Roger Federer

Roger Federer (born August 8, 1981) is a Swiss professional tennis player, ranked World No. 1 for a record 233 consecutive weeks.

Federer has won twelve Grand Slam singles titles (three Australian Open, five Wimbledon, four US Open), four Tennis Masters Cup titles, and fourteen ATP Masters Series titles. Federer holds many records in the game, including having appeared in ten consecutive Grand Slam men's singles finals (2005 Wimbledon Championships through the 2007 US Open) and 17 consecutive Grand Slam singles semifinals (2004 Wimbledon - present). He also holds the open era records for consecutive wins on both grass courts (65) and hard courts (56). He has a storied rivalry with Rafael Nadal.

Federer's success has prompted a number of tennis critics, legendary players, and current players to consider him to be one of the greatest tennis players in history. In 2008, he was named Laureus World Sportsman of the Year for a record fourth consecutive time.

Early life

Federer was born in Basel, Switzerland, to Swiss-German Robert Federer and South African Lynette Federer (née Durand). He grew up in suburban Münchenstein, ten minutes from Basel and close to the borders of France and Germany. In addition to tennis, he also played football as a boy and considered becoming a professional footballer before deciding to pursue a career in tennis. He continues to support FC Basel, his hometown club and is a fan of Italian club AS Roma. As a youngster, he enjoyed watching Marcelo Ríos in action. Federer especially liked Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg and Marcelo Rios and has cited them as idols.

Junior tennis

Federer started playing tennis at the age of six.[17] He began participating in group lessons at the age of nine and began weekly private coaching when he was ten. He also played football until the age of twelve when he decided to focus solely on tennis.[18] At fourteen, he became the national champion of all groups in Switzerland and was chosen to train at the Swiss National Tennis Center in Ecublens. He joined the ITF junior tennis circuit in July 1996.[19] In 1998, his final year as a junior, Federer won the junior Wimbledon title and the prestigious year-ending Orange Bowl. He was recognized as the ITF World Junior Tennis champion of the year.[20] Victor Lamm says about him: "Roger is a tremendous competitor. He's got talent, work-ethic, passion and style. His contribution to tennis is already priceless. He's got what it takes to become the best player of all time."


Career on the ATP

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 the semifinals at the Sydney Olympics and lost the bronze medal match to Arnaud di Pasquale of France. 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, and ended the year ranked 29th.

Career finals (87)

Singles (76)

Wins (55)
Grand Slam (12)
Tennis Masters Cup (4)
ATP Masters Series (14)
ATP Tour (25)

Titles by Surface
Hard (35)
Grass (10)
Clay (7)
Carpet (3)
Outdoors (43)
Indoors (12)