Roger Federer
| Country (sports) | Switzerland |
|---|---|
| Residence | Oberwil, Switzerland |
| Height | 185 cm (6 ft 1 in) |
| Turned pro | 1998 |
| Plays | Right, Single hand backhand |
| Prize money | $21,297,133 |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 1251–275 |
| Career titles | 35 (14th in overall rankings) |
| Highest ranking | No. 1 (2 February, 2004) |
| Grand Slam singles results | |
| Australian Open | W (2004 • 06) |
| French Open | SF (2005) |
| Wimbledon | W (2003 • 04 • 05) |
| US Open | W (2004 • 05) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 131–93 |
| Career titles | 7 |
| Highest ranking | No. 24 (9 June, 2003) |
Roger Federer is a professional tennis player who in 2004 became the 23rd World No. 1 in tennis. He is currently the No. 1 player in the world and (as of January 29, 2006) is working on the third-longest stay in the Men's World No. 1 ranking.
In 2004, Federer became the first man since Mats Wilander in 1988 to win three out of four Grand Slam events in the same year. As of 2006, he is widely regarded as the most dominant player of his era.
Biography
Federer was born in Basel, Switzerland, to Robert and Lynette Federer. He grew up 10 minutes from Basel proper, in suburban Münchenstein.
His parents met while his father was on a business trip to South Africa for a Basel-based chemical company for which they both worked. Lynette was born and raised in Kempton Park, Gauteng, South Africa. Lynette no longer works at the company, but is a manager at the Roger Federer Foundation. Robert is still with the Ciba Specialty Chemicals, in sales.
Roger has an elder sister, Diana, who is a nurse, and lives in the Basel area. He speaks three languages (German, French and English) fluently and conducts press conferences in all of them.
Federer spends his off-court time playing cards, cricket, ping pong, other sports and sitting on the beach, 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 of 2003.
Tennis
Career
Roger Federer started playing tennis at the age of eight. He spent hours playing softball tennis on the street or hitting tennis balls against the wall in the local club. He also practised football and was undecided about which sport he liked better until he turned twelve, when he chose tennis as the sport to focus on. At the age of fourteen, he became the Swiss Junior champion for all age groups and subsequently relocated to the Swiss National Tennis Center in the French-speaking part of Switzerland for more focused training. The training continued until he finished school at the age of sixteen and began playing more international junior tournaments.
1998 was Federer's last year in the Junior circuits; he won the Wimbledon Juniors title and the prestigious year-ending Orange Bowl. He finished the year as the ITF World Junior Tennis champion. Earlier in July, 1998, he had joined the ATP tour.
In 1999, he debuted for the Swiss Davis Cup team. He finished the year as the youngest player inside the ATP's top 100.
In 2000, he reached the semi-finals in the Sydney Olympics, but lost the bronze-medal match. He lost to Arnaud Di Pasquale of France by 7-6(7-5) 6-7(7-9) 6-3. He also reached the finals in Basel and Marseille but did not win either of them.
In February, 2001, Federer won his first ATP tournament in Milan. He also won 3 matches for his country in the Davis Cup in a 3-2 victory over the United States. He advanced to the quarterfinals at both the French Open and Wimbledon. En route to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, he defeated defending champion Pete Sampras in the fourth round. The score was 7-6,5-7,6-4,6-7,7-5. This match marked the emergence of Federer as a prominent player on the tour. He finished the year ranked 13th.
In 2002, Federer started with a tournament victory at Sydney. In February, he won both his Davis Cup singles against former world number ones, Russians Marat Safin and Yevgeny Kafelnikov. He reached his first Masters Series final in Miami, only to be beaten by Andre Agassi in four sets. In May, he got a second opportunity to win his first Masters Series tournament in Hamburg, which he did, defeating Marat Safin in the final. However, he subsequently lost in the 1st round at both the French Open and Wimbledon. He also lost his long-time Australian coach Peter Carter in a car crash in August and subsequently performed poorly at the U.S. Open. Later in the year he earned 6th place in the ATP Race and qualified for the first time in the prestigious year-ending Tennis Masters Cup, where he lost in the semi-finals against the then-top tennis player Lleyton Hewitt in three sets.
