WATCH: Roger Federer thrashes Casper Ruud in Australian Open exhibition

The retired Roger Federer showed that his level remains high with an incredible performance against Casper Ruud in an exhibition at the 2026 Australian Open.

It has been over three years since Federer retired at the 2022 Laver Cup because of a persistent knee injury. He made a lengthy attempt to return before accepting that it was time to end his professional career.

Federer has not played much since that moment, but the tennis legend spoke a few months ago about wanting to make more appearances. He also did not rule out exhibitions with his friend and former rival, Rafael Nadal.

The six-time Australian Open winner returned to the court in Melbourne in a seven-point tiebreak exhibition with Casper Ruud. Despite being one of the best players ever, 44-year-old Federer started as a significant underdog against the current world No. 13.

It seemed like it would go according to the expected script when Federer hit a forehand into the net. Instead, the Swiss maestro bamboozled Ruud from that moment with some of his trademark shot-making and prevailed 7-2.

All the points can be watched in the video below. Highlights included Federer putting a smash away after approaching the net with his backhand and a delightful short backhand slice that Ruud scrambled to retrieve before the former ATP world No. 1 struck a successful passing shot.

Although Ruud could have played better at times, including hitting a double fault, Federer's level, more than three years after his retirement, was superb and demonstrated the incredible natural flair he has.

Rather than being embarrassed by the one-sided loss to a retired man, Ruud savored the chance to play against one of the most iconic figures in tennis history, posting on Instagram, "Best practice partner in a while."

This moment, and an amateur winning $1 million in the 1-point Slam, meant fans who attended the opening week were treated to a few surprising developments. Hopefully, the main-draw action also contains compelling storylines.

Seven-time Grand Slam champion Mats Wilander recently said that Roger Federer would be the perfect coach for Carlos Alcaraz. That came a few weeks after the Spaniard's surprising split from coach and long-time mentor Juan Carlos Ferrero.

Federer was asked directly about that possibility in an interview at the Australian Open, but ruled himself out. Offering the current ATP world No. 1 any advice from the outside if he wants it is as far as the Swiss is willing to go.

Currently, Federer's focus is on his four children and other events. Despite being retired, the eight-time Wimbledon men's singles winner has kept himself busy and seems to always have a pretty full calendar, in addition to being a father.

Andy Murray, a former rival of Federer before his career was severely impacted by a hip injury, coached Novak Djokovic in the opening months of 2025 before they parted ways. Murray later admitted that coaching was more difficult than he expected, and he did not enjoy it much.