Roger Federer - The Greatest Ever?

Federer has won 15 Grand Slam singles titles (breaking Pete Sampras' 14 Grand Slam titles in the 2009 Wimbledon Finals when he prevailed over Andy Roddick), three Tennis Masters Cup titles, and 14 ATP Masters Series titles. He has won three Grand Slam singles titles in a calendar year for a record three times (in 2004, 2006 and 2007). He holds the record of 10 consecutive Grand Slam singles final appearances and the only one to have played in finals of all four Grand Slam tournaments for two consecutive years.

Federer has won all four Grand Slam titles although not consecutively, attaining what only five others had accomplished. The other two who did so in the beginning of the Open Era were Rod Laver and Andre Agassi and the rest won them before the Open Era: Fred Perry, Don Budge, and Roy Emerson.

But as of this writing, Roger Federer was only 27 years old and who knows? Before he retires, he might accomplish what only Rod Laver had accomplished (twice, in 1962 as an amateur and in 1972 as a professional): winning all the Grand Slams in the same calendar year.

In 2007, by winning his third Australian Open title, he is the only male player to have won three separate Grand Slam tournaments at least three times. By winning Wimbledon in 2007, Federer tied Bjorn Borg's open era record of five consecutive Wimbledon championships. By winning the 2007 U.S. Open, Roger Federer became the first in the Open era to win four consecutive U.S. Open titles and the only one with back-to-back Wimbledon and U.S. Open titles for four consecutive years (from 2004). He is also the first in Open era to win at least ten singles tournaments in three consecutive years (from 2004 to 2006).

As of this writing, it's safe to say that Roger Federer will break a few more records (including his own) and attain what no other past great tennis players had achieved before.

Roger Federer was born to Swiss-German Robert Federer and South African Lynette Federer. As a boy, Federer was very emotional and admits to being kicked off practice courts occasionally. Federer was also a talented soccer player. He had considered becoming a professional soccer player but instead decided to choose tennis. When he was younger, he liked to watch tennis players Marcelo Ríos, Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker and has cited them all as his idols.

Roger Federer currently resides in Oberwil, Switzerland and is dating former WTA player and Slovakia-born Miroslava Vavrinec (Mirka), who retired from tennis in 2002 after a foot injury. The two met at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. He considers Swiss German as his first language, but also speaks French and English fluently and conducts press conferences in all three. He is also friends with golf superstar Tiger Woods.

Career

Roger Federer started playing tennis at the age of seven. At 14, he became the national champion of all groups in Switzerland. He joined the ITF junior tennis circuit in July 1996. In 1998, in his final year as a junior, Federer won Wimbledon juniors title and year-ending Orange Bowl. He was recognized as the ITF World Junior Tennis champion for the year. In July 1998, Federer joined the ATP tour at Gstaad. The following year he debuted for the Swiss Davis Cup team against Italy and finished the year as the youngest player (for the year) inside ATP's top 100 ranking. In 2000, Federer reached semifinals at Sydney Olympics and lost bronze medal match to Arnaud Di Pasquale of France. Roger Federer reached his first final in Marseille which he lost to Marc Rosset and was also the runner-up in Basel. He failed to make an impression at Grand Slams and Masters Series tournaments but still ended the year ranked 29th.

Here's a breakdown of Roger Federer's astounding rise to the top of the tennis world:

2001

Roger Federer's first ATP tournament victory came in Milan in February 2001. During the same month, he won three matches for his country in its 3-2 Davis Cup victory over the United States. He later reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, defeating four-time defending champion and seven-time Wimbledon champion Pete Sampras in the fourth round in a closely fought match, a victory that many consider to be the turning point of his career and thus ending Sampras' 31-match winning streak in the tournament. He then lost to Tim Henman in the quarterfinal but finished the year ranked 13th.

2002

Roger Federer reached his first ATP Masters Series (AMS) final at the Miami Masters, where he lost to Andre Agassi. He won his next AMS final in Hamburg. He also won both his Davis Cup singles matches against former world number ones (Russians Marat Safin and Yevgeny Kafelnikov). Despite early-round exits at the French Open, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open, Roger Federer reached No. 6 in the ATP Champions Race by the end of the year and qualified for the first time in the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup. Federer lost in the semifinals of that tournament to Lleyton Hewitt despite saving a matchpoint in the second set.

