Federer declines Aus Open invitation as tennis bosses hatch 2024 plan

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Australian Open bosses already appear to be coming up with a plan to get Roger Federer to the tournament in 2024 after the retired tennis icon declined an invitation to appear this year. The 20-time Grand Slam winner officially ended his career in September but had not played in Melbourne since 2020, and organisers had been hoping to get him to Melbourne Park as a special guest this month.

Federer’s 24-year career came to an end in September when the 41-year-old had his last dance at the Laver Cup – a tournament co-created by the Swiss star along with his TEAM8 management agency and Tennis Australia. But his close ties with the Australian tennis governing body didn’t help when it came to luring him Down Under this year.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Australian Open organisers tried to gauge whether their six-time champion would be interested in an appearance during his farewell event at the Laver Cup, but the former world No 1 declined the invitation and made it clear that he wouldn’t be regularly travelling to tournaments during his retirement.

“The welcome mat will always be rolled out for Roger,” a Tennis Australia official said of their attempt to entice Federer to the 2023 Australian Open. While it was a no from the 41-year-old this time around, organisers are already hatching a plan that they hope will see Federer back in Australia in 12 months’ time.

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2024 will mark the 20 year anniversary of Federer’s first Australian Open title win, when he defeated Marat Safin 7-6(3) 6-4 6-2 to lift his second-ever Grand Slam title and became world No 1 for the first time in his career as a result. And Tennis Australia is now planning to celebrate the anniversary in style next year with an aim to have Federer return to the tournament.

Australian fans haven’t had the chance to see the 103-time title winner in three years, as he last competed at the first Major of the season in 2020, where he reached the semi-final. The tournament ironically became the beginning of the end for Federer’s troublesome right knee, as he was physically hampered during his semi-final clash with Novak Djokovic and later shut down his season to undergo double knee surgery.

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The Swiss star mounted a short-lived comeback at the 2021 Doha ATP 250, playing just five events before he limped off the court at Wimbledon after suffering his first ever bagel set at SW19 in his quarter-final loss to Hubert Hurkacz. Federer again ended his season to have a third knee surgery and had hoped to return in 2022 but instead announced his retirement ahead of the Laver Cup, where he played one final match in the doubles alongside Rafael Nadal.

The 41-year-old has vowed to stay involved in tennis but is yet to make a decision on what his post-playing role will be, and has only made limited public appearances since his retirement – taking part in his sponsor Uniqlo’s LifeWear day in Tokyo and being interviewed by Trevor Noah on The Daily Show.

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