Roger Federer will be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame on Saturday evening, on the Horseshoe Court here, roughly 180 miles and one day from the start of the US Open main draw. The proximity is not accidental.
The Hall of Fame announced in July 2024 that it would move its enshrinement ceremonies to the day before the US Open begins, in order to promote the institution while a major was drawing the sport’s attention. The same announcement confirmed a new combined men’s and women’s 125-level tournament for 2025, replacing the ATP 250 event being dropped from the schedule. The 2024 edition of the Hall of Fame Open was the 48th and last at tour level; Marcos Giron won it. The replacement event, with equal prize money across both draws, ran in Newport from 5 to 12 July this year.
For nearly half a century the induction had been folded into that tournament week. Losing the tour stop removed the reason to hold it in July, and the calendar move turned an event that had depended on a grass-court draw for its audience into one that borrows a Grand Slam‘s.
The weekend. Federer enters alongside Mary Carillo, the former professional and broadcaster, who is inducted in the contributor category. Tom Rinaldi hosts the ceremony, which begins at 6:30 p.m. Eastern on Saturday, with Tennis Channel as the exclusive United States broadcaster. Federer plays a grass-court exhibition here the day before, joined by Bob and Mike Bryan, John McEnroe, Stefan Edberg, Lleyton Hewitt, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, Martina Navratilova and Gabriela Sabatini.
The other end of the corridor. Federer had already appeared at Flushing Meadows this week. He returned to Arthur Ashe Stadium on Tuesday night for an exhibition against Andy Roddick, then partnered McEnroe against Roddick and Andre Agassi, his first appearance on that court since 2019. Speaking at a news conference on Monday, he said the occasion gave him a real chance to say thank you. He has ruled out any competitive return.
The scheduling produces a week in which a five-time US Open champion appeared on the tournament’s main stadium court, left for Rhode Island, and will be enshrined there as the tournament’s first-round order of play is published. Around 30 Hall of Famers are expected in Newport for the celebration.
Federer retired in 2022 with 20 major titles, 103 tour-level titles and 310 weeks at world No. 1. His five consecutive US Open titles, from 2004 to 2008, remain the last such run at the tournament by any man. The current generation of contenders is tracked in the GTN player profile index.