2003

Roger Federer started 2003 by winning consecutive tournaments in Dubai and Marseille. He won in Munich without losing a set, but suffered a first-round loss at the French Open. On July 6, 2003, he defeated Mark Philippoussis and won his first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon, becoming the first Swiss male player to do so. He dropped only one set during the entire tournament. He also won four Davis Cup matches during the year to lead Switzerland to the semifinals of the World Group. He finished 2003 by winning the Tennis Masters Cup at Houston, finishing second in the ATP Champions Race behind American Andy Roddick. In December, he parted ways with Peter Lundgren, his coach for four years.

2004

In 2004, just 23 years old, Roger Federer had one of the most dominating and successful years in the open era of modern men's tennis. He won three of the four Grand Slam singles tournaments, lost to no one ranked in the top ten, and won every final he reached. He won his first Australian Open title by defeating Marat Safin in straight sets, the win allowing him to succeed Andy Roddick as the World No. 1, a ranking which he has maintained as of September 2007. He successfully defended his Wimbledon title by defeating Andy Roddick, and won his first U.S. Open title by defeating Lleyton Hewitt. He finished the year by taking the Tennis Masters Cup at Houston for the second consecutive year, defeating Hewitt in the final. His win-loss record for the year was 74-6 with 11 titles. Roger Federer was named the ITF Tennis World Champion. Throughout 2004, Federer did not have a coach, relying instead on his fitness trainer Pierre Paganini, physiotherapist Pavel Kovac, and a management team composed of his parents, his girlfriend Mirka Vavrinec (also his manager), and a few friends. In 2005, Roger Federer hired former Australian tennis player Tony Roche to coach him on a limited basis.

2005

Roger Federer reached the 2005 Australian Open semifinals before falling to eventual winner Marat Safin in a five-set night match that lasted more than four hours. He rebounded to win the year's first two ATP Masters Series (AMS) titles: Indian Wells (by defeating Lleyton Hewitt) and Miami (by defeating Rafael Nadal of Spain). He won his third Hamburg clay court title in May by defeating Richard Gasquet, to whom he had earlier lost in Monte Carlo. He then entered the French Open as one of the favorites, losing in the semifinals in four sets to eventual winner Nadal.

Roger Federer successfully defended his Wimbledon title, winning for the third consecutive year by defeating Andy Roddick in a rematch of the previous year's final. Federer also defeated Roddick in Cincinnati to take his fourth AMS title of the year (and sweep all the American AMS events) and become the first player in AMS history to win four titles in one season. He then dropped only two sets en route to his second consecutive U.S. Open title, defeating Andre Agassi in four sets in the final. He became the first man in the open era to win Wimbledon and the U.S. Open back-to-back in consecutive years (2004 and 2005). He failed to defend his Tennis Masters Cup title, however, losing to David Nalbandian of Argentina in a four-and-a-half hour, five-set match. Had he won the match, he would have finished the year 82-3, tying John McEnroe's 1984 record for the highest yearly winning percentage in the open era.

2006

Roger Federer won three of the four Grand Slam singles tournaments and ended the year ranked number one, with his points ranking several thousand points greater than that of his nearest competitor. Federer won the year's first Grand Slam tournament, the 2006 Australian Open, by defeating Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis. In March, Federer successfully defended his titles at the Indian Wells and Miami Masters, and became the first player ever to win the Indian Wells-Miami double in consecutive years. Federer then reached two consecutive ATP Masters Series finals on clay, at Monte Carlo and Rome, but lost to Rafael Nadal on both occasions. At the 2006 French Open, Roger Federer lost in the final to defending champion Nadal in four sets. Had he won the French Open, he would have completed a Career Grand Slam and become the first man since Rod Laver to hold all four Grand Slam singles titles at the same time. Although the clay Grand Slam title eluded him, he became one of only two then-active players who had reached the finals of all four Grand Slam singles tournaments, the other being Andre Agassi.

Roger Federer entered Wimbledon as the top seed and reached the final without dropping a set. There, Federer beat Nadal in four sets to win the championship. This was Federer's fourth consecutive Wimbledon title. Federer then started his North American tour and won the 2006 Rogers Cup in Toronto, defeating Richard Gasquet of France in the final. In the year's last Grand Slam tournament, the 2006 U.S. Open, he defeated American Andy Roddick in four sets for his third consecutive title at the Flushing Meadows. At the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup at Shanghai, Federer defeated defending champion David Nalbandian in one of his three round robin matches and Nadal in a semifinal. Federer then defeated American James Blake 6-0, 6-3, 6-4 in the final to win his third Masters Cup title. In 2006, Roger Federer lost to only two players: Nadal in the French Open final, Rome final, Monte Carlo final, and Dubai final; and Andy Murray in the second round of the Cincinnati Masters. The Cincinnati loss to Murray was Federer's only straight-sets loss of the year and the only tournament out of 17 (Davis Cup excluded) in which he did not reach the final.