Federer started 2003 by winning 2 tournaments in a row in Dubai and Marseille. He won in Munich without losing a set but fell out of the French Open again in the first round, this time against Luis Horna. On July 6, 2003, he became the first Swiss man to win the Wimbledon championship, defeating Australia's Mark Philippoussis in the final while dropping only one set during the entire tournament. He also won four Davis Cup matches during the year to lead Switzerland to the semi-finals. 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 arguably one of the best years in modern men's tennis, winning three of the four Grand Slam titles and three Masters Series titles. He began by winning the Australian Open for the first time, defeating Marat Safin in straight sets. In March, he won his second career Masters Series title by beating Brit Tim Henman in the final at Indian Wells. In May, he won the Hamburg Masters on clay by beating Guillermo Coria. He then defended his Wimbledon crown, overcoming American Andy Roddick in a rain-affected final in four sets. Federer then moved to North America where he added another Masters Series title to his collection, this time at Toronto. In September, he defeated Lleyton Hewitt 6-0,7-6(3),6-0 in a one-sided final at the US Open for the year's third Grand Slam. 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 tournament wins. Federer's remarkable year was recognised when he was named Laureus World Sportsman of the Year in early 2005, edging out the likes of Michael Schumacher, Valentino Rossi, Lance Armstrong and Michael Phelps. He also was named "Player of The Year" by Tennis Magazine.
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 (also his manager), and a few friends. For 2005, Federer arranged for former Australian tennis player Tony Roche to coach him on a limited basis.
To begin 2005, he reached the Australian Open semi-final before falling to Marat Safin in a five-set night match that lasted more than four hours passing midnight in the 4th set. Federer rebounded to win the year's first two ATP Masters Series titles: Indian Wells (by defeating Lleyton Hewitt of Australia), and Miami (by defeating Rafael Nadal of Spain). He lost to Richard Gasquet of France in ATP Masters Series in Monte Carlo, but he won his third Hamburg Masters clay court title in May by defeating Richard Gasquet. He then entered the French Open as one of the favorites, losing in the semifinals in four sets to Rafael Nadal. Federer went on to Wimbledon where he won for the third consecutive year by defeating Andy Roddick in a rematch of the previous year's final. Federer struck 49 winners and only 12 unforced errors in the final.
After his Wimbledon victory in early July, he put down his racquet until August, when he broke his vacation to play the Cincinnati Masters. Federer came into the tournament with a lifetime record of 1-4, and only the year before became the first No. 1 seed to lose his first match since John McEnroe in 1984. His toughest matches of the week came against two resurgent Americans -- James Blake the first round, and Robby Ginepri in the semifinals -- but Federer eventually found himself in the doubly familiar position of playing on a Final Sunday, and playing against Andy Roddick. Federer defeated Roddick in straight sets to take his fourth ATP Masters Series title of the year (a sweep of all the American AMS events) and become the first Swiss male champion in Cincinnati's 107-year history.
Federer then moved on to New York, where he dropped only two sets on his way to the US Open final. There, he defended his 2004 title against another resurgent American: Andre Agassi. Federer won in four sets.
At the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, Federer lost to David Nalbandian of Argentina in a 4 1/2 hour, 5 set match. 6-7(4),6-7(11),6-2,6-1,7-6(3).
Federer is expected by many (including Rod Laver, John McEnroe, and his childhood idol Boris Becker; see quotes) to become one of the game's all time greats.
Already, Federer has become the first man in the Open Era to win Wimbledon and the US Open back-to-back in consecutive years (2004 and 2005). He also has won three straight Wimbledon titles (2003-05), an achievement also completed by Bjorn Borg (1976-80) and Pete Sampras (1993-95; 1997-2000) in the Open Era.
See ATP Player Activity: Roger Federer for the scorelines to all his matches.
