Roger Federer

Titles Won (61): 

(2001) Milan, (2002) Sydney, Hamburg, Vienna, (2003) Marseille, Dubai, Munich, Halle, Wimbledon, Vienna, Tennis Masters Cup, (2004) Australian Open, Dubai, Indian Wells, Hamburg, Halle, Wimbledon, Gstaad, Canada AMS, US Open, Bangkok, Tennis Masters Cup, (2005) Doha, Rotterdam, Dubai, Indian Wells, Miami, Hamburg, Halle, Wimbledon, Cincinnati, US Open, Bangkok, (2006) Doha, Australian Open, Indian Wells, Miami, Halle, Wimbledon, Canada AMS, US Open, Tokyo, Madrid, Basel, Tennis Masters Cup, (2007) Australian Open, Dubai, Hamburg, Wimbledon, Cincinnati, US Open, Basel, Tennis Masters Cup, (2008) Estoril, Halle, US Open, Basel, (2009) Madrid, Roland Garros, Wimbledon, Cincinnati

Roger Federer is a professional tennis player from Switzerland. He is widely considered to be the best player to have ever graced the game. He began playing tennis at the age of eight and turned professional in 1998. In 1998, Federer complied outstanding junior results ending the year as world number one, highlighted by winning the Wimbledon boys singles title. He also reached the US Open final where he lost to Argentine David Nalbandian and reached the semi-finals at the Australian Open. He ended the year by winning the prestigious Orange Bowl in Miami, defeating Guillermo Coria. In July 1998, Federer made his ATP Tour debut at Gstaad and in only his second event at Toulouse reached the quarter-final. In 1999, he became the youngest player to finish in the top 100 and advanced to his first ATP semi-final in Vienna. He also reached the quarter final stages in Marseille, Rotterdam and his hometown Basel. The Swiss star continued to make progress in 2000 and reached his first ATP final at Marseille. He also reached the same stage in Basel and went on to lose in the bronze medal match at the Olympic Games in Sydney. Federer's first ATP tournament victory came in February 2001 in Milan. During, the same month he won three matches for his country in its 3-2 Davis Cup victory over the United States. He later reached the quarter finals at Wimbledon, defeating four-time defending champion and seven-time Wimbledon champion Pete Sampras in the fourth round, a victory that many consider to be a turning point of his career, as well as ending Sampras's 31-match winning streak in the tournament.

In 2002, Federer reached his first ATP Masters Series final at the Miami Masters, losing to Andre Agassi. He won his next Masters Series final in Hamburg and also won both his Davis Cup singles matches against former world number ones, Marat Safin and Yevgeny Kafelnikov. Despite early first round exits at the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open he reached number six in the ATP Champions Race by the end of the year and qualified for his first year-ending Tennis Masters Cup. His run was ended in the semi-finals by world number one Lleyton Hewitt who went on to win the Cup. In 2003, Federer challenged for the top ranking in men's tennis, finishing the year as world number two just behind Andy Roddick. During the season he captured an ATP-high seven titles in nine finals, including his first Grand Slam crown at Wimbledon. At the start of the season he reached the Australian Open fourth round, losing to Argentine David Nalbandian in five sets. He won his first title of the season at Marseille, defeating Jonas Bjorkman in the final. At his next event at Rotterdam he reached the semi-final before falling to Max Mirnyi. In February he added his second title of the season at Dubai (d. Novak). Returning for the European clay court season, Federer won his third title at Munich (d. Nieminen). He then went on to reach the final at the Masters Series in Rome, losing to Felix Mantilla in three straight sets. At Roland Garros, Federer made a surprise first round exit to Luis Horna in straight sets. In his next tournament he played at Halle in preparation for Wimbledon and defeated local favourite Nicolas Kiefer in the final. At Wimbledon, Federer won his first Grand Slam by defeating Mark Philippoussis in the final 7-6(5), 6-2, 7-6(3). Federer finished the season strongly, reaching Masters semi-finals at Montreal and Madrid and a quarter final in Paris. At the season ending Tennis Masters Cup in Houston, Federer defeated world number one Andy Roddick in the semi-final before beating Andre Agassi in the final. In Davis Cup play, Federer helped his country to the semi-finals, with a 3-2 victory over France.