2007

Roger Federer won his third Australian Open and tenth Grand Slam singles title when he, as defending champion, won the tournament without dropping a set, defeating Fernando Gonzalez of Chile in the final 7-6(2), 6-4, 6-4. Bjorn Borg was the last man to win a Grand Slam singles title without dropping a set, at the 1980 French Open. Federer then won his fourth Dubai Duty Free Men's Open title, defeating Russian Mikhail Youzhny in the final 6-4, 6-3. His winning streak of 41-consecutive matches ended when he lost to Guillermo Canas in the second round of the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, after winning this tournament three consecutive years (2004-2006). At the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, Florida, Federer again lost to Cañas, this time in the fourth round in three sets. However, he was awarded four ATP Awards during a ceremony at the tournament, making him the first player to receive four awards during the same year.

Federer started his clay-court season by reaching his second consecutive final of the Monte Carlo Masters. There, as in 2006, he lost to second seeded Rafael Nadal. This time, the score was 6-4, 6-4. On May 2, 2007, the "Battle of Surfaces," an exhibition event, took place at the Palma Arena in Mallorca. Federer and Nadal met on a tennis court that was half grass and half clay. Nadal won 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(10). Federer lost in the third round of the Internazionali d'Italia in Rome to Filippo Volandri 6-2, 6-4. This defeat meant he had gone four tournaments without a title, his longest stretch since becoming World No. 1. On May 20, 2007, however, Federer defeated Nadal on clay for the first time 2-6, 6-2, 6-0, winning the Hamburg Masters tournament, and ending Nadal's record of 81 consecutive match wins on clay. It was his thirteenth ATP Masters Series title, his sixth tournament win on clay, and the second time he defeated Nadal with a bagel set. At the French Open, Federer reached the final for the second consecutive time but again lost to Nadal 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. The day after the final, Federer announced that he was withdrawing from the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, which he had won the last four years. He cited fatigue and fear of getting an injury. He therefore entered Wimbledon for the first time without having played a warm-up grass-court tournament. Despite this, Federer once again beat Rafael Nadal in a memorable final (7-6, 4-6, 7-6, 2-6, 6-2), winning the tournament for the fifth consecutive time, a feat only before achieved in the Open Era by Bjorn Borg (William Renshaw holds the all-time record with six consecutive titles from 1881 to 1886). It was the first time since the fourth round in 2001 against Pete Sampras that Federer had played a fifth set at Wimbledon and his first five-set grand slam final. It was also Federer's 11th Grand Slam victory, tying him in third with the greats Björn Borg and Rod Laver in number of men’s Grand Slam singles titles won.

Federer competed as the defending champion at the Canada Masters in Montréal, his first tournament since Wimbledon. He lost in the final to Novak Đoković 7-6, 2-6, 7-6. The next week Federer won the Cincinnati Masters Series for the second time, beating James Blake in the final. The victory was his 50th career singles title. Federer also won the 2007 US Open Series with this victory. In the 2007 U.S. Open final, Federer beat 3rd seed Novak Djokovic in straight sets 7-6(4), 7-6(2), 6-4. En route to the final, Federer dropped just two sets -- one to young American John Isner in the third round and one to Spaniard Feliciano Lopez in the fourth round. He becomes the first male tennis player in the Open era to win four consecutive U.S. Open titles. Richard Sears holds the all-time record of seven consecutive U.S. Open titles from 1881 to 1887. This is Federer's 12th Grand Slam title, tying Roy Emerson's 12 Grand Slam victories. As champion of the US Open Series, Federer received a bonus of $1 million, in addition to the $1.4 million prize, for winning the US Open singles title. He is the first male player to receive the bonus in the four year history of the US Open Series; (Kim Clijsters received the $1 million bonus in addition to her $1.2 million prize for winning the 2005 U.S. Open in the women's division). It was announced in May that Federer and former World #1 Pete Sampras will compete in three exhibition matches between November 20-24, 2007. The best-of-three-sets matches will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Macau and Seoul.