He is one of the three active players to have reached the semi-finals of each Grand Slam tournament. Andre Agassi and David Nalbandian are the other two who have accomplished that feat.
In January 2006, Federer won the Australian Open defeating Cypriot sensation Marcos Baghdatis in four sets, 5-7 7-5 6-0 6-2. With this win Federer has won 3 consecutive Grand slams. The last player to do so was Pete Sampras in 1993-94 when he won Wimbledon,US Open and Australian Open.
Coaches
- 1989-1994: Seppli Kacovsky (Switzerland). Kacovsky was the head coach of the Old Boys’ Tennis Club 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. He continued to train there until he finished school.
- 1999-2003: Peter Lundgren (Sweden). Federer chose former top-25 player Lundgren, whom he met in Biel, as his coach, as 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.
Equipment
Roger Federer currently uses the Wilson nSix-One tour tennis racquet. This is the first tennis racquet in the world to utilize nanotechnology, which according to Wilson promotional literature is twice as strong and twice as stable as traditional racquets, yielding 22% more power, as well as added control and a greater life span.
Records and trivia
- Federer was the youngest player (18 years, 4 months) in the ATP Ranking's year end Top 100.
- He teamed up with Martina Hingis to win the Hopman Cup. They beat the United States 2-1 in the final. Federer beat Jan-Michael Gambill (6-4, 6-3); Hingis defeated Monica Seles (7-5, 6-4).
- Federer captures his first Grand Slam title by winning Wimbledon, defeating Australia's Mark Philippoussis 7-6, 6-2, 7-6.
- He also won the Tennis Masters Cup for the first time by beating Andre Agassi in straight sets. He didn't lose one match in the tournament (5-0), though he faced a match point against Agassi in their first match.
- Federer's victory at the 2004 US Open marked the first time in the Open era (i.e., since 1968) that anyone had won his first four Grand Slam finals.
- Federer is the first player since Ivan Lendl in 1986-87 to win back-to-back Tennis Masters Cup titles without losing a match.
- Federer became the 10th different player in the Open era to win at least 10 singles titles in a season. He is the first year-end No. 1 to register 11 titles since Ivan 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's tally of 1267 ATP Race points in 2004 is a new record since the Race began in 2000. The previous best was Andy Roddick's 907 in 2003.
- With a total of 6335 points, Federer finished 2004 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's 5097 points in 1994.
- With a 74-6 record in 2004, Federer's winning percentage of .925 is the best since Ivan Lendl had the same 74-6 record in 1986. John McEnroe tops the list of such players with a .965 percentage and an 82-3 record in 1984.
- In the semi-final of the Tennis Masters Cup 2004, Federer won the second set tie-break against Marat Safin at 20-18 that lasted 26 minutes. It tied the record for the longest tie-break (in terms of points) ever played since the tie-break system was introduced in 1970. Besides Federer, only Björn Borg (1st round Wimbledon 1973 against Premjit Lal) and Goran Ivanišević (1st round US Open 1993 against Daniel Nestor, and semi-final Queen's Club 1997 against Greg Rusedski) won such drawn out tie-breaks.
- 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).
- He became the first player to win Grand Slam events (Wimbledon & US Open) the year after having won three Grand Slam events in the same year.
- His victory in the Cincinnati Masters meant Federer had become the first player to win four Tennis Masters Series titles in one season; he also became only the third player (and only non-American) to have won all four North American ATP Masters Series events in a career (along with Andre Agassi and Michael Chang.) He and Agassi are the only two players to win the six major hardcourt titles (The 4 Masters Series events plus the Australian Open and the US Open).
- Federer held a record 26 consecutive wins against top ten ranked opponents; the streak spanned from October 2003 to January 2005 (he lost to Marat Safin in the semifinal of the Australian Open).
- With his victory over American Andre Agassi in the final of the U.S. Open, he reached a 23-match winning streak against American players.