Federer complied one of the best seasons in nearly two decades in 2004, winning an ATP-best 11 titles in as many finals, including three Grand Slam and three Masters Series victories. His season was one of the best and most dominating years in the open era of modern tennis. He did not lose a match to anyone ranked in the Top 10 and posted a record for the season of 74-6. He became the first player since Mats Wilander in 1988 to win three Grand Slam titles in a season ad fourth player overall in Open Era to win at least three in year. During the season he also established an Open Era record by winning 13 straight finals (going back since 2003), surpassing the mark held by John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg, who won 12 straight finals. Federer's first tournament of the year came at the Australian Open which he won for the first time by defeating Marat Safin in the final in straight sets. In the previous rounds he had seen off competition from Lleyton Hewitt and David Nalbandian. In March he won the ATP event at Dubai, defeating Feliciano Lopez in the final. In his next tournament he won the Masters Series event at Indian Wells (d. Henman). In May, Federer won his second Masters Series event of the season at Hamburg (d. Coria). At Roland Garros, Federer lost a third round match to previous winner Gustavo Kuerten in straight sets. He bounced back to win Halle and Wimbledon for the second time in consecutive years. At Wimbledon, Federer defeated world number two Andy Roddick in the final after losing the first set. After his third Grand Slam title, Federer won back-to-back tournaments at Gstaad (d. Andreev) and the Masters Series event in Toronto (d. Roddick). At the Olympic Games in Athens, Federer made a surprising second round exit to Tomas Berdych. In August, Federer won the US Open for the first time by defeating Lleyton Hewitt in the final 6-0, 7-6(3), 6-0. He then won in Bangkok (d. Roddick) and won the end of season Tennis Masters Cup in Houston for a second straight year (d. Hewitt). During the season, Federer did not have a coach, instead relying on his fitness trainer Pierre Pagnini and physiotherapist Pavel Kovac.

In 2005, Federer finished the season as world number one for the second straight year, highlighted by winning an ATP best 11 titles (along with Nadal), including two Grand Slam titles and a record four Masters Series crowns. During the season he posted a record of 81-4. To begin the season, Federer hired former Australian tennis player Tony Roche to coach him on a limited basis. He then reached the Australian Open semi-final before falling to eventual winner Marat Safin in a five-set night matched that lasted more than four hours. He rebounded to win the year's first two ATP Masters Series titles at Indian Wells (d. Hewitt) and Miami (d. Nadal). He won his third Hamburg clay court tile 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 favourites, but lost in semi-final to eventual winner Rafa Nadal. At Wimbledon, Federer successfully defended his title by defeating Andy Roddick in the final in a rematch of the previous year's fianl. Federer also defeated Roddick to take his fourth Masters Series title of the year in Cincinnati. He then dropped just two sets en route to his second consecutive US Open title, defeating Andre Agassi in a four-set final. He became the first man in the open era to win Wimbledon and the US Open in back-to-back years. He failed to defend his Tennis Masters Cup title, losing to David Nalbandian of Argentina in a match lasting nearly five hours. 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.

Federer ended the year as world number one for a third straight year in 2006. During the season he won an ATP-best 12 titles, including three Grand Slam crowns for a second time in three years and four Masters Series shields for second straight season. His 12 titles were most in a season since Thomas Muster in 1995 and became the first player in open era to win at least 10 titles in three straight years. He was also the first player to reach all four Grand Slam finals in a year since Rod Laver in 1969. Federer started the season by reaching the final of the first eleven events, including winning the Australian Open (d. Baghdatis) and Wimbledon (d. Nadal). At Roland Garros he reached the final for the first time in his career by lost to world number two and previous winner Rafa Nadal in four sets. He also lost to Rafa Nadal in the two previous Masters finals at Monte Carlos and Rome, both on clay. Having won the opening tournament of the season at Doha (d. Monfils), Federer went on to win the Masters Series events at Indian Wells (d. Blake) and Miami (d. Ljubicic). In the build up to the US Open, Federer won the Canada Masters Series in Toronto, defeating Richard Gasqet in the final. In August, at the Masters Series event in Cincinnati, Federer lost in only his fifth match of the season to rising star of tennis Andy Murray in straight sets 5-7, 4-6. However, he bounced back at the US Open to win his third consecutive title by defeating Andy Roddick in the final. Federer went on to close the season, winning his last four events at Tokyo, Basel and the Masters Series in Madrid (d. Gonzalez) and the season ending Masters Cup (d. Blake).

