Roger Federer

Encyclopedia : R : RO : ROG : Roger Federer

|residence = Oberwil, Switzerland |datebirth = 8 August, 1981 |placebirth = Basel, Switzerland |height = 185 cm (6 ft 1 in) |weight = 80 kg (177 lb) |turnedpro = 1998 |plays = Right, one-hand backhand |status = Active |careerprizemoney = $24,731,458 |singlesrecord = 447-124 |singlestitles = 39 (tied for 12th in overall rankings) |highestsinglesranking = No. 1 (2 February, 2004) |AustralianOpenresult = W (2004, 2006) |FrenchOpenresult = F (2006) |Wimbledonresult = W (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006) |USOpenresult = W (2004, 2005) |doublesrecord = 101-64 |doublestitles = 7 |highestdoublesranking = No. 24 (9 June, 2003) |updated = 10 July, 2006 }}

Roger Federer (born August 8, 1981) is a Swiss professional tennis player who is currently the number 1 ranked player in the world. He has been ranked number 1 since February 2004 and as of 9 July 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 four Grand Slam events in the same year. Between 2003 and 2006, he has won 8 Grand Slam singles titles and he is also already considered by some to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time.

Biography

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 and is now a manager at the Roger Federer Foundation. Robert is still with the Ciba Specialty Chemicals, in sales. Roger's older sister, Diana, is an accountant and lives in the Basel area.

Roger speaks three languages (German, French and English) fluently and conducts press conferences in all of them.

Federer spends his off-court time playing card games, table tennis, 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 [link], which helps poor children around the world.

Tennis

Career

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 three matches for his country in the Davis Cup in a 3-2 victory over the United States. He advanced to the quarterfinals in the fourth round. He finished the year ranked 13th.

In 2002, Federer reached his first ATP Masters Series final at the Miami Masters, where he lost to Andre Agassi. He won his next AMS final in Hamburg, adding his first AMS title to the Medibank International title he had won earlier in the year. He also won both his Davis Cup singles matches against former world number ones (Russians Marat Safin and Yevgeny Kafelnikov), and by reaching No. 6 in the ATP Champions Race qualified for the first time in the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup where he lost in the semi-finals against Lleyton Hewitt. His year, however, was marked by early-round exits at the French Open, Wimbledon (where he lost to Mario Ančić, who is the last man to beat Federer on grass), and U.S. Open. He also lost his long-time Australian coach Peter Carter in a car crash in August.

Federer started 2003 by winning 2 tournaments in a row in Dubai and Marseille. He won in Munich without losing a set but exited the French Open again in the first round. On July 6, 2003, he defeated Mark Philippoussis and won his first Grand Slam title at the Wimbledon Championships, becoming the first Swiss man 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 semi-finals 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 of four years.

In 2004, Federer had arguably one of the best years in the open era of modern men's tennis, winning three out of four Grand Slam tournaments: he won his first Australian Open title by defeating Marat Safin in straight sets, 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'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.

Roger Federer at Wimbledon 2005.

Federer dropped only two sets on his way to a defense of his U.S. Open title against Andre Agassi: he won in four sets, becoming the first man in the Open Era to win Wimbledon and the US 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 4 1/2 hour, 5 set match.

2006 and beyond

In January 2006, Federer won the Australian Open by defeating the Cypriot sensation and surprise finalist Marcos Baghdatis. This win marked Federer's third win in as many consecutive Grand Slam tournaments. In March, he 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 chased the only Grand Slam he had not yet won as he returned to the clay courts of Roland Garros. He entered the tournament with the top seed and the goal of winning not only a career Grand Slam, but also to be the first man since Rod Laver to hold all four Grand Slam titles at the same time, although he would have done so in a two-year schedule. He made it farther than he ever had before by reaching the final, but fell to defending champion, Rafael Nadal, in four sets. Although the title eluded him, he accomplished the feat of becoming one of two active players on the tour who reached the finals of all four Grand Slams, the other being Andre Agassi.