- His loss against Richard Gasquet in the 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 lost the semi-finals of both Australian and French Open to the eventual winner: Safin in Melbourne and Nadal in Paris. Both Safin and Nadal were celebrating their respective birthdays the day they defeated Roger.
- Winning the doubles title in Halle along 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 '02 (hard), Hamburg '02 (clay), Milan '01 (carpet) and Halle '03 (grass); Doubles: Rotterdam '01 (hard), Gstaad '01 (clay), Moscow '02 (carpet) and Halle '05 (grass)]
- He also holds a 36-match winning streak on matches played on grass; this particular streak is the best since Björn Borg, who won 41 consecutive matches on grass between 1976 and 1980.
- Federer won a third consecutive men's singles title at Wimbledon, a feat accomplished only by Borg and Sampras in the Open era.
- In the 21 matches Federer played at Wimbledon through 2003-05 he dropped just four sets (winning 63). In comparison, Borg and Sampras lost 9 and 11 sets respectively over a similar three-year time frame.
- With his victory over Lleyton Hewitt in the US Open semifinals he had won 70 matches or more in three consecutive seasons (2003: 78-17, 2004: 74-6, 2005: 81-4).
- By winning in Bangkok in September 2005, Federer won his 24th straight final dating back to Vienna, 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 straight finals in five consecutive tournaments he's played in.
- Became only 5th player in history of ATP Rankings to rank No. 1 every week during calendar year (others: Connors, Lendl, Sampras, Hewitt).
- He has held a record-tying four winning streaks of 20 consecutive matches or more. 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, and 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. Pete 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 Musters', set in 1995, and Borg's, set in 1978.
- He reached the quarter-finals or better in every tournament he entered.
- Federer's tally of 1,345 ATP Race points in 2005 set a new record since the Race began in 2000. He held the previous record of 1,267 points in 2004.
- Federer defeated Gaston Gaudio 6-0, 6-0 in the semi-finals of the Tennis Masters Cup. For the first time ever a Masters match was won with a "double bagel".
- Nalbandian's win over Federer in the final of the Tennis Masters Cup meant the end of two records: his final streak of 24, and his 35-match overall winning streak.
- With a 81-4 record in 2005, Federer's winning percentage of .953 was second only to John McEnroe's Open Era record, who had a .965 percentage and an 82-3 record in 1984.
- Federer's winning streak on the hardcourt surface currently stands at 52, after his final victory at the Australian Open; this is an Open Era record. He shattered the previous record of 34, formerly held by Pete Sampras.
- Federer has held the #1 spot on the ATP rankings for 106 consecutive weeks, the third longest streak in history. Pete Sampras (fourth) held that spot for 102 weeks from 1996 to '98. Jimmy Connors (160 weeks) and Ivan Lendl (157) have had longer uninterrupted runs at the top.
- By reaching the Australian Open final, Federer became the first man since Andre Agassi in 1999 to reach 3 consecutive Grand Slam finals. By winning the title over Marcos Baghdatis, he became the first man to win three consecutive Grand Slam titles since Sampras in 1993-94.
- Following his 2006 Australian Open victory, Federer has now won his first 7 Grand Slam finals, an Open Era record. It also ties the mark for the best since William Renshaw and Richard Sears went 7–0 in the 19th century.
- Federer also owns the record for the highest ranking points at any time of the year for performances based on the past 52 weeks: 7275 points (January 30, 2006).
Awards
- ATP European Player of the Year.
- Swiss Sportsman of the Year.
- Swiss of the Year.
- Michael-Westphal Award.
- 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.
- 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.
- ITF World Champion.
- European Sportsman of the Year.
- L'Equipe Magazine's Champion of Champions (for the year 2005).
