Roger Federer

Roger Federer (born August 8, 1981) is a Swiss professional tennis player whose achievements rank him among the most successful tennis players of all time. Federer is currently the World No. 1 ranked player and is regarded by many, including his peers, as having the potential to be the greatest player of all time[1], [2], [3], [4], [5]. He has been ranked number 1 since February 2004, and, as of October 2006, he holds the third-longest consecutive stay in the World No. 1. Only Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl have had longer unbroken streaks at number one.

In 2004, Federer became the first man since Mats Wilander in 1988 to win three out of the four Grand Slam singles tournaments in the same year. In 2006, Federer repeated this feat. He has won 9 Grand Slam men's singles titles in 30 appearances, 2 Tennis Masters Cup, and 11 ATP Masters Series singles titles. He is the only player in tennis history to have won both the Wimbledon and U.S. Open singles titles in three consecutive years (2004-2006).

[edit] Biography

Federer was born in in the small city of Binningen (near Basel, Switzerland), to Swiss-German Robert Federer and South African Lynette Federer. He grew up 10 minutes from Basel proper, in suburban Münchenstein. Federer has an older sister.

Federer considers his main language Swiss-German, but he also speaks French and English fluently[6]. He conducts press conferences in all of them. He is also proficient in Spanish.

Federer spends his off-court time playing card games, table tennis, and other sports and sitting on the beach. He currently resides in Oberwil, Switzerland and is dating former WTA player and fellow Swiss Miroslava Vavrinec (Mirka), who retired from the game in 2002 after a foot injury. The two met at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

He co-established the Roger Federer Foundation in December 2003. Its goals include funding projects that benefit disadvantaged children, primarily in South Africa. In January 2005, he encouraged efforts from tennis players for the people affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, saying he would play as many matches as possible in tournaments organized to raise funds for the tsunami victims and auctioned off his autographed rackets to raise funds for UNICEF's relief operations.

Federer also launched a fragrance and cosmetics line called RF Cosmetics in October 2003.

On April 3, 2006, Federer was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador to UNICEF[7], which helps poor children from all parts of the world.

[edit] Tennis

[edit] Career

Federer started playing tennis at the age of six.^[1]He also practiced football alongside tennis until he was twelve, when he chose tennis as the sport to focus on. He started having tennis group practice at the age of nine and weekly private coaching when he was ten. At fourteen, he became the national champion for all age groups in Switzerland and was chosen to train at the Swiss National Tennis Center at Ecublens. He joined the ITF junior tennis ciruit in July 1996.^[2]

In 1998 - his last year as a junior - Federer won the Wimbledon juniors title and the prestigious year-ending Orange Bowl. He was given the year-end honor of ITF World Junior Tennis champion. In July 1998, he joined the ATP tour.

Federer debuted for the Swiss Davis Cup team in 1999 and finished the year as the youngest player inside the ATP's top 100 ranked players.

In 2000, Federer reached the semifinals at the Sydney Olympics and lost the bronze-medal match to Arnaud Di Pasquale of France. Federer was also the losing finalist in Basel and Marseille.

Federer's first ATP tournament victory came in [Milan] in February 2001. During the same month, he won three matches for his country in the Davis Cup in a 3-2 victory over the United States. He later reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, defeating four-time defending champion Pete Sampras along the way (a victory which many consider to be a turning point of his career), and finished the year ranked 13th.

In 2002, 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, and the untimely loss of his long-time Australian coach and mentor Peter Carter in a car crash in August, Federer reached No. 6 in the ATP Champions Race by the end of 2002 and qualified for the first time in the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup. Federer lost in the semifinals of that tournament to Lleyton Hewitt.

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 as 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 and ranking second in the ATP tour race. In December, he parted ways with Peter Lundgren, his coach for four years.

In 2004, 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, 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 a second consecutive year. His win-loss record for the year was 74-6 with 11 titles. Federer was named the ITF Tennis World Champion and Laureus World Sportsman of the Year in early 2005, edging out the likes of Michael Schumacher, Valentino Rossi, Lance Armstrong, and Michael Phelps.

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. For 2005 and onwards, Federer arranged for former Australian tennis player Tony Roche to coach him on a limited basis.

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 AMS titles: Indian Wells (by defeating Lleyton Hewitt of Australia), and Miami (by defeating Rafael Nadal of Spain). He won his third Hamburg Masters 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 Rafael Nadal. Federer successfully defended his Wimbledon title 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.