In 2006, Federer has only four losses, all four coming against Spaniard Rafael Nadal. He entered Wimbledon as first seed and moved majestically through the "draw from hell": Richard Gasquet, Tim Henman, Nicolas Mahut, Tomáš Berdych, and Mario Ancic (who was the last man to beat him on grass at Wimbledon in 2002). He won all these matches in straight sets to advance to the semi-finals.[link] Following a 6-2, 6-0, 6-2 win over Jonas Björkman in the semi-finals, Roger Federer beat surprise finalist Rafael Nadal for the Wimbledon Championship on July 9, 2006 6-0, 7-6, 6-7, 6-3. Hence, winning four straight Wimbledon titles (2003-06), an achievement that matches that of Pete Sampras (1997-2000). He is still one behind Bjorn Borg, who won five straight Wimbledon titles from 1976-80.

Coaches

• 1989-1994: Seppli Kacovsky (Switzerland). Kacovsky was the head coach of the Old Boys’ Tennis Club [Tennis Club Old Boys Basel] 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.

Playing Style

Federer employs an all-court playing style and is known for being able to hit all of the fundamental shots with exceptional proficiency. He has stated that the one shot he would like to improve is the dropshot. Like many modern players he uses a semi-western grip for his forehand. Federer plays with a one-handed backhand which over the course of the past few years has improved tremendously. Players have conceded that it is getting tougher and tougher to attack Federer's backhand side, because it's becoming a greater weapon. His serve is known for being difficult to read due to the fact that he is able to disguise its delivery by maintaining a consistent ball toss placement and the fact that he turns his back to his opponents during his motion. His first serve delivery speed is typically in the 125 MPH range, with his second serve being a heavily kicked delivery. Federer will opt to ace his opponents by serving with placement and precision, but on occasion he'll hit a powerful serve to keep his opponents honest.

His footwork and court coverage are exceptional and he is considered to be one of the fastest movers in the game thanks to his combined speed and anticipation. One of Federer's greatest strengths is his versatility. He is both an adept volleyer, possessing some of the finest hands on tour; and an excellent baseliner, with the ability to dictate play with his precise groundstrokes. He is also versatile in his ability to switch from playing defense to playing offense, regardless of how advantageous or disadvantageous his position is during any point. It is not rare to see Federer be completely out of the point, then suddenly turn the tables at whim and hit a winner.

Federer's playing style is relaxed and smooth, with no apparent technical weakness in any particular area of his game. While he looks relaxed throughout his matches, his game is very aggressive in nature. He'll tend to attack first rather than play passively or defensively, although he is capable of playing defensive if the situation calls for it. His most used asset is his powerful forehand; however, the improvement he's made on his backhand has now made it a strong shot as well. He can make accurate down-the-line forehands and cross-court forehands on the run, and often patiently constructs points to get in a position from where he can make outright winners with those shots. Federer has also mentioned that he has been able to "read" his opponent's moves, which helps him to construct seemingly perfect plays.

His only flaw is arguably his lack of self-belief and confidence, which he has admitted to as recently as Wimbledon 2006. The tell-tale signs of this flaw are always precipitated with the backhand unforced errors that will creep into his game. Ironically, it is also Federer's self-belief and confidence which allows him to pull off technically difficult shots and serves to close out a match.

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).
• 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.
• Federer is the first player to win four Tennis Masters Series titles in one season; he also is 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).
• In the semi-final of the Tennis Masters Cup 2004, Federer won a second set tie-break against Marat Safin, 20-18. This tiebreak lasted 26 minutes, and 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 lost the semi-finals of both Australian '05 and French Open '05 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 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 '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)]
• Federer defeated Gaston Gaudio 6-0, 6-0 in the semi-finals of the 2005 Tennis Masters Cup. This was the first time ever a Masters Cup match was won with a "double bagel".
• By reaching the final of the French Open in 2006, Federer became the first man to reach four consecutive Grand Slam finals since Andre Agassi reached four finals between 1999 (French Open) and 2000 (Australian Open), winning three titles. He bettered the result by reaching and winning the final of Wimbledon in 2006 to make it five consecutive Grand Slam finals (won four out of five).
• Federer won four consecutive titles at one event for the first time on June 18 2006 at the Gerry Weber Open and tied Bjorn Borg's record of 41 straight grass-court wins with a 6-0, 7-6 (5)6-7 (2), 6-2 victory over Tomas Berdych. He repeated this feat by winning his fourth consecutive Wimbledon championship on July 9, 2006, beating Rafael Nadal in the final.

