Roger Federer usually got his way during his phenomenal tennis career thanks to his ability on the court.
Federer was inducted into the tennis Hall of Fame earlier this year thanks to such ability, which also helped him win 20 Grand Slam titles.
He called time on his glittering ATP career at the 2022 Laver Cup, a tournament Swiss icon Federer helped create.
But when he wanted a major change to the Australian Open once upon a time, his suggestion was swiftly rejected by the powers that be.
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Roger Federer wanted a major change to the Australian Open but he was denied
In 2009, Federer said that he would like the Grand Slam to be moved back by a few weeks to allow players to play warm-up events in the Middle East and Australia.
As quoted by TNT Sports, Federer argued at the time: “The calendar is always something we do talk about.
“I guess to fix the Australian Open problem, having more tournaments beforehand, is to move it backwards a couple of weeks so you have more of an Australian swing coming, and maybe also the Middle Eastern tournaments.”
But Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley wasn’t willing to grant such a wish, saying: “This year Australia has showed the strength of their lead-in events.
“From an operational point of view, our gates opened earlier by a week sometimes up to two weeks for transportation and accreditation than it has in the past so the interest in coming down to Australia has picked up and is more significant.
“There are events that are around the world as there are before and after the Australian Open, particularly in the Middle East but we don’t see them as any threat at all to our lead-in series.”
What Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams said about moving the Australian Open
Interestingly, a handful of fellow tennis icons were tasked with Federer’s proposed change ahead of the 2009 Australian Open.
When asked if he would like to see the event moved to February, fellow ATP idol Rafael Nadal said: “It is a very good option, yeah. I would love to have the first Grand Slam of the season a little bit later, yeah.”
And sharing her take, WTA legend Serena Williams noted: “All my life I’ve played the Australian Open in January, so I’m okay with it being in January.
“I mean, it would be nice for it to be in February, I guess, but I don’t know how that would work with all the other tournaments. Tennis is a vigorous schedule, so…”
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Of course, such a major change has not taken place at the Australian Open, which returns to the calendar next month.
The action gets underway at Melbourne Park on January 12th, and will come to a conclusion on February 1st.
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