Roger Federer rarely had issues on the court, having achieved so much success during his stunning career.
Plenty of that stunning success arrived at the Australian Open, a tournament the Swiss icon won six times in total.
Novak Djokovic boasts 10 Australian Open titles, more than any other male player, but Federer is his nearest rival alongside Roy Emerson.
The hard-court event returns next month, with Melbourne Park welcoming the biggest ATP and WTA stars to Australia for the first Grand Slam of 2026.
Who will win the 2026 Australian Open?
Roger Federer said the 2008 Australian Open courts were ‘too slow’
Back in 2008, however, Federer did have an issue with one aspect of the tournament that he had won in both 2006 and 2007.
In the build-up to the event, he was tasked by the media with discussing the surface, Plexicushion, of which it was said “the balls after a while become bigger and bigger and you need more strength to hit the ball. Have you been feeling something like that?”
Federer responded: “Yeah, a little similar. But obviously it depends on how you play the points.
“I think if you can keep the points short, play an aggressive type of style, you avoid the long rallies, then you can obviously make sure the balls stay more or less new and quick throughout the remainder until you have to change balls again.
“So it depends on how you play. Of course, if you play five minutes behind the baseline, rally like crazy, after a few rallies, all balls will be fluffed up and it’s going to be very slow.
“So it depends on how you play. But I think it’s a good thing that you have the choice to play aggressive, then the balls will stay quick.
“If you decide to play a little bit more further back in the court, you can slow down the balls throughout the match.
“But I think the surface is a little bit too slow, in my opinion. Everything is already slowing down. Everybody’s already complaining that we’re playing too much from the baseline.
“So we’ll only see more of that here in Australia, that’s for sure.”
Who will be the biggest disappointment at the 2026 Australian Open?
How did Roger Federer perform at the 2008 Australian Open?
The slow surface that year wasn’t exactly an issue for two-time defending champion Federer, who battled through to the semifinals.
But there he met an inspired Djokovic, who won their meeting before beating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final.
It represented his very first Grand Slam title, with the Serbian having lost his maiden final to Federer at the 2007 US Open.
Runner-up Tsonga meanwhile produced his best-ever Grand Slam run, falling just short against Djokovic after a memorable semifinal win over Rafael Nadal.
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