Grand Slam singles finals
Wins (7)
| Year | Championship | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
| 2003 | Wimbledon | Mark Philippoussis | 7-6, 6-2, 7-6 |
| 2004 | Australian Open | Marat Safin | 7-6, 6-4, 6-2 |
| 2004 | Wimbledon (2) | Andy Roddick | 4-6, 7-5, 7-6, 6-4 |
| 2004 | U.S. Open | Lleyton Hewitt | 6-0, 7-6, 6-0 |
| 2005 | Wimbledon (3) | Andy Roddick | 6-2, 7-6, 6-4 |
| 2005 | U.S. Open (2) | Andre Agassi | 6-3, 2-6, 7-6, 6-1 |
| 2006 | Australian Open (2) | Marcos Baghdatis | 5-7, 7-5, 6-0, 6-2 |
Titles (42)
|
|
Singles (35)
Singles Finalist (9)
- 2000: Marseille (lost to Marc Rosset)
- 2000: Basel (lost to Thomas Enqvist)
- 2001: Rotterdam (lost to Nicolas Escude)
- 2001: Basel (lost to Tim Henman)
- 2002: Milan (lost to Davide Sanguinetti)
- 2002: Miami AMS (lost to Andre Agassi)
- 2003: Rome AMS (lost to Felix Mantilla)
- 2003: Gstaad (lost to Jiri Novak)
- 2005: Tennis Masters Cup-Shanghai (lost to David Nalbandian)
Performance timeline
| Tournament | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Open | W | SF | W | 4r | 4r | 3r | 3r | - | - | 2 |
| French Open | SF | 3r | 1r | 1r | QF | 4r | 1r | - | 0 | |
| Wimbledon | W | W | W | 1r | QF | 1r | 1r | - | 3 | |
| U.S. Open | W | W | 4r | 4r | 4r | 3r | - | - | 2 | |
| Tennis Masters Cup | F | W | W | SF | - | - | - | - | 2 | |
| Indian Wells Masters | W | W | 2r | 3r | 1r | - | - | - | 2 | |
| Miami Masters | W | 3r | QF | F | QF | 2r | 1r | - | 1 | |
| Monte Carlo Masters | QF | - | - | 2r | QF | 1r | 1r | - | 0 | |
| Rome Masters | - | 2r | F | 1r | 3r | 1r | - | - | 0 | |
| Hamburg Masters | W | W | 3r | W | 1r | 1r | - | - | 3 | |
| Canada Masters | - | W | SF | 1r | - | 1r | - | - | 1 | |
| Cincinnati Masters | W | 1r | 2r | 1r | - | 1r | - | - | 1 | |
| Madrid Masters | - | - | SF | QF | 2r | 2r | - | - | 0 | |
| Paris Masters | - | - | QF | 2r | 1r | - | - | - | 0 | |
| Grand Slam Win-Loss | 7-0 | 24-2 | 22-1 | 13-3 | 6-4 | 13-4 | 7-4 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 87-20 |
| ATP Tournaments Played | 2 | 15 | 17 | 23 | 25 | 21 | 28 | 14 | 3 | 146 |
| Finals reached | 2 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 43 |
| ATP Tournaments Won | 2 | 11 | 11 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 |
| Hardcourt Win-Loss | 12-0 | 50-1 | 46-4 | 46-11 | 30-11 | 21-9 | 21-15 | 4-5 | 2-2 | 232-58 |
| Grass Win-Loss | 12-0 | 12-0 | 12-0 | 5-3 | 9-3 | 2-3 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 52-11 | |
| Carpet Win-Loss | 4-1 | 0-0 | 5-2 | 11-4 | 10-4 | 10-5 | 9-5 | 0-0 | 49-21 | |
| Clay Win-Loss | 15-2 | 16-2 | 15-4 | 12-4 | 9-5 | 3-7 | 0-5 | 0-1 | 70-30 | |
| Overall Win-Loss | 12-0 | 81-4 | 74-6 | 78-17 | 58-22 | 49-21 | 36-30 | 13-17 | 2-3 | 403-120 |
| ATP Race points | 250 | 1345 | 1267 | 875 | 518 | 349 | 216 | N/A | N/A | 4670Template:Fn |
| ATP Entry Ranking pointsTemplate:Fn | 7275 | 6725 | 6335 | 4375 | 2590 | 1745 | 1080 | 749 | 119 | 23718Template:Fn |
| Year End RankingTemplate:Fn | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 13 | 29 | 64 | 301 | N/A |
Template:Fnb End of Year Ranking points only. ATP Entry System is a rolling 52-week calculation. The highest number of ranking points ever achieved by Federer for a rolling 52-week was 7275 points in the rankings published by ATP on January 30, 2006.