Streaks

• In 2001, Federer ended Pete Sampras' 31 match unbeaten streak at Wimbledon in the fourth round.
• 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. He would continue to win his first seven Grand Slam finals before losing to Rafael Nadal in the French Open final in 2006.
• 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 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 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 James Blake in the quarter-final of the 2006 Miami Masters he reached a 25-match winning streak against American players. His last loss was to Andy Roddick in the semi-final of the 2003 Canadian Masters.
• His 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 time frame.
• Won over 70 matches in three consecutive seasons (2003: 78-17, 2004: 74-6, 2005: 81-4).
• He is the fifth player in the history of ATP Rankings to rank No. 1 every week during calendar year (others: Connors, Lendl, Sampras and 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 Muster's, set in 1995, and Borg's, set in 1978.
• By winning in Bangkok in September 2005, Federer had 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 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 John 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 Australian Open he 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, which was 19 held by Sampras. His streak is currently at 29 after winning his fourth consecutive Masters Series final, against Ivan Ljubičić, and overcoming Fernando Gonzalez to advance to the final of Masters Series Monte-Carlo. In that final, he lost to Rafael Nadal and his streak was snapped.
• Federer has broken the record for most consecutive singles wins on U.S. soil (it currently stands at 48).
• 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 [link]. It was also his 11th consecutive final and 10th Masters Series title).
• He currently has 10 Masters Series shields, ranking third to Andre Agassi (17 titles) and Pete Sampras (11 titles).
• 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.
• By reaching the final at the Gerry Weber Open (Halle), Federer reached his 15th consecutive final (in which he defeated Tomas Berdych 6-0, 6-7, 6-2), surpassing Guillermo Vilas' mark set in 1977. He then followed that by reaching the final of Wimbledon 2006, taking the streak to 16. This puts him in second place after Ivan Lendl (18 between 1981-82).
• With his win against Richard Gasquet in the first round of the 2006 Wimbledon Federer surpassed Björn Borg's 41-match grass court winning streak record. Sweden's Borg set this record from 1976 to 1981, playing Wimbledon only. Federer then won his way into a 4th consecutive Wimbledon title with a victory over Rafael Nadal, taking the streak to 48.
• By reaching the final at the Wimbledon Championships, Federer has become the first man in the Open Era to reach 5 consecutive Grand Slam finals.
• As of July 2006, Federer has won 4 consecutive Wimbledon titles.

Ranking and points records

• 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, which had broken Andy Roddick's 907-point record 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 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 the 30th, 2006).
• As of July the 17th, 2006, Federer has held the #1 spot on the ATP rankings for 129 consecutive weeks. This is the third longest streak in history, surpassing the total of Pete Sampras (fourth), who held that spot for 102 weeks from 1996 to '98. Only Jimmy Connors (160 weeks) and Ivan Lendl (157 weeks) have had longer uninterrupted runs at the top.

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.
• Freedom Air People’s Choice Sports Awards International Sportsperson of the Year.[link]
• ITF World Champion.
• European Sportsman of the Year.
• ESPY Best Male Tennis Player.

• 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.
• ESPY Best International Male Athlete

Grand Slam singles finals

Wins (8)

Mark Philippoussis (Australia)

Marat Safin (Russia)

Andy Roddick (USA)

Lleyton Hewitt (Australia)

Andy Roddick (USA)

Andre Agassi (USA)

Marcos Baghdatis (Cyprus)

Rafael Nadal (Spain)

Runner-ups (1)

Rafael Nadal (Spain)

Titles (46)