In January, Roger Federer withdrew from the Kooyong Classic exhibition tournament because of a stomach virus, disrupting his warm-up to the Australian Open. He returned to the Australian Open to defend his title and reached the semifinals before losing to eventual champion Novak Djokovic, 7–5, 6–3, 7–6(5). This ended his record string of Grand Slam final appearances at ten, though his streak of 15 Grand Slam semifinals was maintained. At every Grand Slam tournament during the semifinal streak, Federer has either won the tournament or lost to the eventual champion. The loss also ended his 37-match winning streak in best of five set matches on hard courts. It was the first time that Federer had lost in straight sets in a Grand Slam singles match since he lost 6–4, 6–4, 6–4 to Gustavo Kuerten in the third round of the 2004 French Open. His last straight-sets loss at a hard court Grand Slam tournament was even further back, when he lost in the fourth round of the 2002 US Open to Max Mirnyi, 6–3, 7–6(5), 6–4. Federer himself stated that he was "quite happy with the result in the end."

Roger Federer then returned to the Dubai Tennis Championships. Federer was seeded first and was the defending champion. Federer lost to Andy Murray 6–7(6), 6–3, 6–4 in the first round.

In March, Federer revealed that he was recently diagnosed with mononucleosis, and that he may have suffered from it since December 2007. He noted, however, that he was now "medically cleared to compete."

Federer won his third exhibition match out of four against former World No. 1 and fourteen-time Grand Slam singles titlist Pete Sampras in Madison Square Garden in New York City. Federer won 6–3, 6–7, 7–6.

At the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, the first Tennis Masters Series event of the year, Roger Federer lost in the semifinals to American Mardy Fish for the first time, 6–3, 6–2, thus ending his 41-match winning streak against American players dating back to August 2003. Federer's next tournament was the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, where he lost in the quarterfinals to American Andy Roddick 7–6, 4–6, 6–3. Roddick's last win against him on the ATP tour came in 2003.

Roger Federer began the clay court season at the Estoril Open in Portugal, which was his first optional clay-court tournament since Gstaad in 2004[citation needed] and his first tournament with coach Jose Higueras Federer won his first tournament of the year whenNikolay Davydenko retired from the final while trailing 7–6, 1–2 with a leg ligament strain. With 54 titles, Federer is No. 9 on the open era career singles titles list.

As of April 2008, Federer and James Blake are the only members of the top ten never to have retired during a match.

At the Monte Carlo Masters, Roger Federer lost to three-time defending champion Rafael Nadal 7–5, 7–5. Federer made 44 unforced errors, lost a 4–0 lead in the second set, and fell to 1–7 against Nadal on clay courts.

At the Tennis Masters Series Internazionali d'Italia in Rome, Federer lost in the quarterfinals to Radek Stepanek 7–6(4), 7–6(7), furthering his 2008 slump.

Roger Federer was the defending champion at the Masters Series Hamburg and won his first four matches in straight sets to set up a repeat of the previous year's final against Nadal. In the first set of the final, Federer built a 5–1 lead in the first set and served for the set twice. However, Nadal won six consecutive games to win the set 7–5. Nadal again broke Federer's serve in the opening game of the second set, but Federer broke back and won the second set 7–6(3). Nadal then won the third set 6–3 and the tournament.

At the French Open, Federer reached his record sixteenth consecutive Grand Slam singles semifinal, and then set up a repeat final against Rafael Nadal, for the third consecutive year. However Federer was beaten by Nadal, losing 1–6, 3–6, 0–6 in the final. The last time Federer had lost a set 6–0 was the first round in 1999 at Queen's against Byron Black.

This is also the fourth consecutive year that Federer and Nadal have met at the French Open, with Federer losing his third consecutive final to Nadal as well as their semifinal match at the 2005 championship. With this loss, Federer is now 1–9 against Nadal on clay, while their overall rivalry stands at 6–11 to Nadal. Federer's record of 23–4 during the period of French Open 2004 through French Open 2008 is second only to Nadal's record of 28–0 during the same time.

Roger Federer recovered from this defeat by winning the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany without dropping a set or a service game. This was Federer's second title of the year, 55th overall career title, and the fifth time he has won this event. With this result, he tied Pete Sampras' record for most titles on grass in the open era with 10.

