Newport’s grounds are already closed to walk-ups. The International Tennis Hall of Fame has shut its museum and grounds to the general public from 23 to 30 August, and every ticket for the induction celebration, from the Horseshoe Court seats to the Stadium Court watch party, is gone.
That is the setting for one of the shortest programmes a Federer devotee could ask for. The Swiss enters the Class of 2026 as the sole player-category inductee, alongside broadcaster and former professional Mary Carillo, who joins in the contributor category.
The Horseshoe Court, Saturday at 6:30pm
The ceremony takes place on the Hall of Fame’s Horseshoe Court on Saturday at 6:30pm local time, with a smart casual dress code and admission restricted to package holders. A separate Red Carpet Pre-Show and Watch Party on Stadium Court, running from 5pm, was set up for fans without a package to follow the ceremony on the big screen, those tickets have also sold out.
Federer will not spend the weekend only on a podium. On Friday 28 August he plays in the Hall of Fame Celebrity Pro Classic presented by Fidelity Investments, a doubles exhibition that returns to Newport with the Swiss on the entry list. The full weekend runs from Thursday 27 to Saturday 29 August.
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Carillo joins as contributor
Mary Carillo’s election gives the Class of 2026 its second name. A former professional turned broadcaster, she has been one of American tennis’s most familiar voices, and the Hall of Fame’s contributor category recognises figures whose work off the court has shaped the sport.
Tennis Channel goes live at 6pm ET
Tennis Channel confirmed on 6 August that it holds exclusive US broadcast rights to the ceremony, which airs live and streams on the Tennis Channel app from 6:30pm ET.
The network is building an evening around it. TC Live comes onsite from 6pm ET with Hall of Famer Martina Navratilova alongside Prakash Amritraj and Dani Klupenger. Veteran analyst Brett Haber will open the ceremony itself, and Brad Gilbert hosts a Newport edition of The Big T podcast earlier in the day. Federer material runs across Tennis Channel, Tennis Channel 2 and the app all weekend, mixing career-highlight matches with archival programming.
Four days after Arthur Ashe
The induction arrives at the end of an unusually concentrated week for Federer in the United States. On Tuesday 25 August he plays a doubles exhibition at Arthur Ashe Stadium as part of US Open Fan Week, partnering Andy Roddick against Andre Agassi and John McEnroe.
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The museum’s new tribute exhibit, “Tennis Transcended: Roger Federer’s Path to Greatness”, is already open in Newport as part of the run-up to the ceremony.
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