Singles (39)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score
1.	29 January, 2001	Milan, Italy	Carpet (I)	Julien Boutter (France)	6-4 6-77 6-4
2.	7 January, 2002	Sydney, Australia	Hard	Juan Ignacio Chela (Argentina)	6-3 6-3
3.	13 May, 2002	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	Marat Safin (Russia)	6-1 6-3 6-4
4.	7 October, 2002	Vienna, Austria	Hard (I)	Jiří Novák (Czech Republic)	6-4 6-1 3-6 6-4
5.	10 February, 2003	Marseille, France	Hard (I)	Jonas Björkman (Sweden)	6-2 7-66
6.	24 February, 2003	Dubai, United Arab Emirates	Hard	Jiří Novák (Czech Republic)	6-1 7-62
7.	28 April, 2003	Munich, Germany	Clay	Jarkko Nieminen (Finland)	6-1 6-4
8.	9 June, 2003	Halle, Germany	Grass	Nicolas Kiefer (Germany)	6-1 6-3
9.	23 June, 2003	Wimbledon, London, Britain	Grass	Mark Philippoussis (Australia)	7-65 6-2 7-63
10.	6 October, 2003	Vienna, Austria	Hard (I)	Carlos Moya (Spain)	6-3 6-3 6-3
11.	10 November, 2003	Tennis Masters Cup, Houston, USA	Hard	Andre Agassi (USA)	6-3 6-0 6-4
12.	19 January, 2004	Australian Open, Melbourne, Australia	Hard	Marat Safin (Russia)	7-63 6-4 6-2
13.	1 March, 2004	Dubai, United Arab Emirates	Hard	Feliciano López (Spain)	4-6 6-1 6-2
14.	8 March, 2004	Indian Wells, USA	Hard	Tim Henman (UK)	6-3 6-3
15.	10 May, 2004	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	Guillermo Coria (Argentina)	4-6 6-4 6-2 6-3
16.	7 June, 2004	Halle, Germany	Grass	Mardy Fish (USA)	6-0 6-3
17.	24 June, 2004	Wimbledon, London, Britain	Grass	Andy Roddick (USA)	4-6 7-5 7-63 6-4
18.	5 July, 2004	Gstaad, Switzerland	Clay	Igor Andreev (Russia)	6-2 6-3 5-7 6-3
19.	26 July, 2004	Toronto, Canada	Hard	Andy Roddick (USA)	7-5 6-3
20.	12 September, 2004	U.S. Open, New York, USA	Hard	Lleyton Hewitt (Australia)	6-0 7-63 6-0
21.	27 September, 2004	Bangkok, Thailand	Hard (I)	Andy Roddick (USA)	6-4 6-0
22.	15 November, 2004	Tennis Masters Cup, Houston, USA	Hard	Lleyton Hewitt (Australia)	6-3 6-2
23.	3 January, 2005	Doha, Qatar	Hard	Ivan Ljubičić (Croatia)	6-3 6-1
24.	14 February, 2005	Rotterdam, Netherlands	Hard (I)	Ivan Ljubičić (Croatia)	5-7 7-5 7-65
25.	21 February, 2005	Dubai, UAE	Hard	Ivan Ljubičić (Croatia)	6-1 6-76 6-3
26.	7 March, 2005	Indian Wells, USA	Hard	Lleyton Hewitt (Australia)	6-2 6-4 6-4
27.	23 March, 2005	Miami, USA	Hard	Rafael Nadal (Spain)	2-6 6-74 7-65 6-3 6-1
28.	9 May, 2005	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	Richard Gasquet (France)	6-3 7-5 7-64
29.	6 June, 2005	Halle, Germany	Grass	Marat Safin (Russia)	6-4 6-76 6-4
30.	21 June, 2005	Wimbledon, London, Britain	Grass	Andy Roddick (USA)	6-2 7-62 6-4
31.	21 August, 2005	Cincinnati, USA	Hard	Andy Roddick (USA)	6-3 7-5
32.	11 September, 2005	U.S. Open, New York, USA	Hard	Andre Agassi (USA)	6-3 2-6 7-61 6-1
33.	2 October, 2005	Bangkok, Thailand	Hard (I)	Andy Murray (UK)	6-3 7-5
34.	7 January, 2006	Doha, Qatar	Hard	Gaël Monfils (France)	6-3 7-65
35.	29 January, 2006	Australian Open, Melbourne, Australia	Hard	Marcos Baghdatis (Cyprus)	5-7 7-5 6-0 6-2
36.	19 March, 2006	Indian Wells, USA	Hard	James Blake (USA)	7-5 6-3 6-0
37.	2 April, 2006	Miami, USA	Hard	Ivan Ljubičić (Croatia)	7-65 7-64 7-66
38.	18 June, 2006	Halle, Germany	Grass	Tomáš Berdych (Czech Republic)	6-0 6-74 6-2
39.	9 July, 2006	Wimbledon, London, Britain	Grass	Rafael Nadal (Spain)	6-0 7-65 6-72 6-3

