Monica Seles sends message to Roger Federer after he is announced as next year’s inductee into the Tennis Hall of Fame

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Roger Federer has been confirmed as an inductee into the 2026 International Tennis Hall of Fame.

Federer was nominated in the player category alongside former world number one Svetlana Kuznetsova and Juan Martin del Potro, who was told he should not be in the Hall of Fame.

Neither Del Potro nor Kuznetsova received enough votes this year, as 20-time Grand Slam champion Federer won the vote by some distance.

There has been a big reaction to the announcement of Federer’s induction next year, including from nine-time Grand Slam singles champion Monica Seles.

Monica Seles sends heartfelt message to Roger Federer on social media

The International Tennis Hall of Fame has been inducting players since 1955, with this year seeing Maria Sharapova and the Bryan brothers made members of the exclusive club.

Three years since Federer officially retired at the Laver Cup, he has now been confirmed as part of the 2026 induction ceremony, alongside former player turned broadcaster Mary Carillo as part of the contributor category.

Someone who knows what it is like to be part of the International Hall of Fame is former world number one Seles, who was inducted in 2009.

Following the announcement that Federer would be joining her, Seles sent him a heartfelt message on social media.

Seles wrote on Instagram, “Congratulations, Roger, on your legendary career, your championship titles, and your induction into the Tennis Hall of Fame! You made tennis look effortless, and we all know that’s no easy feat! (clapping emojis)”

As well as Seles’ message, Federer was also congratulated by Stefan Edberg, Boris Becker and Kim Clijsters in an emotional induction video.

Why has Serena Williams not been inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame yet?

There have been some very significant retirements from tennis in recent years, with Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Serena Williams all saying farewell to the sport.

This may leave some questions about why only Federer was nominated for the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

The reason for this is the rules for inducting players into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, which state that players must not be a ‘significant factor’ in tennis for five years before they are inducted.

While Federer may have officially retired at the Laver Cup, his last match before that came at Wimbledon in 2021.

Therefore when Federer is inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, it will have been over five years since his last appearance at Wimbledon.

Due to this rule, Serena Williams is likely to be next in line out of the three mentioned players as she retired at the US Open in 2022.