The 2007 season started where the previous year finished, winning his 10th Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, defeating Fernando Gonzalez in the final 7-6(2), 6-4, 6-4. He also went on to retain his title at Dubai (d. Youzhny). In March, Federer played at the Masters Series events at Indian Wells and Miami and lost on both occasions to Guillermo Canas. Federer started his clay court season by reaching his second consecutive final of the Monte Carlos Masters. As in 2006, he lost to second seed Rafa Nadal. Federer then went on to lose in the third round at the Masters Series in Rome to Filippo Volandri. This defeat meant he had gone four tournaments without a title, his longest stretch since becoming world number one. In May, Federer defeated Nadal on clay for the fisrt time, winning the Hamburg Masters tournament and ending Nadal's record of 81 consecutive match wins on clay. Due to fatigue he was forced to withdraw from the Gerry Weber Open in Halle which heh had won the last four years. Despite this, Federer once again defeated Nadal in the final at Wimbledon to win a fifth consecutive title, matching Björn Borg's record of five Wimbledons in a row. Federer won the Cincinnati Masters title for the second time, beating James Blake in the final to collect his 50th career singles title and his 14th ATP Masters Series title. In the US Open final, Federer beat third seed Novak Djokovic. It was Federer's 12th Grand Slam title, tying with Roy Emerson. In his next tournament he returned to Europe to play the Masters Series in Madrid, losing in the final to David Nalbandian. He returned to winning ways in October at Basel, defeating Jarkko Nieminen in the final 6-3, 6-4. At the Masters Series in Paris, Federer made a third round exit to David Nalbandian for the second time in a month. However in the end of year Tennis Masters Cup at Shanghai, Federer won the title by defeating Roddick and Nadal en route to the final where he defeated David Ferrer in straight sets.

The Swiss native's four year run at number one came to an end after Wimbledon when he lost to Rafa Nadal in an epic five-set final, in a match many are proclaiming to the greatest match ever. While having one of the worst seasons by his own standards for some years, he still managed to extend his streak of winning at least one Grand Slam title for six straight years and captured four titles in eight finals, including his fifth straight US Open crown. Each of his runner-up showings came to rival Rafa Nadal, at Masters Series events in Monte Carlos and Hamburg as well as Grand Slam finals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. He began the year with a semi-final at the Australian Open (l. Djokovic) where he was coming off lingering affects with a bout of mononucleosis that went back to the alter part of 2007. In March, Federer reached the semi-final at the Masters Series event at Indian Wells (l. Fish) and the quarter finals in Miami (l. Roddick). He won his first event of the season in April at Estoril by defeating Nikolay Davydenko in the final. At Roland Garros, Federer faced Nadal for a third straight year by lost comfortably to Rafa Nadal who won his fourth consecutive title 1-6, 3-6, 0-6. In preparation for Wimbledon, the world number one returned to Halle and won the tournament for a fifth time by beating local favourite Philipp Kohlschreiber in the final 6-3, 6-4. At Wimbledon, Federer was hoping to set an open era record of six straight Wimbledon titles but lost to fierce rival Rafa Nadal. Having lost the first two sets in a rain delayed final, Federer produced some of the best tennis of his career to take the match into a fifth set decider, losing 7-9. At the Olympic Games in Beijing, Federer lost in the quarter finals to James Blake in straight sets. After this tournament, Gold medallist Rafa Nadal became world number one. However, Federer added his 13th Grand Slam title at the US Open when he defeated Andy Murray in the final 6-2, 7-5, 6-2. Murray exacted revenge over Federer at the Madrid Masters in a semi-final encounter, winning 6-3, 3-6, 5-7. In the season ending Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, Murray again defeated Federer in a round-robin match to send the Swiss native home, having lost his first round robin match against an in-form Gilles Simon.

In 2009, Federer started the season as world number two behind Rafa Nadal. He started the season by reaching the final at the Australian Open, defeating Juan Martin Del Potro and Andy Roddick en route before losing to Nadal in five sets. In March, Federer reached back-to-back semi-finals at Masters events at Indian Wells (l. Murray) and Miami (l. Djokovic). Federer's first title of the season came at Madrid when he defeated the "King Of Clay" Rafa Nadal in the final, 6-4, 6-4. At the French Open, Roger Federer made tennis history as he became just the sixth man to win a career Grand Slam of the four major championships when he finally laid his hands on the Roland Garros trophy, with victory over Sweden's Robin Soderling 6-1, 7-6(1), 6-4. It was Soderling who had previously caused one of the greatest upsets in the sports history with his victory over Rafa Nadal who was previously a four time champion and had never lost a match at the French Open. It was arguably Federer's defining moment of his career and one which many critics led to describe him as the best male tennis player ever. A clearly emotional Federer, admitted that the victory was overwhelming for him and was forced to withdraw from Halle so he could come to terms with his success. At Wimbledon, Roger Federer regained his crown at the All England Club, dropping just one set to his seventh successive final, where he defeated Andy Roddick in an enthralling final in which Federer prevailed to win in the fifth set 16-14, the longest Grand Slam final ever. It was a record breaking 15th Grand Slam title for Federer and one which he helped him regain his world number one ranking. In August, Federer won the ATP Masters at Cincinnati (d. Djokovic) and at the US Open lost the final to rising star Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina. At the end of season Barclays ATP World Tour FInals, Federer lost in the semi-final to eventual champion Nikolay Davydenko.