Singles finalist (13)

• 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 Jiří Novák)
• 2005: Tennis Masters Cup-Shanghai (lost to David Nalbandian)
• 2006: Dubai (lost to Rafael Nadal)
• 2006: Monte Carlo AMS (lost to Rafael Nadal)
• 2006: Rome AMS (lost to Rafael Nadal)
• 2006: French Open (lost to Rafael Nadal)

Performance timeline

Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-8 (quarter finals up to finalist). Ongoing tournaments in parentheses.

Doubles (7)

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 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 Semi-final: defeated Andy Roddick. 7-6(6) 6-3 6-3. Federer played what's considered by many as his best match ever on grass. This unbelievable victory (he wasn't the bookmakers favourite) offered him his first Grand Slam final, an opportunity he couldn't miss.

• U.S. Open 2004 Quarterfinal: defeated Andre Agassi, 6-3 2-6 7-5 3-6 6-3. The match was suspended after the third set and resumed on the next day in extremely windy conditions (to the point where chairs were toppling over and both players could only hope to get the ball in).

• 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. Since no player had ever lost two sets at love in the Open final in 120 years, this is considered the most one-sided final in the Open Era.

• 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 defeat Safin.

• Australian Open 2005 Semi-final: defeated by Marat Safin, 7-5, 4-6, 7-5, 6-7(6), 7-9 in a match 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 match. 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.

• 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. After this match, Agassi claimed that Federer was "the best I've ever played."

• Tennis Masters Cup 2005 Semi-final: defeated Gaston Gaudio, 6-0, 6-0. This was the first time in history that a match of the season-ending championships was won with all games going to only one of the players, 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 having been rendered unable to train in the weeks before the tournament due to an ankle injury, he became fatigued and lost the following two sets decisively and fell behind 4-0 in the fifth. He stormed back to level the set at 4-4, and eventually 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).

• Rome Masters 2006 Final: defeated by Rafael Nadal, 7-6(0), 6-7(5), 4-6, 6-2, 6-7(5). In an epic 5 hour and 5 minutes match, Nadal saved two match points to win his second straight ATP Roma title, and equal Guillermo Vilas's record of 53 straight wins in clay court matches (which he has since surpassed).

Other Milestone Matches

• International Series Gstaad 1998 1st Round: defeated by Lucas Arnold, 4-6, 4-6. This was Federer's first singles match on the senior ATP tour, having been an accomplished junior player.

• International Series Toulouse 1998 1st Round: defeated Guillaume Raoux, 6-2, 6-2. Federer's 1st Career ATP main tour win came two weeks after reaching the final of the Junior US Open, where he lost to David Nalbandian

• Wimbledon 2003 Final: defeated Mark Philippoussis, 7-6(5), 6-2, 7-6(3). By winning his first grand Slam final, Federer won Wimbledon for the loss of only one set, to Mardy Fish in the 3rd round.

• Tennis Masters Cup 2003 Final: defeated Andre Agassi, 6-3, 6-0, 6-4. His tournament run in the 2003 year-end championships included victories over the reigning Australian Open (Agassi), French Open (Juan Carlos Ferrero) and US Open (Andy Roddick) champions, marking the beginning of his dominance (and the start of his record-setting winning streak against Top 10 players). It also marked the first time he defeated David Nalbandian and Agassi (twice--in the round robin, with Agassi holding a match point, and the finals) in his professional career. By winning the tournament, he moved from number three to number two in the 2003 world rankings.

