Roger Federer impressed in his return to Rod Laver Arena during a practice tiebreak with Casper Ruud.
Federer came back to Melbourne to feature at the opening ceremony, during which he competed in an exhibition match alongside Patrick Rafter, Andre Agassi and Lleyton Hewitt.
The day before, however, the Swiss legend took to the main court at the Australian Open with Ruud to contest a seven-point tiebreak.
Incredibly, Federer emerged victorious, winning the shootout 7-2 in front of a packed crowd.
However, Serena Williams’ former coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, suggested the 20-time major winner would not be able to beat Ruud in a full match.
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In a post on Instagram, Mouratoglou said: “I’ve always been a huge Federer fan, because of the way he plays tennis.
“I don’t think anyone in the history has played such unbelievable tennis, so to see him play again is just an unbelievable pleasure.
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“He doesn’t lose anything from his tennis, of course. He will never because I think you don’t lose your tennis. Federer when he’ll be 80 years old is going to still hit the ball the same way.
“The fans want to make that story that Roger can beat the Casper [Ruud] on a tie break. [If] Casper plays full and opens the court, there’s no match. I mean Federer cannot play. That’s my conviction. This is not reality.
“You know, one is a high-level player, the other one is an ex-champion but is not practicing every day tennis, fitness and is not even close to the level of physical intensity that is necessary to play against a top professional player like Casper.
“You have the tennis in itself, and you have the athleticism that is necessary to play at a high level. Of course, Roger still has the tennis, but the athleticism he doesn’t have anymore.
“So if the opponent, who is a high-level player, plays full and opens the court, there is no match. And Federer knows it; he said it in the press conference.
“He just did what was necessary to be able to hit the ball correctly on the court and don’t appear rusty.
“He knows, so Casper was nice, he didn’t want to hit winners everywhere or make Federer run everywhere, so he was playing just centre at a comfortable pace, so Federer could do what he wanted to do, which was amazing, but this is not a real tiebreak.
“But we all enjoyed watching Roger one more time on Rod Laver Arena, hitting balls and hitting winners and hitting drop shots and hitting this famous slice backhand or an ace. We all loved it.”
Roger Federer’s head-to-head record with Casper Ruud
Prior to their practice session at the Australian Open, Federer and Ruud clashed just once before on the ATP Tour.
Their sole meeting came in the third round of Roland Garros back in 2019, where Federer was seeded third.
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Federer overcame Ruud in straight sets, defeating the Norwegian 6-3, 6-1, 7-6 to advance to the fourth round.
That year, Federer made it to the semifinals, where he ultimately lost to longtime rival Rafael Nadal.
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