[edit] 2006

In January 2006, Federer won the Australian Open by defeating the Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis. This win marked Federer's third consecutive Grand Slam championship. In March, he successfully defended his titles at the Indian Wells and Miami Masters to become the first player ever to win the Indian Wells-Miami double in consecutive years.

At the French Open in 2006, Federer pursued the only Grand Slam he had not yet won. He entered the tournament as the top seed and had the goal of winning not only a career Grand Slam, but also to become the first man since Rod Laver to hold all four Grand Slam singles titles at the same time, although he would have done so in a two-year schedule. He lost the final to defending champion Rafael Nadal in four sets. Although the 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.

Federer entered Wimbledon as the top seed and moved through a draw containing Richard Gasquet, Tim Henman, Nicolas Mahut, Tomáš Berdych, Mario Ancic (who was the last man to beat him on grass at Wimbledon in 2002), and Jonas Björkman, to reach the final without dropping a set.^[3] There, Federer beat Nadal to win the championship 6-0, 7-6, 6-7, 6-3. This was Federer's fourth consecutive Wimbledon title (2003-06), matching the achievement of Pete Sampras (1997-2000). He is still one behind Björn Borg, who won five straight Wimbledon titles from 1976-80.

Federer also won the 2006 Rogers Cup, defeating Richard Gasquet of France in the final 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.

So far in 2006, Federer has 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.

At the U.S. Open, Federer defeated seventh seeded Nikolay Davydenko in a semifinal, after beating James Blake in four sets. In the final, he defeated Andy Roddick 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 for his third consecutive title at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. Along with Justine Henin-Hardenne, who lost the women's final of the U.S. Open, it was the first time in the history of tennis that both a man and a woman had reached all four Grand Slam singles finals within a calendar year.

[edit] Coaches

• 1989–1994: Seppli Kacovsky (Switzerland). Kacovsky was the head coach of the Old Boys’ Tennis Club^[4] in Federer’s home town of Basel. Roger joined Old Boys' when he was eight years old and trained there until '94.
• 1991–1995, 1997–1998: Peter Carter (Australia). Carter privately coached Federer on a weekly basis, from the age of 10 to 14. They reunited again in a new training facility in Biel in 1997, and Carter continued coaching Federer on and off until he turned pro.
• 1995–1997: After he became the Swiss junior champion, Federer was selected to join the Swiss National Tennis center in Ecublens, Vaud. He continued to train there until he finished school.
• 1999–2003: Peter Lundgren (Sweden). Federer chose former top-25 player Lundgren, who he met in Biel, as his coach when he entered the professional circuit. He still consulted frequently with Carter.
• 2005–Present: Tony Roche (Australia). Roche is a former Australian tennis champion who previously coached Patrick Rafter, as well as Ivan Lendl, to the world number one ranking. He is scheduled to help Federer for a few weeks before Grand Slam and Tennis Master Series tournaments.

[edit] Playing Style

Federer employs a versatile, all-court playing style and can hit all of the fundamental shots very well. He is an adept volleyer with two of the finest hands on tour, and an excellent baseliner who can dictate play with precise groundstrokes.

Like many modern players, he uses a semi-western grip for his forehand. Federer hits through his forehand on a straighter plane than nearly any other player and has been clocked at speeds as high as 192 km/h (120 mph). Federer plays with a one-handed backhand, which has improved over the last few years. Although critics and coaches consider his backhand to be his weaker side, players have conceded that it is getting tougher and tougher to attack. Federer tends to hit his groundstrokes early after the bounce, while the ball is still on the rise, much like 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 consistently and because he turns his back to his opponents during his motion. His first serve is typically around 200 km/h (125 mph), with his second serve usually being a heavily kicked delivery. 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 one of the fastest movers in the game. He can hit a strong shot on the run or while backpedaling, allowing him to switch from playing defense to playing offense as well as any player on tour.

While Federer's playing style appears relaxed and smooth, this belies an aggressive and opportunistic game plan. Federer constructs points to get in a position from where he can make outright winners with his groundstrokes. Federer has mentioned that he has been able to "read" his opponents' moves, which helps him to construct these plays.