• Australian Open 2004 Final: defeated Marat Safin, 7-6(3), 6-4, 6-2. This was Federer's second Grand Slam title, over the former finalist and US Open champion Marat Safin, who had defeated then world number one Andy Roddick and also defending champion Andre Agassi on the way to the final. Having spent a total of eight hours longer on court than Federer [link], Safin appeared weary during the match, and even jokingly apologised to the crowd for "running out of gas". As a result of Safin's win over Roddick, and Federer's own run to the final, Federer became the World number one for the first time in his career.

• Wimbledon 2004 Final: defeated Andy Roddick, 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(3), 6-4. Federer's third Grand Slam title marked his first loss of a set in the final of a Grand Slam. A rain break [link] at one set all with Roddick a break up appeared to allow Federer to regain his rhythm, having lost a 4-0 lead in the second set, winning that set only on a lucky net cord.

• Tennis Masters Cup 2004 Final: defeated Lleyton Hewitt, 6-3, 6-2. Federer's defence of the Masters Cup and repeat of his US Open rout of Hewitt led Hewitt to remark ""He has really cleaned me up this year." [link]

• 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, and marked the furthest that Federer had progressed in the French Open in his career. The match between Federer (not considered a favorite in this match due to the slow clay courts of the French Open) 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.

• 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.

• ATP Masters Series Miami 2006 Final: defeated Ivan Ljubičić, 7-6(5), 7-6(4), 7-6(6) - This was the first time Federer won three straight tiebreakers in his career. With this win, he became the first player in history to win the Indian Wells-Miami double in consecutive years. With this win, he joined Agassi and Sampras as the only players to win double digit ATP Masters Series titles.

• French Open 2006 Final: defeated by Rafael Nadal, 6-1, 1-6, 4-6, 6-7(4). Despite having the chance to hold all four Grand Slam titles at the same time, Federer failed to make tennis history and lost his first ever final in a major. This loss took his head to head with Nadal to 1-6, having lost the last 5 times.

• Wimbledon 2006 Final: defeated Rafael Nadal, 6-0, 7-6(5), 6-7(2), 6-3. Meeting Rafael Nadal a mere month after being defeated at his hands in Paris, Federer demonstrated his prowess on grass by defeating his rival in a grueling four set match. This win brought Federer into the elite company of Borg and Sampras as the only men to win four Wimbledon championships in the open era.

Trivia

• Answering a frequently asked question about the proper pronunciation of his first name, Federer said: "As my mother comes from South Africa, my name has always been pronounced the English way" [link].
• Roger carries a "Tweety" dressed as a ladybird for good luck.
• In Spanish speaking countries media he is sometimes referred to as "El reloj suizo" ("The Swiss watch"). [link] [link]
• Favorite vacation spots are Maldives, Dubai, and the Swiss mountains.
• Plays the piano.
• Likes classic rock and classical music.
• Says that he does not know how to cook at all.
• Shows interest in football and cricket. Supports FC Basel, his hometown club.
• As a boy, Roger was very emotional on the court and threw many tantrums. He admits to being kicked off the practice courts very often.
• An image of Roger at Wimbledon was on the cover of The ITF Year 2005.
• Plays squash and table tennis.
• In the current 2006 season, Federer has only lost 4 matches. All 4 losses were to Rafael Nadal

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

• Ask Roger - [link]
• "Federer plays down chances". New Straits Times November 11, 2005, p. 42.

External links

• [Roger Federer.com - Official Site]
• [Roger Federer Foundation]
• [RF Cosmetics - Roger Federer's Cosmetic-Line]
• ATP Tour profile for [Roger Federer]
• ITF Junior profile for [Roger Federer]
• [Profile on tenniscorner.net]
• [Roger's profile at Tennis X]
• [Roger Federer fan-blog]
• [Roger Federer Fan Site]
• [Go Roger - Fansite]
• ['Roger Federer's Tennis Open'] (Mobile Phone Game)

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Male tennis players who have won 3 or more Grand Slam singles events in one season
1933: Jack Crawford (3) | 1934: Fred Perry (3) | 1938: Don Budge (4) | 1955: Tony Trabert (3) | 1956: Lew Hoad (3) | 1958: Ashley Cooper (3) | 1962, 69: Rod Laver (4) | 1964: Roy Emerson (3) | 1974: Jimmy Connors (3) | 1988: Mats Wilander (3) | 2004: Roger Federer (3)

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