Template:Fnb Ranking based on the year-end 52-week ATP Entry Ranking, not ATP Race.
Template:Fnb This information gives an idea of the player's performances during his career. However, it needs to be compared to other players' information to obtain an overall and correct view of actual performance.
Doubles (7)
| No. | Date | Tournament Partner |
Surface | Opponents in the final | Score |
| 1. | 19 February, 2001 | Rotterdam, Netherlands w/ Jonas Bjorkman (Sweden) |
Hard | Petr Pala and Pavel Vizner (Czech Republic) |
6-3 6-0 |
| 2. | 9 August, 2001 | Gstaad, Switzerland w/ Marat Safin (Russia) |
Clay | Michael Hill (Australia) and Jeff Tarango (USA) |
1-0 Retired |
| 3. | 18 February, 2002 | Rotterdam, Netherlands w/ Max Mirnyi (Belarus) |
Hard | Mark Knowles (Bahamas) and Daniel Nestor (Canada) |
4-6 6-3 6-4 |
| 4. | 30 August, 2002 | Moscow, Russia w/ Max Mirnyi (Belarus) |
Carpet | Joshua Eagle and Sandon Stolle (Australia) |
6-4 7-6 |
| 5. | 17 March, 2003 | Miami, USA w/ Max Mirnyi (Belarus) |
Hard | Leander Paes (India) and David Rikl (Czech Republic) |
7-5 6-3 |
| 6. | 6 October, 2003 | Vienna, Austria w/ Yves Allegro (Switzerland) |
Hard | Mahesh Bhupathi (India) and Max Mirnyi (Belarus) |
7-6 7-5 |
| 7. | 6 June, 2005 | Halle, Germany w/ Yves Allegro (Switzerland) |
Grass | Joachim Johansson (Sweden) and Marat Safin (Russia) |
7-5 6-7 6-3 |
Mixed: 2001 Hopman Cup (w/ Martina Hingis)
Famous matches
- Wimbledon 2001 4th Round: defeated Pete Sampras, 7-6(7) 5-7 6-4 6-7(2), 7-5. Federer ended Sampras' 31-match winning streak at the All England Club with a dramatic five-set victory on Centre Court. He considers this to be his biggest win because he idolized Sampras and still considers him to be the best of all time.
- Wimbledon 2003 Final: defeated Mark Philippoussis, 7-6(5) 6-2 7-6(3). This was Federer's first Grand Slam final win, and the beginning of his dominance in men's tennis.
- Tennis Masters Cup 2003 Final: defeated Andre Agassi. Federer had already met Agassi in his first round robin match (Agassi had had a match point but lost in three sets). When they met again in the final, Federer didn't allow Agassi to make any chance on winning the title (6-3 6-0 6-4). This was Federer's first of two Masters titles.
- U.S. Open 2004 Quarterfinal: defeated Andre Agassi, 6-3 2-6 7-5 3-6 6-3. The match lasted two days and was concluded in extremely windy conditions (to the point where chairs were toppling over and both players could only hope to get the ball in). This match was unique in that although Federer was in-form and low on unforced errors, the match still went to five sets. Either player could have taken the match, but it was Federer who forced the error from Agassi and got the break in the fifth set.
- U.S. Open 2004 Final: defeated Lleyton Hewitt, 6-0, 7-6(3), 6-0. Federer dominated the in-form Hewitt, who was until then the hardcourt player of the season, in the most one-sided final in Open Era, handing him a double "bagel" (tennis lingo for 6-0 sets). No player had lost two sets at love in the Open final in 120 years.