At Wimbledon, Roger Federer reached his 17th consecutive Grand Slam singles semifinal and his 16th Grand Slam final, tying him with Bjorn Borg for fourth most in history. In the final, he once again played World No. 2 Rafael Nadal. A victory for Federer would have been his sixth consecutive Wimbledon singles title, breaking Borg's modern era record, and equalling the all-time record held since 1886 by Willie Renshaw. Federer saved two championship points in the fourth set tiebreak but eventually lost the match 6–4, 6–4, 6–7(5), 6–7(8), 9–7. The rain-delayed match ended in near darkness after 4 hours, 48 minutes of play, making it the longest (in terms of elapsed time) men's final in Wimbledon recorded history, and 7 hours, 15 minutes after its scheduled start. The defeat also brought to an end Federer's 65 match winning streak on grass. John McEnroe described the match as, "The greatest match I've ever seen." Despite the loss, Roger Federer retained his World No. 1 ranking. Playing style

Federer has a versatile, all-court playing style and can hit all of the fundamental shots with a high degree of proficiency. He is an adept volleyer and an excellent baseliner who can dictate play with precise groundstrokes from both wings. Federer uses fairly conventional grips. His forehand is between a modern eastern and mild semi-western as his hand is about halfway underneath the racquet, allowing for either a flat or topspin shot (information about this grip can be seen here). He hits through his forehand on a straighter plane and finishes his swing wrapped around his back, which is not the typical technique of following through after contact and "scratching your back" with the elbow pointing skyward and the tennis racquet coming over the shoulder. He also can generate extreme top-spin with the shot, allowing him to open up cross-court angles while still hitting the ball with pace. David Foster Wallace has described the exceptional speed, fluidity and brute force of this forehand motion as "a great liquid whip," while John McEnroe has referred to it as "the greatest shot in our sport" on numerous occasions. Federer plays with a one-handed backhand, which has improved over the last few years. Although critics and coaches consider his backhand as his weaker side, it has developed into one of the best in the game. He has an excellent slice but can also fire great top-spin shots. Federer tends to hit his groundstrokes early, while the ball is still on the rise, much like Andre Agassi did. While this requires excellent reactions and footwork, it means that Federer hits his groundstrokes closer to the net than most of his opponents. This reduces the reaction time of his opponents and allows him to hit the sharply angled winners that are a trademark of his game.

His serve is difficult to read because he tosses the ball in the same spot no matter where he intends to serve it and he turns his back to his opponents during his motion. His first serve is typically around 190 km/h (118 mph). His second serve usually has a heavily kicked delivery. Roger Federer generally serves with placement and precision, but on occasion he will hit a powerful serve to keep his opponents off balance. His footwork, balance, and court coverage are exceptional and he is considered to be one of the fastest movers in the game. Unlike most players who take many small steps when approaching the ball, like Jimmy Connors, Federer takes long fluid strides. He can hit a strong shot on the run or while backpedaling, allowing him to switch from defense to offense. Federer's relaxed, smooth playing style belies his aggressive and opportunistic tactics as he constructs points that allows him to hit winners with his powerful groundstrokes. Federer is capable of performing in high pressure situations, often saving break, set or match points during crucial times in a match.

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Equipment & Apparel

Roger Federer currently plays with a Wilson K Factor KSix-One Tour 90 racquet and is is characterised by its smaller hitting surface, heavy weight, and thin beam. Some speculate that it is a custom mold of the Wilson ProStaff Original 6.0 85 used by Pete Sampras. Federer strings his racquets at a relatively loose tension (53-60 pounds depending on his opponent and surface). This allows him to return balls at higher velocity with less effort but makes consistent accuracy more difficult. Federer's past racquets include Wilson nCode nSix-One Tour 90, Wilson ProStaff Tour 90, and Wilson ProStaff Original 6.0 85. Federer endorses Wilson tennis racquets and accessories and Nike apparel and footwear. For the 2006 championships at Wimbledon Nike made a jacket which had a crest with three tennis racquets symbolising the three Wimbledon Championships that he had previously won. He also has endorsement deals from various other companies, many of them being Swiss.He also endorses Gillette with French football star Thierry Henry and American golfer Tiger Woods.

Records

Roger Federer holds a number of records in tennis history, the most prominent of which is that he has won the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in the same year three times in 2004, 2006 and 2007. He has surpassed a number of long-standing records including Jimmy Connors' record of 160 consecutive weeks as #1 men's player in the world and Steffi Graf's record of 186 weeks as #1 singles player in the world. He equaled Björn Borg's open-era record of 5 consecutive Wimbledon titles in 2007 and has the open-era record of most consecutive US Open titles (4) in 2007.

Awards

Roger Federer has garnered numerous awards and we are certain that Roger Federer will amass a bucketful of them in the near future.

2003