One overlooked aspect of his game is his stamina. This is compounded by the fact that opponents will often run and serve much more than him during a game - Nadal is one player that can cope with this, while other players cannot. For example, Andy Roddick was visibly tiring in the 4th set of the 2006 US Open Final.

[edit] Records and trivia

• In 1999, Federer was the youngest player (18 years, 4 months) in the ATP ranking's year end top 100.
• By winning Wimbledon in 2003, Federer joined Stefan Edberg, Pat Cash, and Björn Borg as the only players to win both the juniors' and men's Wimbledon championships.
• Federer was presented the inaugural "Golden Bagel Award" in 2004, a light-hearted award based on a trivial statistic given to the men's professional tennis player who serves up more "bagels" (sets won 6-0) than any other player in any given year. Federer gave out 12 "bagels" in 2004. He also served 23 "bread sticks" (6-1 sets won). Since turning 18, Federer has not been bagelled himself.
• Federer is the first player to win four Tennis Masters Series titles in one season. He also is only the third player to have won all four North American ATP Masters Series events in a career (along with Andre Agassi and Michael Chang).
• Federer and Agassi are the only two players to win the seven major hardcourt titles (the 4 Masters Series events plus the Australian Open, the US Open, and the year-end Tennis Masters Cup).
• In a semifinal of the 2004 Tennis Masters Cup, Federer won a second set tiebreak against Marat Safin, 20-18. This tiebreak lasted 26 minutes and tied the record for the longest tiebreak (in terms of points) ever played since the tiebreak system was introduced in 1970. Besides Federer, only Björn Borg (1st round Wimbledon 1973 against Premjit Lal), Goran Ivanišević (1st round U.S. Open 1993 against Daniel Nestor and semifinal Queen's Club 1997 against Greg Rusedski), and José Acasuso (1st round Canada Masters 2006 against Bjorn Phau) have won such drawn out tiebreaks.
• Federer lost in a semifinal of both the 2005 Australian Open and 2005 French Open tournaments to the eventual winner: Safin in Melbourne and Rafael Nadal in Paris. Both Safin and Nadal were celebrating their respective birthdays on the day they defeated Roger.
• Winning the 2005 Halle doubles title with fellow Swiss Yves Allegro marked the fact that Federer has now won singles and doubles titles on all four surfaces: hardcourt, clay, carpet, and grass. (Singles: Sydney 2002 (hard), Hamburg 2002 (clay), Milan 2001 (carpet), and Halle 2003 (grass); Doubles: Rotterdam 2001 (hard), Gstaad 2001 (clay), Moscow 2002 (carpet), and Halle 2005 (grass).)
• Federer defeated Gaston Gaudio 6-0, 6-0 in a semifinal of the 2005 Tennis Masters Cup. This was the first time a Masters Cup match had been won with a "double bagel."
• By reaching the final of the U.S. Open in 2006, Federer became the first man in the open era to make it to six consecutive Grand Slam finals (winning five of the six).
• By reaching the semifinals at the 2006 U.S. Open, Federer tied Ivan Lendl's record of 10 consecutive Grand Slam semifinal appearances.
• Federer won four consecutive titles at one event for the first time on June 18, 2006, at the Gerry Weber Open and tied Björn Borg's record of 41 straight grass-court wins with a 6-0, 6-7, 6-2 victory over Tomas Berdych. He repeated this feat by winning his fourth consecutive Wimbledon championship on July 9, 2006, beating Nadal in the final.
• By winning the 2006 U.S. Open, Federer became the only male player to win both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in the same year for 3 consecutive years.

