the moment: Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. Somehow, though, he managed to wind up Sinner’s online fanbase with his response.

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Federer had replied by talking about last year’s Wimbledon encounter between Sinner and Grigor Dimitrov – the Bulgarian who is sometimes described as “Baby Fed”. This was an eventful match in which Sinner jarred his elbow in an early fall, and Dimitrov then led by two sets to love before suffering an injury of his own.

“Grigor plays very similar to how I played,” said Federer. “I thought, like, ‘OK, now I understand how I would probably play against Jannik’.”

This apparently innocuous remark left Sinner’s fans complaining that Federer had an agenda, and was intending to suggest that he would have handled Sinner’s scorching groundstrokes in the same confident way as Dimitrov.

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We should not take any of this too seriously: it was a typically daft row in a sport which produces its fair share of nonsense. But one thing is certain – Federer remains a more iconic name than any of the current players, as well as a bigger talking point. Over the past three seasons, tennis has missed his unique charisma.

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