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Roger Federer called for a longstanding rule to be changed after helping to get the 2026 Australian Open underway on Saturday. Federer, a six-time winner of the competition, is back at the tournament for the first time since his final appearance on court in 2020.

He was the headline attraction on Saturday as he made his return to the Rod Laver Arena. The now 44-year-old teamed up with Andre Agassi to take on Patrick Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt in an exhibition match at the tournament's inaugural opening ceremony.

And it turned out to be a dream return for Federer, who came out on top, winning 2-4, 4-2, 4-2 in 70 minutes. Following the game, Federer was shown footage of when he won the tournament back in 2017 after he came out on top in an epic showdown against Rafael Nadal.

Federer could be seen in the locker room and FaceTiming with his kids, who asked if he could put soup in the trophy. And reacting to the footage, Federer believes the time has come for the final to return to its old slot of a day, after the decision was made to move it to the night back in 2004.

He said: "They were too young to come out for the night session. So I think we've maybe got to bring back the day session final for the young children because all us players are having kids now and we want them to be a part of it."

The Australian Open final is played at night primarily for maximising global television viewership and advertising revenue, as well as managing the extreme daytime heat in Melbourne. The semi-finals first went under lights in 2000, with the first men's night final played in 2005.

Explaining the thinking behind the rule change, Tennis Australia president Geoff Pollard said back in 2004: "It's now [from 2005] in daylight hours in Europe and it's great hours in Asia. So it's a real step forward for worldwide coverage and interest and viewership."

Federer has backed Carlos Alcaraz to pull off a "crazy" achievement in this year's tournament. The 22-year-old is bidding to become the youngest man ever to complete the career Grand Slam of all four major titles, having claimed two crowns each at the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open.

He is yet to go beyond the quarter-finals at Melbourne Park but goes into the year's first slam as the top seed ahead of his great rival Jannik Sinner. But Federer said: "It's like Rory (McIlroy) going for the Masters, those things are tough.

"But at his young age to be able to complete the career Grand Slam would be crazy. Let's see if he is able to do crazy this week, and I hope he does because for the game that would be an unbelievably special moment.

"But there's another hundred and whatever players saying, 'We don't agree with those plans', so they'll try everything to stop him."