[edit] Streaks

• In 2001, Federer ended Pete Sampras' 31 match unbeaten streak at Wimbledon in the fourth round.
• Federer's victory at the 2004 U.S. Open marked the first time in the open era that anyone had won his first four Grand Slam finals. He eventually won his first seven Grand Slam finals before losing to Rafael Nadal in the 2006 French Open final.
• Federer is the first player since Ivan Lendl in 1986-87 to win back-to-back Tennis Masters Cup titles without losing a match.
• In 2004, Federer became the tenth different player in the open era to win at least 11 singles titles in a season. He is the first year-end No. 1 to register 11 titles since Lendl in 1985. In addition, Federer is the only player to win at least 10 titles in a season without losing in a final.
• Federer is the first player since Björn Borg in 1979 to win consecutive tournaments on three different surfaces, having captured titles at Wimbledon (grass), Gstaad (clay), and Toronto (hard).
• Federer won a record 26 consecutive matches against top ten ranked opponents. The streak lasted from October 2003 to January 2005, when he lost to Marat Safin in a semifinal of the Australian Open.
• Federer won his 27th consecutive match over American players when he defeated Andy Roddick in the 2006 U.S. Open final. His last loss was also to Roddick in a semifinal of the 2003 Canadian Masters.
• Federer's loss against Richard Gasquet in the 2005 Monte Carlo Masters brought his win-loss tally to 35-2 for 2005, the best start on the men's tour since John McEnroe, who holds the record with 39-0 in 1984.
• Federer has won four consecutive men's singles titles at Wimbledon, a feat accomplished only by Borg and Sampras in the open era. In the 28 matches Federer played at Wimbledon from 2003 through 2006, he dropped just five sets (winning 84). In comparison, Borg and Sampras lost 15 and 14 sets respectively over a similar four-year period.
• Federer has won at least 70 matches in four consecutive seasons (2003: 78-17, 2004: 74-6, 2005: 81-4, 2006: 70-5 (through the 2006 U.S. Open)).
• Federer is the fifth player in the history of the ATP computer rankings to rank No. 1 every week during a calendar year (others: Jimmy Connors, Lendl, Sampras, and Lleyton Hewitt), having accomplished this feat in both 2005 and 2006.
• Federer has held a record-tying four winning streaks of at least 20 matches. The first one was a 23-match winning streak in mid-2004. The second one was a 26-match streak spanning the latter half of 2004 and early 2005. The third was a 25-match streak in early 2005. The fourth streak counted 35 matches including tournament wins at Halle, Wimbledon, Cincinnati, the U.S. Open, one Davis Cup match, Bangkok, and four Tennis Masters Cup matches at the end of 2005. Sampras also had four such streaks in his entire career. Federer's win against Fabrice Santoro in New York allowed him to tie the record. The 35-match winning streak is the fifth longest in the men's game, at par with Thomas Muster's streak in 1995 and Borg's streak in 1978.
• By winning in Bangkok in September 2005, Federer had won his 24th straight final dating back to Vienna in October 2003. His undefeated streak in finals is a new open era record. The previous record was 12 straight final wins, shared by McEnroe and Borg. It marked also the first time Federer won five consecutive tournaments he entered. Nalbandian's win over Federer in the final of the Tennis Masters Cup meant the end of two records: his finals streak of 24 and his 35-match overall winning streak.
• With an 81-4 record in 2005, Federer's winning percentage of 95.3 was second only to McEnroe's open era record, who had a 96.5 percentage and an 82-3 record in 1984.
• With his victory over Marcos Baghdatis at the 2006 Australian Open, Federer became the first man to win three consecutive Grand Slam titles since Sampras in 1993-94.
• After Federer's third round win over Tommy Haas at the Nasdaq 100 Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, Federer broke the previous record for consecutive matches won in Masters Series events, held at 19 by Sampras. His streak reached 29 matches before he lost to Nadal.
• Federer holds the record for most consecutive singles wins in North America, winning 55 matches before losing to Andy Murray in August 2006.
• By winning the Nasdaq 100 Open title in Key Biscayne, Florida, on April 2, 2006, Federer became the only player in history to win the first two Masters Series events of the year two years in a row^[5]. It was also his 11th consecutive final and 10th Masters Series title.
• Federer currently owns 11 Masters Series shields, equalling Sampras. He is second to Andre Agassi, who has 17 Masters shields.
• Federer holds the longest winning streak on hard courts: 56 matches (2005-06). The streak was ended by Nadal in the Dubai final in March 2006.
• With his win against Richard Gasquet in the first round of the 2006 Wimbledon, Federer surpassed Borg's 41-match grass court winning streak record. Borg set this record from 1976 to 1981, while playing Wimbledon only. Federer then won his 4th consecutive Wimbledon title with a victory over Nadal, taking the streak to 48.