- Tennis Masters Cup 2004 Semi-final: defeated Marat Safin, 6-3, 7-6(18). Federer endured a 26-minute second set tiebreak to finally win it at 20-18, tied with the three other longest tiebreakers of same score, to outlast the talented Safin's instinctive power play.
- Australian Open 2005 Semi-final: defeated by Marat Safin, 7-5, 4-6, 7-5, 6-7(6), 7-9 in an epic 5-set battle of talents spanning 4 hours and 28 minutes. Federer had a match point in the 4th set, but Marat Safin finally won the match at his seventh match point. Later Safin described the match as "a brain fight." In this loss, Federer actually won more points than Safin.
- Miami Masters 2005 Final: defeated Rafael Nadal, 2-6, 6-7(4), 7-6(5), 6-3, 6-1 in a 3 hours and 42 minute-long epic battle. Federer trailed 1-4 in the third set, and then 2-5 in the tiebreak but managed to prevail. This victory marked only the second time Federer had come back from two-sets down to win a match.
- French Open 2005 Semi-final: defeated by Rafael Nadal, 3-6, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6 in 4 sets on Nadal's 19th birthday in near pitch dark. The match between Federer (not considered a favorite in this match) and Nadal, the eventual champion, generated speculation about a future Federer-Nadal rivalry.
- Wimbledon 2005 Final: defeated Andy Roddick, 6-2, 7-6(2), 6-4 in the thrilling re-match of the 2004 Final. Considered one of the most dominant performances in the Finals by a defending champion, converting 49 winners and only 12 unforced errors.
- U.S. Open 2005 Final: defeated Andre Agassi, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(1), 6-1. Fought back from a break down in the third set against a rejuvenated Agassi. He considers this to be one of the biggest wins in his career. Agassi played well enough to beat just about anyone else, and after this match claimed that Federer was "the best I've ever played."
- Tennis Masters Cup 2005 Semi-final: defeated Gaston Gaudio, 6-0, 6-0. First shut out in the history of the season-ending championships, which led Gaudio to call Federer the "best ever". It also marked the first time Federer had won a match without losing a game in his career.
- Tennis Masters Cup 2005 Final: defeated by David Nalbandian, 7-6(4), 7-6(11), 2-6, 1-6, 6-7(3). Federer won the first two sets in two tie-breaks (7-4 and 13-11) but became fatigued and lost the following two. In the fifth and decisive set he trailed 4-0 but won 4 games in a row, before having to serve to stay in the match at 4-5. He leveled 5-5 and then broke Nalbandian's serve to lead 6-5, 30-0. However,he was unable to hold serve and eventually lost in the tie-break 7-3. It ended Federer's 24 consecutive final wins (Open Era record).
- Australian Open 2006 4th Round: defeated Tommy Haas 6-4, 6-0, 3-6, 4-6, 6-2. Federer dominated Haas in the first two sets but Haas stepped it up, forcing Federer into making errors and extending the match to a fifth set. Eventually, Federer was able to take control of the decider, making 16 winners to only 8 unforced errors. This also marked Federer's 400th career win.
- Australian Open 2006 Final: defeated Marcos Baghdatis, 5-7, 7-5, 6-0, 6-2. Baghdatis had the edge over Federer for one set and a half. At 6-5 (Ad-40) for Federer in the second set, Baghdatis hit long (which he thought was a winner) down the line and Federer won that set. It meant the turning point in the match. Federer proceeded to win 11 games in a row and dropped only 2 games in set three and four. He closed out the match on Baghdatis's serve after 3 hours and 46 minutes. At the award ceremony tennis legend Rod Laver gave him the trophy and an emotional Federer struggled to speak through tears.
See also
- Australian Open champions (Men's Singles)
- Wimbledon champions (Men's Singles)
- US Open champions (Men's Singles)
- Tennis Masters Cup
- Tennis Masters Series
- ATP season 2005
- ATP season 2006
References
- "Federer plays down chances". (Nov. 11, 2005). New Straits Times, p. 42.
External links