[edit] Ranking and points records

• With his win at the 2006 Japan Open Tennis Championships, Federer set a new record tally of 1374 ATP Race points, eclipsing his 2005 mark of 1345. He had also held the previous record of 1267 points in 2004, which had broken Andy Roddick's 907-point total in 2003.
• With totals of 6335 points end 2004 and 6725 points end 2005, Federer finished with the highest number of year-ending ATP tour ranking points since the ATP circuit began in 1990, although the points breakdown changed slightly in 2000. The previous year-ending highest rating was Pete Sampras' 5097 points in 1994.
• Federer holds all the records for the highest ranking points at any time of the year: currently his record is at 7760 points (August 14, 2006). His next-highest score is 7370.
• As of October 9th, 2006, Federer has held the #1 spot on the ATP rankings for 141 consecutive weeks. This is the third longest streak in history with only Ivan Lendl (157 weeks) and Jimmy Connors (160 weeks) surpassing him in uninterrupted time at the top. This streak surpasses the overall career total of Bjorn Borg (sixth), who held that spot for 109 weeks. Only John McEnroe (170 weeks), Connors (268 weeks), Lendl (270 weeks), and Sampras (286 weeks) have had longer runs in total at the top. Federer has clinched the top spot in the ATP rankings through the end of 2006.

[edit] Awards

[edit] 2003

• ATP European Player of the Year.
• Swiss Sportsman of the Year.
• Swiss of the Year.
• Michael-Westphal Award.

[edit] 2004

• ATP European Player of the Year.
• ITF World Champion.
• Sports Illustrated Tennis Player of the Year.
• Swiss Sportsman of the Year.
• Swiss of the Year.
• European Sportsman of the Year.
• Reuters International Sportsman of the Year.
• BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year.
• International Tennis Writers Association (ITWA) Player of the Year.

[edit] 2005

• Ambassador of United Nations' Year of Sport and Physical Education.
• Goldene Kamera Award.
• ATP Player of the Year (for the year 2004).
• Stefan Edberg Sportmanship Award.
• ATPTennis.com Fan's Favourite.
• Laureus World Sportsman of the Year.
• Michael-Westphal Award.
• International Tennis Writers Association (ITWA) Player of the Year.
• International Tennis Writers Ambassador for Tennis.
• Most Outstanding Athlete by the United States Sport's Academy.
• Freedom Air People’s Choice Sports Awards International Sportsperson of the Year.^[6]
• ITF World Champion.
• European Sportsman of the Year.
• ESPY Best Male Tennis Player.

[edit] 2006

• L'Equipe Magazine's Champion of Champions (for the year 2005).
• ATP Player of the Year (for the year 2005).
• Stefan Edberg Sportmanship Award.
• ATPTennis.com Fan's Favourite.
• Laureus World Sportsman of the Year.
• ESPY Best Male Tennis Player.

[edit] Grand Slam Singles Finals

[edit] Wins (9)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
2003	Wimbledon	Image:MiniAUSFlag.jpg Mark Philippoussis	7-6(5), 6-2, 7-6(3)
2004	Australian Open	Marat Safin	7-6(3), 6-4, 6-2
2004	Wimbledon (2)	Image:MiniUSAFlag.jpg Andy Roddick	4-6, 7-5, 7-6(3), 6-4
2004	U.S. Open	Image:MiniAUSFlag.jpg Lleyton Hewitt	6-0, 7-6(3), 6-0
2005	Wimbledon (3)	Image:MiniUSAFlag.jpg Andy Roddick	6-2, 7-6(2), 6-4
2005	U.S. Open (2)	Image:MiniUSAFlag.jpg Andre Agassi	6-3, 2-6, 7-6(1), 6-1
2006	Australian Open (2)	Marcos Baghdatis	5-7, 7-5, 6-0, 6-2
2006	Wimbledon (4)	Image:MiniESPFlag.jpg Rafael Nadal	6-0, 7-6(5), 6-7(2), 6-3
2006	U.S. Open (3)	Image:MiniUSAFlag.jpg Andy Roddick	6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1

[edit] Runners-up (1)

[edit] Masters Series Singles Finals

[edit] Wins (11)

[edit] Runners-up (4)

[edit] Tennis Masters Cup Singles Finals

[edit] Wins (2)

[edit] Runners-up (1)

[edit] Titles (49)

[edit] Singles (42)

[edit] Singles finalist (13)

[edit] Doubles (7)

Team Competition

• 2001 Hopman Cup (w/ Martina Hingis)

[edit] Performance timeline

To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only after a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded. Davis Cup matches are included in the statistics. This table is current through the Japan Open, which concluded on October 8, 2006.